What Are the 5 Top Stressors in Life?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDeath of a Loved OneDivorce or SeparationMovingLong-Term IllnessJob Loss

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Death of a Loved One

Divorce or Separation

Moving

Long-Term Illness

Job Loss

Close

Stress is a normal part of life—but some changes in relationships, finances, school, health, career, and family cause more anxiety than others. Here are the five top stressors in life, along with a few tips to deal with them.

Chronic day-to-day stress (as opposed toacute stress) can affect your health—for example, causing digestive issues, inflammation, a weakened immune system, sleep issues, anxiety, and sexual problems.

Death of a Loved One

When someone you’re close to passes away, you’ll typically experience a range of sometimes surprising emotions. These might include confusion, shock, sadness, numbness, anger, and even guilt. All of these feelings are valid.

Because the change is so significant, processing what happened and facing a reality without this person can be excruciatingly difficult.

There’s no right or wrong way to feel about a loved one’s death and no standard way to grieve. Healing and its timetable differ from person to person, but these strategies can help.

What to Know About Bereavement Counseling and Therapy

Divorce or separation from a spouse can cause major stress. In addition to the emotional and mental stress, there are legal considerations such as child custody, finances, assets, and living situations. Even if the decision to end the relationship is mutual, both partners must deal with a host of issues while theymove forward separately. here are a few tips to cope with a divorce or separation:

What Are the 5 Top Stressors in Life?

Movingcan be quite stressful, especially if the move is unexpected or is because of a fire, financial struggles, or a traumatic event. You might even feelanticipatory grief—anxiety at just the thought of such a huge change. Here are a few tips tocope with a move:

Illness and stress have a symbiotic relationship: Chronic stress weakens your immune system, making you more susceptible to illness.Stress increases the risk of diabetes mellitus, peptic ulcers, ulcerative colitis, and atherosclerosis.Here are some tips to cope with illness.

How to Cope When Your Partner Has a Chronic Illness

Job Loss

Losing your job can causeshame,grief, disappointment, guilt, and self-defeating thoughts. In addition to the negative impact on your self-esteem, you have toworry about your financesand a new job. Your daily routine has changed abruptly, which can be difficult to adapt to—especially if you’ve been at your job for a long time. Here’s how tocope with job loss:

If You Were Laid Off Recently, Here’s How to Cope

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychology Association.Stress effects on the body.Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K.Cautioning Health-Care Professionals.Omega (Westport). 2017;74(4):455–473. doi:10.1177/0030222817691870Davis CG, Nolen-Hoeksema S, Larson J.Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.1998;75(2):561–574.Stroebe M, Stroebe W, van de Schoot R, Schut H, Abakoumkin G, Li J.Guilt in bereavement: the role of self-blame and regret in coping with loss.PLoS One. 2014;9(5):e96606. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096606Ghorbani Amir HA, Moradi O, Arefi M, Ahmadian H.The effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on cognitive-emotional regulation, resilience, and self-control strategies in divorced women.Avicenna Journal of Neuro Psycho Physiology. 2019;6(4). doi:10.32598/ajnpp.6.4.5Salleh MR.Life event, stress and illness.Malays J Med Sci. 2008;15(4):9–18.

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychology Association.Stress effects on the body.Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K.Cautioning Health-Care Professionals.Omega (Westport). 2017;74(4):455–473. doi:10.1177/0030222817691870Davis CG, Nolen-Hoeksema S, Larson J.Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.1998;75(2):561–574.Stroebe M, Stroebe W, van de Schoot R, Schut H, Abakoumkin G, Li J.Guilt in bereavement: the role of self-blame and regret in coping with loss.PLoS One. 2014;9(5):e96606. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096606Ghorbani Amir HA, Moradi O, Arefi M, Ahmadian H.The effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on cognitive-emotional regulation, resilience, and self-control strategies in divorced women.Avicenna Journal of Neuro Psycho Physiology. 2019;6(4). doi:10.32598/ajnpp.6.4.5Salleh MR.Life event, stress and illness.Malays J Med Sci. 2008;15(4):9–18.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

American Psychology Association.Stress effects on the body.Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K.Cautioning Health-Care Professionals.Omega (Westport). 2017;74(4):455–473. doi:10.1177/0030222817691870Davis CG, Nolen-Hoeksema S, Larson J.Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.1998;75(2):561–574.Stroebe M, Stroebe W, van de Schoot R, Schut H, Abakoumkin G, Li J.Guilt in bereavement: the role of self-blame and regret in coping with loss.PLoS One. 2014;9(5):e96606. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096606Ghorbani Amir HA, Moradi O, Arefi M, Ahmadian H.The effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on cognitive-emotional regulation, resilience, and self-control strategies in divorced women.Avicenna Journal of Neuro Psycho Physiology. 2019;6(4). doi:10.32598/ajnpp.6.4.5Salleh MR.Life event, stress and illness.Malays J Med Sci. 2008;15(4):9–18.

American Psychology Association.Stress effects on the body.

Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K.Cautioning Health-Care Professionals.Omega (Westport). 2017;74(4):455–473. doi:10.1177/0030222817691870

Davis CG, Nolen-Hoeksema S, Larson J.Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.1998;75(2):561–574.

Stroebe M, Stroebe W, van de Schoot R, Schut H, Abakoumkin G, Li J.Guilt in bereavement: the role of self-blame and regret in coping with loss.PLoS One. 2014;9(5):e96606. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096606

Ghorbani Amir HA, Moradi O, Arefi M, Ahmadian H.The effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on cognitive-emotional regulation, resilience, and self-control strategies in divorced women.Avicenna Journal of Neuro Psycho Physiology. 2019;6(4). doi:10.32598/ajnpp.6.4.5

Salleh MR.Life event, stress and illness.Malays J Med Sci. 2008;15(4):9–18.

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