What Causes Stress?

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
Stressed about exams? We have info for young people to help
you cope with exam stress at school or college
Read more
Housing
 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
Read more about racism and mental health
Read more
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.”
< Signs and symptoms of stressManaging stress and building resilience >
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This information was published in March 2022. We will revise it
in 2025.
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What causes stress?

Many things can cause stress. You might feel stressed

You may experience stress if you:

 Feel under lots of pressure

How stressed you feel in different situations may depend on

How comfortable you feel in certain types of situation

Certain events might also make you feel stressed sometimes,

Many things can cause stress in different areas of our lives.

Getting married or civil partnered

 Housing problems, such as poor living conditions, lack of

 Worries about money or benefits

 Having poor access to services such as medical care, green

Some of these situations are often thought of as happy events.

References and bibliography available on request.

If you want to reproduce this content, see our permissions and

Share this information

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