Stress is the world’s top hobby. Nothing like getting driven nuts every second for peace of mind and rational behavior, is there? A study of fun-filled happy-go-lucky America by the American Psychological Association has a few things to say about stress.
The methodology of this study is well worth reading. The study focuses a bit much on the post-pandemic era, almost as though nothing had happened since. The deeper analysis is more on point. It refers to a rather patiently described “confluence of crises” and their longer-term stressful aftershocks.
Entombed in the various issues are of course finance, life events, relationships, and various other causes of PTSD-like conditions.
There’s a caveat here – The responses are a bit “nice”. 81% of people reported that their mental health was “good or better”. Better than what, you may well ask.
Yeah, sure. This comes from a country that reported to Pew Research must before the pandemic and before the massive price gouge years that an unexpected $400 expense would put them out of whack financially.
Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it?
Global headlines on any given day paint a much different picture of human stress. It can be triggered by anything or anyone. These core reactions don’t go away with a press release.
Even the definition of stress has evolved into a monster. With this definition you also get a virtual encyclopedia of health-related issues, ads for services, and more.
It’s global enough for the World Health Organization to publish a page on the subject of stress.
Then there’s the other, all-pervasive type of stress – Social stress. This nasty thing affects everyone in some way. The cumulative effects of social stress could be called “societal stress”.
If you search for societal stress, you just get referred back to social stress. That’s not quite right. Societal stress is more about the society as a whole. This is where things need a clear understanding of the difference.
Individuals and social groups interact with each other. Under stress, those interactions are often dangerous and of course generate more stress. The domino effect is in full play.
It’s not easy to shut down these stresses. Large numbers of highly stressed people aren’t suddenly going to become un-stressed overnight.
Memories cause stress, too. The social interactions are under pressure from personal and group realities past and present. One individual can derail any peace-making efforts.
Add financial stresses, social polarization, and any sort of inter-group issues, and the recipe for an overstressed society is ready to eat.
It’s worth mentioning that decades of insular socioeconomic incompetence don’t help to relieve stress or anything else.
Socioeconomics isn’t some sort of arts and crafts course for the Far Left. It’s about human realities at the most basic levels.
There’s an old joke:
“Why are so many sociology majors out of work?”
“Nothing left to study”.
The theme park occasionally called America is a classic case of a multigenerational hierarchy of ignorance of socioeconomics. When the jobs went to the maquiladoras, nobody bothered to consider the outcomes. When offshoring became a thing, nobody was interested. This is the result.
Right now, the core social cause of the highest stress is price-gouging. Raising prices to this extent has never caused “growth”, however mythical. Quite the opposite; it usually precedes an economic downturn of whatever scale. The price increases typically reflect the scale of the downturn.
Then there’s the unique feature to this time in history – Leadership in business and politics with mindsets based on a world that doesn’t exist anymore. The backlash against anything practical is monotonous, always fails, and simply obstructs obvious fixes.
Check out the APA study and the media reports on your stress. You’ll love them.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
