Stress in Modern Life - Essay Example

Stress in Modern Life The current lifestyle and social pressures exposure people to demanding attitudes or responses, which result in stress. The effects of experiencing stress are harmful and can lead to dangerous reactions from individuals. Although people can overcome such situations, stress arises due to various causes such as technological, work-related, social related, financial or personal aspects. This essay will focus on the causes and effects of stress. The essay will explore three causes of stress including financial, family, and technology stress as well as their effects including obesity and heart diseases. There is no doubt that several aspects of modern life are major causes of stress. This essay will discuss how these aspects have increased the rate of stress and illnesses over the last 30 years in UK and US. There are multiple causes of stress in the modern world. In this essay, three types of stress will be examined. They include financial, family, and technology stress. These factors shall be discussed for both UK and US and establish their effects on chronic health problems. One of the main common type of stress in the modern world is financial stress. Financial stress is well known in the US and in the UK especially after the 2007/2008 financial crisis (Raghavan et al., 2008). Many people lost their jobs and found it difficult to meet their financial obligations such as: servicing their mortgages, paying school fees, and living decent lives. According to Yih (2015), “a lot of people are stressed and one of the biggest causes of that stress comes from money.” Financial stress can be caused by several factors including high debt levels, changes in stock markets, increasing in real estate prices, poor saving habits, complexity of financial market place, changes in demographics, and financial ignorance. For example, the financial problem had a big impact on the people who had taken huge loans from the bank to build houses. These people, seemingly, had very little knowledge about financial matters. When the time came to pay the loans, these people found themselves in serious financial problems that caused them great stress (Yih, 2015). These factors result in financial stress, which requires worrying about meeting financial obligations. The thought of not being able to meet financial obligations causes stress, which may lead people to abandon their families or to engage in criminal activities to survive. A recent survey in the UK by Relate charity (Cited by BBC, 2012) revealed that financial stress was linked to the increasing level of tension on families. This survey results provides evidence that financial stress is not only affecting individuals but the effects are extending to families and the society in general. According to Deen (2013), most single mothers in the US experience a lot of stress in raising the children on their own. These mothers have to raise school fee and buy food for the children. Family is also a common external cause of stress. According to Smith, Segal and Segal (2014), many families usually have misunderstandings that lead to constant conflicts. Such conflicts may lead to separations of family members. The more lonely and isolated the person is, the greater his/her vulnerability to stress. Family stress can be caused by various factors within the family in UK. According to Amato (2005), one of these factors is having issues with children. Children may develop health problems as they grow. These health complications may cause great stress to the parents and other household. The parents may have to spend more time and money in the health care of the sick child. The brother siblings may also suffer from emotional stress due to the condition of one of them (Cited by BBC, 2012). In the US, the single-parent families have been found to undergoing more stress than the married ones (Deen, 2013). In the case of single mothers, they strain a lot to raise the children single-handedly. Such children may not get good care as they full support of both parents. This may cause stress to the children. Just like in financial stress, family stress can also have serious consequences. In some cases, family stress can actually end up in separation or divorce, which are can also be a causes of family stress. A person can become stressed because of being divorced by his or her spouse (Cited by BBC, 2012). In the US, there are many cases of divorce than any other part of the world (Deen, 2013). Most families are at the verge of separation due to stress caused by misunderstandings. Other than family conflicts and financial constraints, modern technology is another factor that has recently contributed to cases of stress in the whole world. Technology has turned into a genuine piece of our lives in the present day world. Unlike in the past, new technologies have emerged and are influencing every aspects of life including learning, socializing, communication, and survival. Some of these modern technologies that have become so much influential in modern life include the smartphones, video games, computers, and social media (Raghavan et al.., 2008). With these technologies, people are socializing virtually via Facebook, e-mail, Skype, and many other virtual platforms. Although these technologies have some positive impacts, they also have some negative impacts including psychological problems such as stress. A study by Raghavan et al. (2008) in the US established that several disorders related to technology-stress were common included physical complaints, sleep disturbances, and psychological stress. Raghavan also emphasized that the same is the casein most developed nations, UK included. These findings confirm the fact that technological stress is caused by the continued use of modern technologies, which have eliminated the human function such as face-to-face interactions. Failure to use modern technologies can also cause technology stress. Research by Yih (2015) has shown that technology addiction