Yahoo Finance 5 key causes of stress today and how you can minimise them
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From work to finances, stress is all around us. But it doesn’t have to be in charge - here’s how to minimise stress in your life.
It’s taken a while, but we seem to have finally accepted that good health isn’t all about the physical side of things. We recognise good mental health needs to be prioritised as much as our physical health and that anxiety and stress can manifest as physical health problems from digestive issues to lowered immunity and high blood pressure.
Stress has taken on a whole new meaning since the pandemic began. 79% of UK adults feel stressed at least one day a month, while one in 14 adults feels stressed every single day, according to survey data. And for the expats working in the UK, it’s been an even more testing time – finding themselves unable to travel and separated from family and friends for months on end.
The levels of stress induced by fear, overwhelm, grief and finding ourselves in inconceivable situations - like working from home full-time while having to home-school our kids or not being able to see our loved ones - has led to immense mental and emotional strain.
This collective emotional overwhelm is being referred to as ‘the second pandemic,’ the mental health crisis whose long-term implications we have yet to discover and understand. But poor mental health is just one piece of the puzzle. Research from Cigna, the global health service company, has identified five key pillars to our ‘whole health’ - money, work, family, mental and physical.
What causes stress today?
While anything can make us stressed - like burning the toast at breakfast or getting caught in yet another traffic jam – there are five main causes of stress that impact various facets of our lives.
1. Family
Some of today’s stressors are as old as time (like family). This has been exacerbated by the pandemic as individuals have been isolated from loved ones overseas and worried about their physical health.
Parents-to-be faced more stress during COVID – one study found that pregnant women’s risk of depression nearly doubled after the pandemic began, while parents with children at home across multiple lockdowns reported increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Disagreements about pandemic-related policies and vaccines is another stressor causing rifts between family members.
2. Money
People always find money stressful, and job uncertainty during the past 20 months has only exacerbated that. The pandemic has created its own specific stressors, like uncertainty about the future (76% of Brits surveyed by Cigna said this was the leading cause of stress for them).
3. Mental Health
The negative news cycle, which feels incessant the past 20 months, has also played a role in giving us that feeling of insurmountable gloom that can poorly affect our mental health as a result. Doomscrolling – both local and global news – no doubt contributes to our heightened levels of panic, especially when faced with a barrage of negative news like climate reports that make us worry the future is also bleak.
4. Work
Another big stressor? We have no downtime. Working from home means that boundaries between work and life have eroded. While there are many advantages to remote working, the struggle to turn off and pressure to be ‘always on’ is very real - and a source of anxiety and stress. Many of us are trying to navigate what work-life balance looks like in our ‘new normal’ and figure out if remote working or office-based work (or perhaps a combination of both), is best for our productivity and positive mental health.
5. Physical health
To top it off, we are living on edge, with a sense of heightened fear that comes from collective and personal grief, and anxiety about our physical health - all hallmarks of this pandemic. Delays and disruptions to care for other illnesses – from record waiting lists for operations to ambulance delays – are only exacerbating our concerns about physical health and the health of those near and dear to us, wherever they are in the world.
What are some ways to cope with stress?
Stress-coping mechanisms are a part of common parlance these days: ‘stress eating,’ ‘stress picking’ and ‘stress drinking,’ but most of these coping habits are negative ones. Drinking alcohol when stressed can lead to increased anxiety.
However, there are plenty of positive ways to tackle your stress - and many don’t cost a thing. One study from Penn State University found that looking at memes online could release positive emotions and even lower COVID-related stress levels.
Wondering how stressed you really are? Then check your stress levels using Cigna’s online StressWaves test, which evaluates stress levels by listening to your voice (you can also fill out a stress questionnaire to visualise your stress levels).
This test uses machine-learning technology to analyse stress levels based on your pauses, word choice and pitch tone. Choose two topics from Cigna’s provided list, which includes health worries and relationship challenges, find a quiet space and start talking. It only takes 60 seconds for the test to work and evaluate your stress levels, determining your score on a scale from low to high. And if it turns out your levels of stress are concerning for you – there are resources available offering expert advice to formulate a personal Stress Care Plan to help effectively deal with it.
As we navigate this ‘new normal,’ we know stress will be a part of it. Knowing how to manage our stress can help it feel a whole lot less overwhelming. And breathe.
The free Cigna StressWaves test evaluates your stress levels based on the sound of your voice. Find out what your stress levels are so you can take control
