Conversation Questions
Stress

A Part of Conversation Questions for the ESL Classroom.

Recognizing Stress

• What is stress?
• What causes stress?
• How do you recognize stress in your life?
• Have you been under stress recently?
• How does stress affect you?
• Do you have a kind of red warning flag that indicates too much stress?
• When you are stressful, how do you feel physically?
  • Do you feel tired during the day?
  • Can you sleep well at night?
  • Does your stomach hurt?
• How do you feel emotionally?
  • Do you feel nervous or worried about stressful situations?
  • Do you get angry easily?

Helping Others

• Have you ever helped someone who was feeling stressful?
  • What did you do?
  • Did you give them advice?
  • Did you listen to them?
  • Did you do most of the talking?
  • Did you take some action to help them?
• Have you ever helped someone that you didn't know?
• What are characteristics of a good counselor?
  • Is it necessary to have shared the same experience?
  • Is it important to be an expert?
  • Is it important to be patient?

Healthy Stress

• Do you think stress is ever good, useful, or necessary?
  • Why or why not?
• Do you play games or sports that are sometimes stressful?
• When can stress be a good thing?
  • If you are playing a sport and your team is losing, does it give you extra energy?
• Does stress make you feel more alive?
• Is your home life stressful?
• Are you busy at home?
• Can you relax at home?
• Do you enjoy having discussions about politics with other people who have different opinions?
• Do you like to argue about different ways to do things at work or at home?

Personal

• Have you felt stress recently?
  • Did the stressful feeling last a long time or a short time?
  • Had the cause of the stress happened to you before or was this a new situation?
• How often do you think you feel too much stress?
• Do you feel too busy sometimes?
• In what way does a too full schedule lead to stress?
• Do you like being busy?
• If you are very busy at work or at school, do you have ways to balance your life?
• If you have nothing to do, do you enjoy yourself or do you get bored?
• Does stress make it hard for you to think or act?
• How can you judge what is the right amount of stress for you?
• Is your stress caused by relationships with other people?
  • At work? At school?
  • At home?
  • With best friends?
  • With partners?
  • Can you think of some examples?
• Does stress come when you worry about your life?
• Do you keep your worries a secret from other people?
• Do you have anyone you can talk to when you are worried?
• When did we start talking about stress as a psychological condition?
• What do you do when you have stress?

Stressful Situations

• Are there situations that you find stressful?
• Do you feel tense when you meet someone for the first time?
• Do you get nervous if you have to make a speech?
• Do you suffer from stress when you have too much work to do?
• Do you work or study for long hours under stressful conditions?
• Does the place you live have a low-stress environment?
• Can you be alone as much as you like?
• Can you be with friends as often as you like?
• Is it easy for you to make decisions about important things?
• Can you relax when you are sleeping away from home?
• In what kinds of situations do you observe other people feeling stressed?
• What are some situations that you enjoy?
• What are some situations that make you feel stressful?
• How can you eliminate stressful situations?
• Plan a low stress, cheap, one day holiday.

Controlling Stress

• How do you relieve stress?
• What stresses you out?
• Do you have a stressful lifestyle?
• How can you eliminate stressful situations?
• How do you get control of a stressful situation that is getting too tough?
• What is the "fight or flight" response? How does it relate to stress?
• Do you enjoy the feeling of being stressed?
• If you are feeling stressed, what do you do?
• Do you like to relax or be active when stressful?
• Are you capable of relieving your stress or do you need help?
• Can alcohol cure stress temporarily?

Living Stress Free

• How can you live a stress free life?
  • Can you give five suggestions that would be inexpensive?
  • Can you give five suggestions for children?
  • Can you give five suggestions for the wintertime?
• Give us suggestions for making school life less stressful.
• When stressful do you like to listen to a certain kind of music?
  • Does it help to go shopping or take a long walk?
  • Do you like to be alone or be with other people?
  • Do you eat more or eat less?
• Do certain colors make you feel happier?
• Do you always follow the same pattern to relieve stress or do you try different things?
• What are some positive ways people deal with stress?
• What are some negative ways people deal with stress?
• How do you deal with stress?
• What is the most stressful experience you have ever had?
• When was the most stressful time of your life? Did you learn anything from that experience?
• What do you think is the greatest cause of stress for most people?
• What is your greatest cause of stress?
• Do you deal with stress differently that your parents do/did? If so, how?
• Do you know of anyone who likes to break things or become violent when they are stressed? What have they broken? What kind of violence do they do?
• What is the most stressful job you can think of?
• What is the least stressful job you can think of?
• Which would you choose: A stressful job with very high pay or a relaxing job with considerably low pay? Why?
• Is being single less stressful than married life? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
• How do you reduce stress in your life? Do you think they would be considered good or bad ways of dealing with stress?

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