Modern Life and Stress - Essay Example

Modern Life and Stress Modern Life and Stress Stress is experienced in reaction to change (Gregson, 2000). Any change in the environment can cause stress, which is a “physical and mental response” to different situations, people, and places. Stressors are things that cause stress to an individual. Stressors are either internal or external. Internal stressors result from inner feelings and emotions (Gregson, 2000). External stressors are environmental factors that cause stress. Stress can be causes from a wide variety of reasons including work, school, peer pressure, family, relationships, and the world. Stress impacts health and wellness negatively. Stress is a major contributor of health disorders as it tips the balance between the structural, chemical, and psychological integrity (Weinstein, 2004). This essay will discuss three major causes of stress and will highlight how stress has impacted human health in the past thirty years. Relationship issues can also cause stress among people (Baird, 2010). Arguments with parents, siblings, and other peers contribute toward stress. A person’s relationship with other members of the family also plays a great role in causing stress, especially among young people. According to McNamara (2000), a person’s relationship with parents, siblings, boyfriends or girlfriends can cause joy as well as pain. Poor relations with members of the family or friends can increase stress. One such example is that of divorce among parents because of which children may experience stress. Often children do not know how to cope with their parents’ divorce and its aftermaths. Divorce settlements can severely impact children and cause psychological damage to children’s health in terms of distress and confusion. However children’s response to parental divorce varies because of their resilience (Hipke, Wolchik, and Sandler, 2007). Generally, exposure to divorce-related stressors can impact children’s cognition and affect their ability to externalize and internalize symptoms. Statistics from the Office for National Statistics (2014) reveal that in the past thirty years divorce in England and Wales ahs increased while the marriage rate has decreased. Data from the US Census Bureau indicates leveling off of the divorce rates for women in older age groups couples with a decrease in marriage rates due to increased trend of cohabitation (Kreider and Ellis, 2011). The trend of increased divorce and the fall of marriage indicate that more families are single-parent families with children being brought up in an unbalanced environment. As a result, they do not enjoy a good relationship with both their parents. Money is another cause of stress especially in cases that involve scarcity of money and fear of job loss (Mielach, 2012). A person’s financial status can negatively affect their health especially if someone struggles with monetary issues. One example is the accumulation of debt and this can cause high amounts of stress among people. High amount of stress resulting from worries about finances can also cause heart attack according to Mielach (2012). This is especially true for people who do not plan their finances and take higher risks in terms of investments. Those who save are less likely to undergo financial stress. Those who rely more on debt are often the ones that have to worry about money. In the past thirty years, the financial environment has changed significantly. Debt instruments are very common and through assets like credit cards it has become easy to accumulate debt. As of May 2015, the credit card debt is $15609 on average in the US (Chen, 2015). In Britain, as of November 2014, the consumer debt totaled £1.25 in the UK (Osborne, 2015). Thirty years back, there was no trend of credit cards and hence debt accumulation from credit was comparatively lesser. Hence people thirty years back experienced reduced stress resulting from financial problems. Many people also experience stress that is work-related. Employed or unemployed, stress as a result of work is very common especially among adults. There is a common phenomena known as burnout in the workplace culture and it is a common problem reported by employed adults. Work-related exhaustion is another cause of stress (Bährer-Kohler, 2012). Repetitive work, close deadlines, low job engagement can not only lead to job stress but can also reduce the motivation of employees and cause burnout. Work-related stress has increased due to the transformation of the modern workforce and the constituents of a job. Jobs have become more stressful due to rapid improvements in technology and the expected roles that employees now have to take on. As a result, jobs have become more challenging and this has influenced employees’ health in detrimental ways. Many employees are also in constant fear of unemployment of being fired due to temporary contracts. Therefore, the changed dynamics of jobs at present times has led to an increase in work-related stress. Stress has had several health implications. Stress is also believed to cause diabetes among people. Possible explanation can be that stress causes blood glucose levels to increase. Because stress strains our psychological state, it triggers hormonal changes that lead to increased blood glucose levels (Hanas, 2004). Stress causes the adrenal glands to be triggered to release adrenaline into the blood. This further causes the glucose levels to increase in blood. For diabetic patients, the increased glucose levels cannot be reduced or balanced by release of insulin. Hence, stress can worsen the health of a diabetic patient. Hanas (2004) also says that stress resulting from sources such as work-related or relationship issues have the most drastic effect on health. Hanas (2004) also describes such sources as those that cannot be influenced. A comparison of England and US showed that diabetes for age groups 20 to 64 was lesser in England than in USA (Mainous et al., 2006). The relationship between stress and diabetes is therefore well-established and as a person becomes busy, they will have less time for taking care of their blood glucose levels. Stress is also related to eating disorders. The number of hospital admissions due to eating disorders has increased in the last few years (Burton, 2012). Eating disorders are one of the many manifestations of stress. Eating disorders can also result in women because of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Stress is able to affect the eating habits of people which can lead to overeating or reduced eating. This change in eating habit can result in eating disorders. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (2015), about half of the people with eating disorders qualify to the depression criteria. This reflects how stress can negatively affect health. Over the years, stress ahs done considerable damage to health. It is visible that in the past thirty years, stress has increased due to changes in technology, communication, the workplace, and social structure that compose the familial relationships. Therefore, people have become more prone to stressful environments that have negatively affected their health and wellbeing. Diabetes and eating disorders are some examples of the impact of stress on a person’s health. At present, people are more exposed to stressful environments than their ancestors. Modern life has therefore come with its own downsides. Financial stress and that resulting from work-related tasks is immense. Individuals today are constantly under stress due to financial issues, credit build-up, relationship issues, and many other factors. The breakdown of marriage and families has also added to the stress children have to go through in present times. The breakdown of family structure is responsible for developmental problems among children and other stress-related health disorders. It can be concluded that stress resulting from relationship turmoil, financial issues, and money-matters have resulted in health disorders including diabetes and eating disorders. References Bährer-Kohler, S. (2012). Burnout for experts. Berlin: Springer. Baird, A. (2010). Causes of Stress. Healthline. Retrieved 15 May 2015, from http://www.healthline.com/health/stress-causes#PersonalProblems2 Burton, I. (2012). As eating disorders are on the rise, its important to remember that theres more to it than anorexia. The Independent. Retrieved 15 May 2015, from http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/as-eating-disorders-are-on-the-rise-its-important-to-remember-that-theres-more-to-it-than-anorexia-8207526.html Chen, T. (2015). American Household Credit Card Debt Statistics: 2015 - NerdWallet. NerdWallet Credit Card Blog. Retrieved 15 May 2015, from https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-credit-card-debt-household/ Divorces in England and Wales, 2012. (2014) (1st ed.). Retrieved from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_351693.pdf Gregson, S. (2000). Stress management. Mankato, Minn.: LifeMatters. Hanas, R. (2004). Type 1 diabetes in children, adolescents and young adults. London: Class. Hipke, K., Wolfchik, S., & Sandler, I. (2007). Divorce, Children of. In G. Fink, Stress Consequences: Mental, Neuropsychological and Socioeconomic (1st ed.). Oxford: Elsevier. Kreider, R., & Ellis, R. (2011). Number, Timing, and Duration of Marriages and Divorces: 2009 (1st ed.). U.S. Census Bureau. 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