ESL CELTA TEFL Conversation Topics and Questions about Stress and Stressful Situations

Recognising Stress

What is stress?

What causes stress?

How do you recognise 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 the stressful situation?

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 counsellor?

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 Stress

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?

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 colours 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 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?


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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ESL CELTA EFL TEFL questions and discussion topics about stress and its effects, for use when teaching English as a foreign or second language. Discussion topics questions and ideas for teaching Adult ESL English as a foreign language / teaching abroad. Discussion topics questions and ideas for teaching Adult ESL English as a foreign language / teaching abroad, ESL EFL CELTA TEFL lessons, speaking practice, debate clubs, lesson add-ons, and more. Also contained in this section are questions and discussion points about how to recognise, combat and live stress free.

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