Stress & Vulnerability

Many of these triggers are also sources of stress, and stress is known to have a significant impact on mental health, and one of the primary causes of the development of both poor mental health, and mental illness.


Sources of stress


Stress is any demand made on the brain or body. In mental health, it is mainly used to describe any strain that comes from challenging and demanding circumstances. When external stresses are combined with individual vulnerabilities, the result is often a significant decline in mental health.


There are five basic groups of stress:


  • Physical stress that arises from substance misuse, late nights, lack of routine, poor diet, lack of exercise, etc.
  • Environment stress that arises from social isolation, unemployment, poor housing, moving house, etc.
  • Emotional stress that arises from family conflict, relationship problems, cultural conflict, peer pressure, etc.
  • Chronic stress that arises from debts, prolonged substance abuse, existing poor mental health, housing, etc.
  • Life events including bereavement, abuse, accidents, violence, trauma, imprisonment, rape, assault, arrest, sudden physical illness, etc.


→ Even positive events, for example: promotion, marriage, pregnancy etc., can often be a source of significant stress which can lead to poor mental health.


Vulnerability


People become unwell when the stress they face becomes more than they can cope with. However, peoples ability to deal with stress - their vulnerability - varies considerably from person to person; what one person may easily cope with can cause another person to develop significantly poor mental health. This means that people with low vulnerability needs to experience a lot more stress before becoming unwell than a person with much higher vulnerability - which is why not everyone in the same circumstances, or experiencing the same things, experience the same mental health issues.


Vulnerability factors


There are a number of things that affect vulnerability:


  • Genetics - Studies have shown that genetic factors can make people more vulnerable to particular mental health issues.
  • Environment - the environment around a person, and the options open to them, is often related to how a person copes with stress, for example: the neighbourhood where they live.
  • Coping mechanisms - certain methods of coping with difficulties seem to be more effective than others, and help people deal with stress more easily.
  • Thinking style - How people view themselves and the world around them significantly impacts their vulnerability to stress. The more positive a person is about things, the more they are able to cope; the more negative a person is about things, the harder it is for them to cope.
  • Social skills - people who lack basic social skills feel more isolated and unable to cope than people who are able to make friends and find support through a network of connections.


Learning new social skills, making friends, changing the environment, seeing things more positively, and developing a more positive mindset, can move people towards being less vulnerable, and therefore reduce the risk of poor mental health or developing long-term mental illness.


→ There will always be stresses in life, but the key is to recognise and manage these stresses before they become overwhelming.