Causes of 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. Our information could help. 

Nowadays, it's often the stresses of everyday life which have the biggest impact on my mental health.

When might I experience stress?

You may experience stress if you:

• Feel under lots of pressure
• Face big changes in your life
• Are going through a period of uncertainty
• 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

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're 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're 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.

What kinds 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 for someone else

Employment and study

• Losing your job
• Long-term unemployment
• Retiring
• Exams and deadlines
• Too many responsibilities or problems with your workload
• Difficult situations or colleagues at work
• Starting a new job

Read more about work and stress.

Housing

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

Read more about housing and mental health.

Money

• Worries about money or benefits
• Not being able to afford the things you need like food
• Managing debt

Read more about money and mental health.

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

Read more about racism and mental health and LGBTQIA+ mental health.

Can happy events cause stress?

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

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

As soon as I spotted the first Christmas display in a shop, the pressure inside me would begin to build.