The 6 everyday activities that are stressing you out

"Relationships can bring us the best of times and the worst of times," Scott writes. "While often beneficial to our health and happiness, our relationships can also present obstacles that are frequently cited as main stressors in people's lives."

It's not just personal relationships that can bring stress. Toxic relationships, whether with friends or coworkers, are especially dangerous. These are relationships that consist of patterns like frequent criticism, gossip, unrealistic demands, contempt, and mocking.

The demands of schedules today seems to be constantly increasing. "Overwhelmed seems to be the new normal for many people," Scott writes.

The average workweek is 47 hours, and workers don't use a combined $52.4 billion in vacation time every year. With growing workloads, we tend to fill our free time with more responsibilities, she writes.

Stress and health work off of each other, Scott writes. While stress affects our health, health issues can bring significant levels of stress, too. It can be something as simple as exercising daily to reduce stress, but that isn't always the answer.

"The stress of living with chronic conditions and serious health threats can touch not only those who experience the stress but also their friends and family," Scott writes.

Any change — for better or worse — that requires a response from us can trigger stress. This includes obvious stressors like divorce or the loss of a loved one, or a mid-level stressor like a job change, Scott writes. It can even be "relatively benign events like change in eating habits and vacation," she writes.

Attitude is everything. Even if something bad happens, how you respond can determine your true level of stress. "When we dwell on negative events in our lives, we exacerbate the stress we are feeling," Scott writes.

She lists three main thinking patterns to watch out for:

• Rumination: "This involves dwelling on the negative, particularly when there is nothing you can do about it."

• Negative thinking: "Focusing on the negative in a situation, expecting things to go wrong, explaining away the positive things that happen in life."

• Cognitive distortions: "These are specific ways in which people tend to distort what they see around them; these are our brain's way of protecting our ego, but they can cause stress."

If you're feeling stressed out, identifying why is only the beginning. Follow the full 8-step process of stress management to learn how to alleviate your stress levels.