People, situations or events that cause us emotional stress do so for one of several reasons:

• We feel threatened €“ Something threatens our beliefs, our values, our personal or financial security, or other key aspect of our lives. These are pressures from which we may feel there is no escape.
• We experience change €“ Regardless of whether the change is positive or negative, major changes in our life are stressful
• We lose our sense of control €“ A sense of helplessness and vulnerability is extremely stressful to most people. Redundancy or serious illness are both typical examples.
• Our expectations are not realised €“ Regardless of whether our expectations (about jobs, other people or situations) are realistic, we can experience a great deal of mental stress when they are not realised.