The absence of Negative Affect is one of the keys to happiness. Negative Affect is an emotional response to certain situations, and is similar to the concept of stress. Stress is a term that does not, as yet have a clear-cut definition, the businessman may see it as frustration, the athlete as muscular tension, the medic as a biochemical response. It is often referred to as the 'fight or flight response', dating from the days when man was threatened by animals, yet the response is relevant today for coping with mental challenges. Indeed the interesting thing about the stress response, is that the same mechanism allows us to cope with everything from serious injury, to mental challenges at work to competitive sport. Stress is also apparent in intense positive situations, for example the excitement of a wedding or achievement of a major goal. Indeed some authors have described different types of stress. For example, Selye (1974) described the idea of distress (destructive to health) and eustress (pleasant stress from achievement).

There is clear evidence of a link between stress and physical ill-health. Stressors which are encountered continually change body physiology and increase the likelihood of heart attack (Karasek et al., 1981) and reduce the efficiency of the immune system making people more susceptible to a range of illnesses. Click here to learn more about the biochemical mechanisms behind stress.

Stress can be caused by any factor in life - divorce, moving house and bereavement are often reckoned to be the most stressful times of life. As a result, it is important to see stress as a result of every aspect of life, rather than merely a result of work. Many major causes of stress are related to the family. They include: ·
- Conflict between spouses ·
- Problems and conflict with children ·
- Sibling rivalry ·
- Illness of family members ·
- Divorce ·
- Post-divorce conflict over children, settlements etc. ·
- Looking after elderly or disabled family members. ·
- Bereavement ·
- Separation of a family member ·
- Family violence ·
- Economic hardship ·
- Marriage (eustress) ·
- Childbirth (eustress)

There are also more subtle sources of social stress, for example the pace of change in society. Changes in society can make people feel that they don't understand what is going on, that they are uncertain about the changes they have and can undermine self-identity. Another area causing stress is environmental. In the UK, which in parts is very crowded, this manifests itself in the stress of the daily commute. It can also be a result of noise pollution, pollution or other environmental factors. The last cause of non-work stress is the thankfully rare examples of major catastrophes.

The last major source of stress is work. Since work takes up a large proportion of people's time it is inevitably a major potential cause of stress. It can also have a knock on effect on non-work related stress, through, for example, pressure to work long hours. In turn this may lead to divorce, which may lead to problems with children and so on.