One Likely Source Of Your Chronic Anxiety: Your Family
Tags: Anxiety, Self, Self-awareness, Self Improvement, Stress

Are the people in your life stressing you out?

Maybe you’ll be happier if the people you live with are less stressed.

Let me ask you something and you should strive to answer it as honestly as possible. Who in the family is experiencing the most stress? By family, I also mean the people you live with or live near such as your roommates, your neighbours, etc. As long as they are the people you live with, they can influence you just as much as any family member you live with could.

Living with a chronically stressed-out individual can also make you stressed out and anxious even if you have no other stressors in life.

For as long as I can remember, my mom has been experiencing a tremendous amount of stress. First, she was earning her Ph.D., then it was her post-grad career, and then it was a job change, and then it was a new career altogether. It brought on a lot of stress for her.

Life is full of stress and some of us experience more stress than others. Some may be more susceptible to stress than others. It seems as though my entire family is inflicted with a disease of stress.

At one point in my childhood, I even thought that it is something to look forward to. To experience a lot of stress because somehow it means you’re working hard. However, that’s far from the truth.

Just because you are under a lot of stress, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are being productive or is working hard.

A stressed person can be procrastinating.

Simply complaining about the task you are responsible for can make you stressed, it doesn’t mean you re working hard on it now, but it does mean that you’re thinking about working on it. There is a difference between thinking about working and actually working, you see.

Stress is inevitable but just how much of your stress is brought on by someone else’s stress? You won’t really know until they aren’t as stress and you see the difference in how they act and how they impact you as a result.

My mother recently has made a positive leap in her career and I can tell how happy it made her. It also made her a lot less stressed. As a result, I was also experiencing less stress. It’s only until recently that I found out the extensive impact my mother has on me. It’s not a surprise, really, since I sit three seconds walk away from her in the living room when both of us are home which is most of the time.

It makes me happy to see her relax a bit but it also started my contemplation. I felt a sense of helplessness since there isn’t really anything I could do about the situation. I can’t help her feel less stressed. I could help around the house with chores, buy her gifts, give her some massages but as I’ve seen in the past it really doesn’t make too much of a difference to her stress level. I can’t eradicate her stress and thus it’ll plague her. And then it’ll plague me. Don’t get me wrong, I do care about my mother’s stress even if it doesn’t impact me.

For those of you who are experiencing unexplained anxieties may I suggest that the source may come from those closest to you? Keep in mind, it’s the unsolicited influence which they themselves couldn’t quite get under control. They didn’t start out being stressed thinking they can make you so. Thus, cut them some slack.

Then, you might begin to ponder what else you could do about it? Perhaps there is something you know that can help those you live with feel more at ease.

Perhaps, there is nothing you could do. If that’s the case, you may begin to consider the possibility of moving. I know I am thinking of such a likelihood.

The point of this article isn’t to blame others for how we feel but to analyze that sometimes those closest to us may not have the best influence on us and it’s okay. No one is perfect. Check to see if there is any help you could offer and if not, consider a move as it might make you that much happier.

Take care, best of luck to you all!

P.S. I’m writing this at 5:22 am in the morning having stayed up all night to get some business stuff done including writing articles. Otherwise, during the day my mother’s antsy personality could make a simple task that much more stress-inducing for me.