People, situations or events that cause us emotional stress do so for one of several reasons:
We feel threatened €“ Something threatens our beliefs, our values, our personal or financial security, or other key aspect of our lives. These are pressures from which we may feel there is no escape.
We experience change €“ Regardless of whether the change is positive or negative, major changes in our life are stressful
We lose our sense of control €“ A sense of helplessness and vulnerability is extremely stressful to most people. Redundancy or serious illness are both typical examples.
Our expectations are not realised €“ Regardless of whether our expectations (about jobs, other people or situations) are realistic, we can experience a great deal of mental stress when they are not realised.
