Research Report
Name: Student
Student id: A00123456
Title of report: The impact of stress
Teacher: Aaron Cross
Date:
Word count: 914
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Introduction
Currently, stress has become an important problem in modern life, affecting millions
of people globally. According to Yaribeygi (2017) stress has a deep impact on
physical and mental health, contributing to disorders such as anxiety, insomnia and
headaches. Secondary illnesses caused by stress have a significant impact on
quality of life for people; therefore, this issue cannot be minimized. Based on a
university survey of 10 people of different ages, this report explores both the
perceptions of people of different ages about stress and its main sources, as well as
how work and social environments contribute to stress and proposes strategies to
mitigate its effects.
Method
An anonymous online survey was conducted via Google Forms on September 5,
2024, to explore the issue of stress in daily life. The survey comprised 10 questions
focusing on various aspects of stress, including the frequency of experiencing stress,
the main sources of stress, and the symptoms that people experienced during
stress. The survey was completed by 10 individuals, of whom 9 were students and 1
was a teacher. It is notable that 90% of the respondents were over 30 years old,
while 10% were aged between 25 and 29 years old. In addition, 60% of the
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respondents were male and 40% female. The findings from the survey are presented
in the following sections.
Findings

Figure 1: Pie chart about the frequency of experiencing stress. (n=10)
Figure 1 shows that a significant majority of the participants (60%) experience stress
on a frequent basis, which suggests the presence of a recurrent cause of stress in
their lives. Only 10% of the respondents experience stress rarely, while another 10%
experience stress on a constant basis. In conclusion, it can be deduced that
approximately 80% of the participants report some level of recurrent stress and
another 10% indicate a constant level of stress.
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Figure 2: Bar chart about the main source of stress. (n=10)
Figure 2 shows that the biggest stress factor for the respondents is work or
academic pressure at 60% of the responses. In addition, financial problems and
family or relationship problems are also important sources of stress, each with 50%.
Health problems and other causes only occur in 10% of respondents.

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Figure 3: bar chart about symptoms experienced during stress. (n=10)
Figure 3 shows that the symptoms most commonly experienced by respondents are
irritability or anxiety and extreme fatigue or tiredness, each at 60%. In addition, 50%
report sleep problems, 40% have digestive problems, and 30% have headaches.
Only 10% of the group report other symptoms, suggesting that the most common
symptoms are fatigue, irritability and sleep problems.

Discussion
Based on the analysis of the survey in Figure 1, it can be seen that the majority of
respondents (60%) experience stress on a frequent basis. This finding is consistent
with previous research indicating that approximately 68.6% of people experience
stress due to negative situations during their daily life, such as injury or illness,
outstanding personal achievements, changed health status of a family member and
even changes in personal habits (Tibubos et al, 2021). In addition, it is important to
note that stress is a natural response of the body to challenging situations, and
although it is occasionally positive, chronic stress or prolonged stress can have
negative effects on physical and mental health (Chub et al, 2024).
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Figure 2 shows that the principal sources of stress are work or academic pressure
(60%) and financial problems (50%). These reasons are highly correlated to
elevated cortisol levels in the body, which triggers a stress response (WHO, 2020).
High workloads and academic pressure are major factors that significantly contribute
to increased cortisol levels in individuals. In addition, current research indicates that
work stress is a major source of emotional distress in young adults and
professionals, which is consistent with 60% of respondents reporting academic or
work pressure as their primary source of stress (APA, 2023).
In terms of stress symptoms, Figure 3 reveals that 60% of respondents experience
irritability or anxiety, as well as extreme fatigue or tiredness, these being the most
common symptoms. This finding is consistent with research associating prolonged
stress with mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression (WHO, 2023).
Furthermore, according to Pelealu (2023), high levels of anxiety and chronic fatigue
are increasingly prevalent in modern societies due to the overload of work, personal
responsibilities, and expectations. Additionally, sleep problems (50%) and
headaches (30%) are clear indicators that stress profoundly affects both mental and
physical health; Stress increases the pain perception and enhances transient pain
intensity in headaches (Viero, 2022).

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Conclusion
In conclusion, the result of the survey of 10 people of different ages shows that a
significant proportion of the participants (60%) experience stress regularly, principally
due to work or academic pressure and financial problems. It is important to note that
the sample in which the survey was conducted is limited and that participants were
over 35 years of age, so the survey predominantly reflects the points of view of
people in that age group. However, in spite of these limitations, the results were in
line with numerous previous studies on stress. For all people who want to effectively
address these problems, it is recommended to implement specific stress
management strategies, such as mindfulness meditation, regular physical exercise,
and time management techniques. Organizations should consider introducing stress
reduction programs. In addition, increasing public awareness of stress and its
management can help people deal more effectively with stressors and improve their
overall wellbeing.

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Reference List
APA. (2023). Stress in America. Retrieved from
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2023/collective-trauma-
recovery
Chu, B., Marwaha, K., Sanvictores, T., et al. (2024, May 7). Physiology, Stress
Reaction. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. Available from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541120/
Pelealu, R. (2023). The influence of work overload, person-job fit, and work
engagement on employee performance through job stress as a variable
intervening in automotive companies. Jurnal Mantik, 7(2), 1175–1188a.
https://iocscience.org/ejournal/index.php/mantik/article/view/4036/2871
Tibubos, A. N., Burghardt, J., Klein, E. M., et al. (2021). Frequency of stressful life
events and associations with mental health and general subjective health in
the general population. Journal of Public Health (Berl.), 29, 1071–1080.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-020-01204-3
Viero, F. T., Rodrigues, P., & Trevisan, G. (2022). Cognitive or daily stress
association with headache and pain induction in migraine and tension-type
headache patients: A systematic review. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics,
22(3), 257–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/14737175.2022.2041414
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WHO. (2020). Stress in the workplace. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-
room/questions-and-answers/item/occupational-health-stress-at-the-
workplace
WHO. (2023). Depressive disorder (depression). Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017, July
21). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI Journal, 16,
1057–1072. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480