External & Internal psychological stressors

External & Internal psychological stressors

External psychological stressors are such things as poor working conditions or
conflicting relationships. External psychological stressors include:

• Physical Environment
• Noise
• Poor Lighting
• Heat
• Confined Spaces
• Social Interaction
• Rudeness
• Bossiness
• Aggressiveness
• Bullying
• Organisational
• Rules
• Regulations
• Deadlines
• Major Life Events
• Birth
• Death
• Transfer
• Promotion
• Marital problems
• Daily Hassles
• Commuting
• Mechanical breakdowns


Internal psychological stress can often be the most harmful because there is frequently
no resolution to the stressful situation. These stressors are anxieties about events that
may or may not happen, and the stress response continues to be active as long as one is
worrying about it. The internal psychological stressors include:

• Lifestyle choices
• Caffeine
• Lack of sleep
• Overloaded schedule
• Negative self – talk
• Pessimistic thinking
• Self criticism
• Over analysing
• Mind traps
• Unrealistic expectations
• Taking things personally
• All or nothing thinking
• Exaggeration
• Rigid thinking
• Personality traits
• Perfectionists
• Workaholics

Stress can affect the overall performance of a person and for some could result in serious
ill health - both mental and physical. Such ailments as hypertension, coronary thrombosis,
migraine and peptic ulcers are only a few of the illnesses recognized as having a stress related
background. In the workplace it has been seen, through on-going research, to
have a very detrimental effect.

Common causes of stress within the workplace include:

• The Drive for Success: Modern society is driven by ‘work’. Personal adequacy
equates with professional success and people crave for status and abhor failure.
The demand for monetary success / professional status is simply overwhelming.
• Working Conditions: Physical and mental health is adversely affected by
unpleasant working conditions, such as high noise levels, lighting, temperature and
unsocial or excessive hours.
• Overwork: Stress may occur through inability to cope with the technical or intellectual
demands of a particular task. Circumstances such as long hours, unrealistic
deadlines and frequent interruptions will compound this.
• Underwork: This may arise from boredom because there is not enough to do, or
because a job is dull and repetitive.
• Uncertainty: About the work - role objectives, responsibilities, and expectations,
and a lack of communication and feedback can result in confusion, helplessness,
and stress.
• Conflict: Stress can arise from work which the individual does not want to do or
that conflicts with their personal, social and family values.
• Responsibility: The greater the level of responsibility the greater the potential level
of stress
• Relationships at work: Good relationships with colleagues are crucial. Open
discussion is essential to encourage positive relationships.
• Changes at work: Changes that alter psychological, physiological and behavioural
routines such as promotion, retirement and redundancy are particularly stressful.