The 3 Most Common Triggers of Stress

If you’ve ever been stressed and wondered how you ended up there, it can be helpful to understand the role of stress triggers.

Three of the most common triggers of stress are…

  1. Uncertainty
  2. Lack of information
  3. The feeling of lack of control

Although these aren’t causes of stress, they are triggers that can activate stress.

Here’s just one example, that you might see in the work environment, of the 3 triggers in action …

A receptionist receives a package from a courier, addressed to a company executive,  marked “urgent and for immediate delivery”.

And, as much as she tries, she can’t get in touch with either the executive’s assistant or the executive to whom the urgent package is addressed.

Because of this, it’s possible that all 3 of the stress triggers might be activated at the same time.

Here’s why…

The receptionist is: 1) uncertain about what to do, 2) she doesn’t have enough information about what to do, and 3) she feels out of control.

If she lets herself start having a negative conversation with herself about the events , it could trigger stress.

Here’s how…

She might say, “Here we go again. No one ever communicates with me and I am sure I will be blamed for this.”

Now she’s stressed.

Because that’s what stress is – a combination of the conversation and the negative impact it is having on her physical well-being and emotions.

Of course, this conversation she’s having with herself won’t help her reach either the executive or the assistant and it won’t get the package delivered.

Here’s how she can turn this around…

She can avoid stress by changing the conversation with herself.

She could say, “I’m certain I’ll find them, they have to be in the building, and this will be O.K.”

In this way, she has neutralized uncertainty, recognized that there is always information that can help, and she now feels in control.

If you would like to read more on the true CAUSE of stress, click here.