Family Relations Class Week #9

    Hello everybody! I hope you all have had a wonderful week. I know my week was pretty good despite getting closer and closer to finals and end of semester projects. However we’re not here to talk about myself, we’re here to talk about what I’ve learned in my family relations class. Last during my family relations blog post I talked about affairs and the different types of affairs and how they can affect families. This week I would like to talk about the different types of stressors. I would also like to talk about how different types of stressors can affect the family.

Stressful life events, or life event stressors, are undesirable, unscheduled, nonnormative, and/or uncontrollable discrete, observable events with a generally clear onset and offset that usually signify major life changes. Stressful life events have significant negative consequences for both physical and psychological well-being.

The first type of stressor is a physiological stressor. These stressors can come from pregnancy, injuries, or other physical health problems. Sometimes they come unexpectedly, like if we’re involved in a car accident or come from other health issues that we’ve been facing.

The second form of stressor is lifestyle stressors. The choices we make dictate our lifestyles. Some choices mean that we don’t get enough sleep or manage our time correctly. Our work life balance also plays a key role in our lifestyle choices and our stressors. A lifestyle stressor could be that our demanding job forces us to order lots of takeout, which might not properly fuel our bodies.

The third type of event is a major life event stressor. Life changes can be a huge source of stress while we adjust. These could be positive sources of stress, such as starting college, having a child, or getting married. They can also be things that negatively change our lives, like losing a loved one or losing your job. Even major events like elections can cause stress.

The fourth type of stressors is organizational stressors. Organizational means anything from our schools, workplaces, or even clubs. These stressors can stem from the people we work with at these organizations or the rules we follow. They can also come from pressure, like working for a good grade or meeting a tight deadline at work. 

The fifth type of stressors is financial stressors. Financial stress is a significant source of stress for people of all ages. A survey found that 50% of respondents were stressed by simply talking about their finances. Other financial stressors can come from taxes, thinking about unpaid bills, and unexpected expenses.

The sixth type of stressor is social stressors. Our social health is crucial for dealing with stressors. Many studies have found that having solid support is important for our physical and mental health. But a lack of social support or unhealthy social relationships can cause us stress and damage our mental health. These stressors can stem from conflict with people close to us or loneliness.

The seventh type of stressor is environmental stressors. Stressors that come from our environment are out of our control. We can encounter environmental stressors like excessive noise or traffic or things like natural disasters or war. Sometimes we can manage them ourselves, like dealing with loud noises, but other times we don’t have control over things like hurricanes or tornadoes around us.

Thank you for reading my blog post this week about different life event stressors. I hope that you have been able to learn something new and I have learned from my family relations class. I hope you all have a good upcoming week and that you tune in for my blog post next week!bh

Wooll, Maggie. "Where’S Your Stress from? Learn about Different Types of Stressors." BetterUp, 20 Jun. 2022, betterup.com/blog/types-of-stressors. Accessed 17 Jun. 2023.