Life is stressful, but what triggers your stress reaction may well be very different to the person sitting next to you. Your stress triggers tell us something about your stress type, so in this Sharepost I'm going to unpack four of the more common stress triggers and the way your health may be affected as a result. They are not necessarily exclusive and you may even recognize one or more in yourself or others!
Trigger 1: Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone.
Most of us have what can be described as a comfort zone. The more introverted we are the smaller and more constrained that comfort zone tends to be. This is a fairly common scenario for anxious people. They typically prefer to be outside the center of attention and if pushed forward, will retreat inside their shell and try to avoid similar situations in the future. We know that anxiety is linked to a number of health issues. Stress can trigger underlying health conditions such as eczema or if chronic can lead to heart conditions and general run down of the immune system leaving the person more exposed to infection and delayed recovery.
Trigger 2: Unpredictability and Change.
Self management and self control are good things but we live in a world of changing deadlines and priorities. To the person who is self-reliant and conscientious any disruption to their well organized day can be highly stressful. Working parents, for example, often juggle their day around a number of competing needs and requirements. They usually have a built-in system of fall-back plans but this can only stretch so far in a day packed with events.
The type of person often prefers to do jobs themselves because they know they will be done to a standard and within a time frame they believe will save further problems. To an extent this may be true but it does place the onus of all responsibility on their shoulders. Then, at what may appear the whim of someone in authority, the schedule changes. To cope with the sudden and unexpected change the person tries to absorb the change and works harder. They internalize their stress because they aren't the type of person to speak out or cause disruption.
This type of person is in danger of developing a state of chronic stress. They bottle their emotions and feel physical ailments in terms of headaches, backache and stomach upsets. They may find their blood pressure elevates and over time may even find they are prone to anxiety attacks.
Trigger 3: Lack of Acknowledgement or Recognition.
Some people regard their work as stressful, complex and poorly recognized. In turn they frequently interpret events in a negative way and can become quite cynical or bitter. Interestingly this same person is often quite passionate about their work and may have worked or studied hard to get to where they are. The down side of their personality is that they can be fairly emotional and critical which leads others to indulge them for fear of causing further upset.
