You suffer from a certain amount of stress on a daily basis, whether it comes from fighting traffic during your morning commute or dealing with a nosy neighbor. How you deal with stress is important for maintaining good physical and mental health. If you feel like you have too much on your plate or you can't deal with it all on your own, contact your doctor or a qualified mental health care provider.
Work
If you have a job, it's inevitable that you will experience some degree of stress from time to time, if not every day. Stress at work may come from a feeling of having no control over your time or responsibilities. According to Helpguide, anything that causes you to feel pressure or in high demand can cause significant amounts of stress. You may have too many tasks to complete before a given due date or have disagreements with your co-workers. You may feel underpaid or overworked; perhaps you don't receive enough recognition or support from your superiors. Job stress is a major cause of health problems among the working population--too much job stress can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure and other physical or mental problems.
Family
You feel like you don't have enough time for everyone, let alone yourself. You have children who have conflicting demands, whether they need your help with homework or transportation to after-school activities. Perhaps you have a new baby or an adolescent who's recently started testing boundaries. Household chores and bills, issues with your spouse and fighting between siblings can all contribute to very high levels of stress.
Change
Any significant change in your life has the potential to cause stress, whether it's a change for the good or the bad. If you recently purchased a new house, you may be excited about the change, but you may also experience stress from having to deal with all of the practicalities regarding moving. When you start a new job, you may be enthusiastic about moving ahead in your career, but you may also be nervous about your performance or meeting new co-workers. Likewise, any change in relationships or health can also cause a significant amount of stress. Breakups, divorce and separation or the beginning of a new relationship may leave you feeling nervous, tense, jittery and stressed.
Environment
According to the Mayo Clinic, your environment plays a major role in the development of stress symptoms, particularly when you have little or no control over circumstances. Noise, air quality, lighting and other environmental factors can cause you to feel stress. You may live next door to someone who has several loud barking dogs or a family with young children who make noise constantly. Perhaps you have busy-body neighbors who constantly show up on your doorstep. Or your work environment is poor-- your boss won't fix a leaky roof, or you sit next to a co-worker who plays music all day. The feeling of helplessness contributes to your overall stress levels.
