Which stressors pose the greatest hazard to your health?

Question

Stress is very common. When you find yourself getting stressed, what are the usual causes?

Answer 1

1. Debt, unpaid bills and lack of money.

2. Disagreements

3. Overwhelming work

4. Literal life or death decisions that affect other people.

Answer 2

The stupid things other people do, and the lack of respect they have.

Answer 3

Isn't the first bit of the question a bit like eating a tin of  baked beans and wondering which one made you trump?- I assume all stressors are equally harmful to the system. My stress is usually internal from thinking and feeling "i got it wrong!"

There are so many triggers for that one and so many people passing on their hot potato of wrongness - a little package of gift wrapped stress.

Answer 4

Usually monetary issues or any feelings of guilt.

Guilt eats away at me sometimes.

Answer 5

All stressors depend on how you think about them.  What's a stressor to one person may not be a stressor to another person, or at least not to the same extent.  This means ultimately, that it is our own thinking - the way we decide to think about a situation, that is the cause of stress.

The most difficult type of stress it seems, is caused when we feel we have no control over a situation; that we cannot do anything to change it, that we are helpless. Stressors like severe debt, illness of a loved one are some examples.  

Very often there are things we can do to begin to change the situation (with debt for example or leaving an abusive relationship etc.) but obviously sometimes there aren't.  In these cases we need to try and see the problem in a different way -one that enables us to accept it or at least to work around it so that we can move on.