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What Are the Causes of Mental Stress?

Normal levels of stress can stimulate your brain and encourage creative thinking. However, too much stress can cause problems at work and home.The word "stress" comes from "distress" with Latin roots meaning "to pull apart." When under intense mental stress, you may feel pulled in different directions. Identifying some common causes of mental stress can help you manage your stress levels.

  1. Family Problems

    • Mental stress can occur when the demands in your life exceed your ability to cope. Strained family relations can be a source of extreme mental stress. Problems such as divorce, separation, loneliness, homesickness, abuse and child-care issues can overwhelm you.

    Money Problems

    • Ongoing stressful situations, such as those created by persistent financial concerns, can cause a chronic form of stress. Unemployment, underemployment, poverty and bankruptcy can all cause

      long- term crises that contribute to mental stress.

    Environmental

    • Environments with chronic noise--whether in the workplace, on the commute to work or at home--create mental stress. Mental stress from noise can reduce concentration, inhibit work performance, contribute to bad moods and interfere with learning, according to the Franklin Institute. Additionally, Dr. Alice Suter, an audiologist with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, includes learning impairment, compromised immune functioning and aggression in noise-related problems.

    Positive Life Events

    • Positive life events such as marriage, pregnancy, moving and graduation can be a source of joy. They also bring a natural amount of mental stress. Planning, worrying and adjusting to these new life situations can challenge coping skills and be overwhelming.

    Health

    • The loss of health for you or a family member can bring increased mental stress. Injury and chronic illness can limit a once active lifestyle. Health difficulties frequently come with additional economic worries and uncertainty. Ironically, chronic mental stress can also be a cause of ill health, according to The Menninger Clinic.

    Fear

    • Threats, either perceived or real, create uncertainty and stress. When a threat is real, stress may help a person react quickly and stay safe. When a threat is perceived, it still produces real fear which creates mental stress. Ongoing threats to your safety and well-being create chronic stress. This stress is multiplied when a person feels helpless to control or change the situation.

    Unfulfilled Expectations

    • Life circumstances may prevent you from fulfilling expectations and commitments. When this conflicts with your moral views, it brings a form of mental stress known as cognitive dissonance. For example, an honest person who fails to keep a promise has increased mental stress over the worry of being perceived as dishonest.

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