STRESSORS AND

SIGNS
• Most of the time, the stressors are something new to us that challenge
our ego or competence to cope up (Mental Health Foundation 2018).
There are four major sources of stressors (Klinic Community Health
Centre 2010): the physical or natural environment, such as pollution
or weather; social stressors, such as deadlines, financial problems,
and relationships; physiological, which includes the changing body of
an adolescent, aging, and physical accidents; and thoughts, which
includes memories or imagined scenarios.
In an information pamphlet by the National Association
of Mental Health (Boyd 2015), they were able to identify
six major causes or categories of stressors.
• a. Lots of pressure, mostly from other people in a social context;
• b. Facing major life changes, like moving from one place to another or
deciding on your career;
• c. Worrying about a person, event, or a thing;
• d. Actual or perceived lack of control over the outcome of a situation
• e. Overwhelming responsibilities, especially when they come all at once all of
a sudden; and
• f. Leading a monotonous life that does not offer any development of oneself.
• The "College Student's Stressful Event Checklist" already provides
us with specific stressors in the life of a student, but as times have
evolved, technology and social media were also added to those that
can cause us stress (Mental Health Foundation 2018), The ability to
be technologically literate may provide confidence for a lot of
people, while those who cannot cope up can either feel incompetent
or be overwhelmed by the perceived complexity of new
technologies.
• Social media also became a source of sell -esteem for some, that
receiving bad reviews or no feedbacks at all can stress them out and
lead to negative behavior just to compensate. It also became context
for self-proclaimed fame as well as cyberbullying.
Several of the signs that you are experiencing stress are
(Boyd 2015: Mental Health Foundation 2018; University
of Regina-Counselling Services 1998):
• 1. Physical: Changes in appetite, cold feet and swealing hands, pounding heart,
fatigue, back pains, memory loss, difficulty In sleeping, constipation or diarrhea,
blurred vision, difficulty in breathing, word loss, headaches, and nausea.
• 2. Emotional: Depression, mood swings, quick to anger, anxiety, nervousness,
grief, forgetfulness, defensiveness
• 3. Relational/Social: Isolation, sexual problems, distrust, lack of Intimacy
• 4. Mental: Difficulty in solving problems, difficulty in making decisions, difficulty
in concentrating, denial, negative self-talk
• 5.