In describing stress in their lives, it is expressed by many that it

D and E are wrong because of sentence structure.




If you look at B- then --- instead of from doesn't sound good.... So we reject. B

C's "in describing" sounds awkward.

I had the options C and E. I went with E.
Could someone please explain why you would choose C over E? I know C is not incorrect, but it sounds awkward.
(Im not a native speaker)

In describing stress in their lives, it is expressed by many that it is an excess demand on their mental resources from outside instead of from inside

(A) In describing stress in their lives, it is expressed by many that it is an excess demand on their mental resources from outside instead of from inside Incorrect

it modifies by previous clause that is logically wrong

(B)In describing stress in their lives, many expressed that it is an excess demand on their mental resources from outside instead of from inside Incorrect

.....many expressed ....- past form, whereas it is an excess demand - present form
rather than better than instead of

(C) In describing stress in their lives, many express that it is an excess demand on their mental resources from outside rather than from inside Correct

(D) In their description of stress in their lives, it was expressed by many that it is an excess demand on their mental resources from outside rather than from inside Incorrect

it modifies by previous clause that is logically wrong

(E) When describing stress in their lives, it has been expressed by many that it is an excess demand on their mental resources from outside rather than from inside Incorrect

it modifies by previous clause that is logically wrong

Key is modifier In describing stress in their lives logically modifies subject many.
Eliminate A, D & E

Between B and C difference is instead of and rather than.

Here we have parallel structure with two nouns. So rather than wins.

IMO C