Stress

Explains what stress is, what might cause it and how it can affect you. Includes information about ways you can help yourself and how to get support.

This page is also available in Welsh.

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What causes stress?

Many things can cause stress. You might feel stressed because of one big event or situation in your life. Or it might be a build-up of lots of smaller things.

This might make it harder for you to identify what's making you feel stressed, or to explain it to other people.

You may experience stress if you:

Feel under lots of pressure
Face big changes in your life
Are worried about something
Don't have much or any control over the outcome of a situation
Have responsibilities that you find overwhelming
Don't have enough work, activities or change in your life
Experience discrimination, hate or abuse
Are going through a period of uncertainty

“Stressful life events, which in isolation might seem less significant, combined to have a real impact on my mental health.”

Why do certain things make me feel stressed?

How stressed you feel in different situations may depend on factors like:

How comfortable you feel in certain types of situation
What else you are going through at the time
Your past experiences, and how these affect the way you feel about yourself
The resources you have available to you, such as time and money
The amount of support you have from other people

Some situations that don't bother you at all might cause someone else a lot of stress. This is because we are all influenced by different experiences. We also have different levels of support and ways of coping.

Certain events might also make you feel stressed sometimes, but not every time.

For example, if you go shopping for food with enough time and money, you may not feel stressed. But you might feel stressed if you have lots of other things to do, have a tight budget, or need to buy food for a big event.

“I get stressed when things get out of perspective – too much work, thinking too far ahead.”

What kind of situations can cause stress?

Many things can cause stress in different areas of our lives. These may include:

Personal

Illness or injury
Pregnancy and becoming a parent
Infertility and problems having children
Bereavement
Experiencing abuse
Experiencing crime and the justice system, such as being arrested, going to court or being a witness
Organising a complicated event, like a holiday
Everyday tasks, such as household chores or taking transport

Friends and family

Getting married or civil partnered
Going through a break-up or getting divorced
Difficult relationships with parents, siblings, friends or children
Being a carer

“My breakdown [...] was due to having a stressful job as a project manager and dealing with a marriage break up and subsequent divorce.”

Employment and study

Losing your job
Long-term unemployment
Retiring
Exams and deadlines
Difficult situations or colleagues at work
Starting a new job

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Housing problems, such as poor living conditions, lack of security or homelessness
Moving house
Problems with neighbours

Money

Worries about money or benefits
Living in poverty
Managing debt

Social factors

Having poor access to services such as medical care, green spaces or transport
Living through a stressful community-wide, national or global event, like the coronavirus pandemic
Experiencing stigma or discrimination, including racism, homophobia, biphobia or transphobia

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Can happy events cause stress?

Some of these situations are often thought of as happy events. For example, you might feel expected to be happy or excited about getting married or having a baby.

But these events can bring big changes, and you might experience new or unusual demands. So they can still feel very stressful. This can be difficult to deal with, especially if you also feel pressure to be positive.

“I've never been more stressed in my life than the 6 months leading up to my wedding... everyone kept asking me if I was happy and expecting me to be excited all the time, but I just couldn't feel it. I ended up getting really ill.”