Discover The Root Cause Of Your Stress

Everyone has something that bothers them. It's like we all have a reason to worry or feel like we have lost control. In some situations, you end up overreacting. You express how you feel, even if it is unrelated to the current situation. 

You begin to be filled with worry and dread. Ultimately, it has affected your life in more ways than you ever imagined. Stress and mental health are a terrible combination. 

Sadly, all the stress that you are feeling at the moment is brought about by emotions and reasons that you don't know how to handle. This is why you must understand what is bothering you. That's the first step to ultimately finding stress healing. Unless you know what is upsetting you and what is causing all the pent up emotions, you won't be able to relieve yourself of it. 

Usually, when you get down to the root cause of your stress, it becomes fairly easy to find a solution. When you find out that your fears are ungrounded, it is easy to tell yourself to stop and move on. 

But how do you identify the cause of your stress?

It does not take a lot to identify your stress triggers. In fact, you can do so by taking three easy steps. 

Step 1: Be aware of how you feel

Most of the bad moods that you have are a result of the negative situations you've recently found yourself. Being aware of the stressful situation you are about to enter, or the negative mood that is about to fill you up will play a critical role in identifying what bothers you. 

Examples of these situations are those that make you worry about important people or things in your life. When you put yourself in a pessimistic perspective, you begin to experience sleep deprivation, relationship clashes, and many others that result in a life imbalance. Working too much can put a lot of stress on you too. 

What are the factors of stress?

•  You overreact to a situation. 
•  You work yourself up over something that's really simple.
•  You express strong feelings and emotions.
•  You begin to overthink.
•  You dwell on negative emotions. 

Being aware of the situation you are in and how you really feel will help you identify the root cause of your stress. Being mindful of your emotions gives you a better perspective of things. 

Step 2: Identify what is bothering you by asking yourself the five W's

Awareness is the key to successfully learning about who you are and how you feel. However, awareness won't be much help unless you go down to the dirty details. Narrow your knowledge down to these five important questions. It involves Who, What, Where, When, and Why. 

• Who is bothering you? Are there people in your life that you don't like?
• What is bothering you? Are you not getting the appreciation that you think you deserve? Or are you not doing as well in school as you hoped you would? Are you threatened with the thought that you may lose your job in the coming months?
• Where do you feel most uncomfortable? Is it around your family, friends, schoolmates, or coworkers?
• When did you start to feel this way? Was it something you felt only today, last week, or last month?
• Why do you feel like it's so unfair? Why does it bother you at all? Does it feel like you deserve more?

Once you get the answers to these questions, getting down to the details can be fairly easy. It does not necessarily mean that you have all the answers. But you would be able to get yourself a little bit closer to truly understanding how you feel. 

Step 3: Take on various techniques to help you deal with the situation

There are various ways you can deal with any situation. Your choice on how to act depends a lot on how you feel towards it. There are basically three options you can choose from, and there are a lot more techniques out there. All you need to know is what you are worried about, and the solutions will come to you. 

The talk

Finding out what is bothering you does not take you very far from the surface. One of the most important aspects of getting to the root cause of the problem is getting help. Perhaps you can ask a friend or a family to ask you the five W's. People tend to be more honest with their thoughts when speaking about their feelings with other people. 

The journal

Keeping a journal is indeed one of the ways you can take your mind off negative emotions. Instead of wallowing in them, write about them. Put your feelings in the journal. A recording of how you feel will help you keep track of your emotions' ups and downs. When you seek professional help, your journal will be a reminder of your emotional awareness. 

Therapy

If you have used the first two methods and still it seems as if you cannot get down to the root cause of all the stress, then allow yourself to seek professional help. Talking to a therapist could help you deal with your emotional health needs as well as your mental concerns. More importantly, you will be able to get a proper diagnosis of the trauma you are dealing with and get the right kind of help. 

What's really bothering you? What's causing all the stress? All these aim to determine the kind of help that you need. After all, stress should never be taken lightly. Do your best to nip it in the bud so you can live the best life possible.