### Clue: Writer upset over short period is getting stress (8)
### Answer: EMPHASIS 
 ### Explanation: Definition: stress
 **Reversal of**(… upset, in a down clue) ME(the writer using the self-referential pronoun) **placed above**(over, in a down clue) "phase"(a distinct period of time/a stage in a series of events) **minus ****its last letter**(short …) + IS.