is real. For example, some people are addicted to using their smartphones while others are addicted to social media. Just like in any other form of addiction, when such people cannot access their smartphones or social media networks, they can develop stress and anxiety. Therefore, technology stress can be cause by continued use of modern technologies to an extent that it could cancel people`s normal functioning or when people are unable to access or use these technologies after developing technology addiction. Stress can have various effects on an individual, a family, and the society. The effects vary depending on various factors such as: the level of stress, the underlying causes, and the available coping mechanisms. One of the most common effects of stress is development of health problems. Stress often disrupts normal functioning of the body such that the body becomes more vulnerable to health problems such as: diseases and other healthy conditions. Two of the most common health problems associated with stress in the modern world are heart diseases and obesity (Sedghi, 2014). Stress is not directly linked to heart disease. However, stress can increase the risk level of heart disease especially if one does not have effective coping mechanisms. According to Marsden (2014), some people adopt risky coping mechanisms to deal with stress that increase their exposure to the risk of heart disease. Some of these risky coping behaviors include smoking and over indulgence in alcohol. Such behaviors are considered as the main risk factors for heart disease. For people who have heart disease already, stress can cause symptoms such as heart attack (Marsden, 2014). A recent study in the US has provided scientific proof that stress causes heart attacks. According to the study, stress increases adrenaline and increases the quantity of white blood cells, which then causes an overdrive of the immune system. This phenomenon causes splits and increased inflammation of the arteries especially for people whose arteries have been thickened by plaque. According to Marsden (2014), “…people whose arteries are already thickened with plaque, extra white blood cells worsens inflammation and can lead to ruptures.” The leading cause of deaths in the US is caused by hearth disease. This alarming insight has been associated to multiple risk factors including stress. It is also evident that heart diseases are more controlling in the modern life than a century ago. People are likely to die from heart diseases today unlike their ancestors. This reality emphasizes the fact that stress is more prevalent in the modern life and it causes many problems (Marsden, 2014). Obesity is a common problem in the US and the UK. More than two third of the adult populations in the two countries are either overweight or obese. Sedghi (2014) notes that “67% of men and 57% of women in the UK are overweight or obese….” The relationship between stress and obesity has been explored in both the UK and the US. Apparently, stress causes people to eat more. By eating more food, the body takes in more nutrients and calories, which result in weight gain. If this behavior continues, one may become overweight or develop obesity. Additionally, stressed people tend to prefer unhealthy foods that are sugary and contain high levels of fat. These foods cause the body to accumulate fats such that obesity starts to develop (Sedghi, 2014).). The improper eating habits can also exacerbate the problem of obesity. This happens when a person begins to realize that they are becoming overweight, which could result in emergence of new health conditions such as: hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (Sedghi, 2014). Therefore, overeating during stress may cause more just obesity. It is evident that stress has flooded in peoples’ lives. In the modern life, stress has become a common phenomenon. There are different causes of stress in people’s lives like technological, family and financial factors. As prices of commodities rise on daily basis, many families have run into constant financial stress. Such financial stresses have led to misunderstanding and conflicts in many families. Additionally, if stress is not handled in an effective manner, it brings a lot of problems. The modern technology is also taking the world by storm, causing stress to the conservative societies across the globe. All these forms of stress have seen the rate and occurrences of stress increasing rapidly thereby worsening the stress-related chronic health conditions. In summation, the cause and effects of stress has rapidly increased in the last three decades n both the UK and US. References: Amato P. (2005). The Impact of Family Formation Change on the Cognitive, Social and Emotional Well-being of the Next Generation. Marriage and Child Wellbeing. The Feature of Children. Princeton BBC. (2012). Relate Survey: Money problems ‘causing family strain’. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-20849015 Deen K. (2013). The Challenges of Single Parenthood. Healthy Children Organization. New York. Marsden, R. (2014). Proof that stress really does cause heart attacks: Adrenaline can increase white blood cell production which can cause ruptures. Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2665424/Proof-stress-really-does-cause-heart-attacks-Adrenaline-increase-white-blood-cell-production-cause-ruptures.html Sedghi, A. (2014). How obese is the UK? And how does it compare to other countries? Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/may/29/how-obese-is-the-uk-obesity-rates-compare-other-countries Smith, M., Segal, R., & Segal, J. (2014). Stress symptoms, signs and causes. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-causes-and-effects.htm Yih, J. (2015). 7 causes of financial stress. Retrieved from http://retirehappy.ca/causes-of-financial-stress/ Raghavan, V et al. (2008). An Empirical Investigation of Stress Factors in Information Technology Professionals. Information Resources Management Journal, 21(2). Read More