One of the major health problems that we have in the 21st century is that of stress. It is known to be behind many different illnesses, and it can have many different causes.

In fact, stress can attack anybody for any reason. For instance, one of the problems that many people suffer from is money worries. People who feel that they do not have enough money worry constantly about how to pay the bills, how to buy new clothes for the kids, how to pay for repairs to the car before its’ MOT, how to buy a new car, how to pay the rent, how to save for a holiday – the list is almost never-ending.

The interesting fact is that even those who do have enough money for all those things, and indeed may be wealthy and have more money than they need, can also suffer from stress about money. In this case, it is worrying about the fact that some disaster may strike, and they will lose all their money. To those who really do not have enough money, that may seem astonishing, but the fact is that it happens.

Other people may have a successful business with sufficient personal income but stress over the fact that they need to build the business up even further in order to ensure an ever-growing level of income so that the business doesn’t fail.

Of course, money is by no means the only cause of stress. As I am writing this article, I am stressed about the fact that I may not get it finished by the end of the day and I will therefore be late in delivering it, which in turn will mean that my client will not be happy with me.

Many people have stresses at work. Simply getting there on time every day can be stressful, especially when you get held up on the motorway, or the trains fail to run on time (which is most of the time!). Stress can come from a boss who is not happy with something you have done or not done. It can also come from work colleagues who shun you and won’t talk to you because of something you said or didn’t say, or for reasons that you don’t understand.

Then there is the stress of getting home again in the rush hour, perhaps to an "other half" with whom you are having relationship problems. All couples experience relationship problems from time to time because none of us is ever going to agree with each other all the time. Of course, you might also be stressed because you don’t have an "other half" and have to go home, do the washing and ironing, clean the house, cook dinner etc., all by yourself.

You might simply move home. That is known to be one of the most stressful things that we ever do, even if moving to a nicer/bigger/better home, and yet on average in the UK we move home every seven years. Ten times in an average lifetime.

You might lose your job, or be fearful of doing so, especially if your company is going through a hard time and laying people off. Will I be next? You might have been diagnosed with an illness or perhaps lost a loved one.

Yes, there are many things in this world today that can cause stress. How we handle it can have a big effect on our lives overall.

Some people take a holiday in order to relieve stress and get a bit of "me" time. However, other people suffer stress even on holiday because they worry about how their dog is getting on in the kennels.

One thing that has been coming more into fashion in the last few years is acupuncture for treatment of a lot of physical and mental problems. Stress acupuncture in London has been found to have a calming and soothing effect on many people suffering from stress and has had many beneficial other effects. For instance, stress and worry has been found to be behind infertility in both men and women, and this has been treated with acupuncture and produced some very good results. Couples who have been unable to conceive as a result of stress, have gone on to produce a son or daughter.