Stress is a Problem of Modern Life - Coursework Example

Essay Introduction Stress is a fact in the current modern life. The world today is a ‘fast-paced world’ and learning to live or learning how to get ahead is not possible without going through a stressful moment. Different scholars and theorists of the world have linked the stress in the modern life to the aspects of globalization and technological advancement that have not only changed how people live and how things are done but also affected the living standards and contributed to the evolution of laws and legal statutes in the different states of the world. The evolution of technology has had a direct impact on unemployment in most parts of the world. Trying to cope up with the stress emanating from the modern life is believed to have severe health implications to the lives of the different individuals around the world. According to Kennedy (1984), anything that brings about stress is a stressor and that there are individuals who thrive under stress while others cannot. According to American Psychological Association (2011), different researchers of the world have revealed a fact that there is always a very strong correlation between stress and the overall health of an individual person. Also, individuals react differently to the stress-causing events and it is this reaction that adequately determines whether the stress is positive or negative (Hancock and Szalma, 2008). When the stress levels in humans surpass the emotional, psychological and mental limits, they become distressful and adequately interfere with the proper functioning of humans (Stoica and Buicu, 2010). Different researches conducted in US and in UK revealed that most of the people who endure high levels of stress today have a high reliance on unhealthy behaviors as a way of managing stress. This has severe physical health consequences on their lives. Stress and health implications Amongst the most common stressors to the younger generation in America and UK are family related issues, money and the university life. Today, both the US government and the UK government are straining to provide care for the individuals with long-term stress related conditions following the high medical costs associated with these conditions. According to Mc Daid (2012), the UK government sets aside billions of money every year to cater for the individuals with long-term health and mental conditions. The American Psychological Association (2011) indicates that in a survey conducted online, chronic illnesses in America had adequately increased by more than ten percent in a period of five years. Chronic illnesses emanating from stress related issues in this case entails cancer, obesity, heart diseases, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and depression. University stress According to Thawabieh and Qaisy (2012), a shift from the school environment to a university or a college environment may adversely result into academic, psychological and social shock on the different students. University education systems are way too different from each the high school systems in that there are new methods of learning, new relations with the respective faculties, new requirements for the students and even new forms of relations with the members of the opposite sex. Home works, tests and other school requirements beyond student’s abilities are likely to be key sources of the academic-related stress (Hussien and Hussien, 2006). But in most occasions stress in major university largely emanate from non-academic related instances such as relationship break ups, discrimination; gender, religion and ethnicity, family troubles, drug abuse and substance abuse (Smith, 2014). Different scholars and researchers of the world have in the recent past branded the university students as ‘endangered species’ in the sense that drug and substance abuses are tremendously growing concerns in the major universities of the world. Psychologists and scientists of the world have linked the increase in the rates of drug abuse and substance abuse in the universities to the increased peer pressure a misconception that most people who passed through the university did abuse drugs (Wicki et.al, 2010). According to Gills (2002), 60 percent of the male university students and 55 percent of the female students in UK confessed to have used drugs. Family stress This is the most common form of stress not only in America and UK but also in other parts of the world. Family stresses emanates largely from issues of finances, relationship with the marriage partners, loss of jobs and even lack of children. In the today’s world money is quite a significant factor to the lives of the different families. Without money, it is not even possible to take care of the basic needs of the family leave alone the secondary and tertiary needs. Loss or lack of jobs has a positive impact on the level of stress amongst the family members. Today, divorces have become a common experience to the lives of many families in the western society with the world statistics revealing that forty to fifty percent of the married couples in America divorce. Divorce statistics are also alarming in other European countries and has been a major source of stress to the marriage partners. Further, lack of children in the family is a major source of conflict between the marriage partners. Prolonged domestics conflicts are sources of stress in families. Lack of children in the family may take another shape; other people and other family members may despise such couples. This may also become a source of stress. Money stress Factors such as unemployment are key sources of stress to most young men and women of the world. Unemployment continues to be a giant challenge facing America, UK and other European nations. Recent statistics reveal that the unemployment rates in both America and the UK can today be estimated to around 5.5 percent. Lack of jobs is main greatest contributors to personal stress to different individual persons. We all have responsibilities if not family responsibilities, personal responsibilities. Without money it is hard to take care of such responsibilities and other personal goals and objectives. Health implications Stress is major contributing factor to the most health problems in human beings. Stress in human beings results into both long-term and short term health problems with the long-term problems having the most severe implications on the lives of the different individuals. Heart disease is a health condition is highly linked to stress and stress related factors. In most cases, stress does have some other intermarried habits and problem such as smoking and obesity. Both smoking and obesity are key triggers of serious cardiac problems in human beings. Stress in human beings directly increases the rate at which blood flows in the respective arteries, veins and capillaries. This has a direct impact on the heart rate. Increase in the heart rate and blood flow does not only result into cardiac arrests problems but also the high blood pressure condition (Mc Daid, 2012). Stress also has a high chance of worsening the Asthmatic conditions in a person. Different researchers reveal that stress-related habits such as smoking are likely to result into asthmatic conditions to the unborn children if the mother embarks on such stress-related behaviors during pregnancy. Further, stress has a direct impact on the unhealthy eating habits and excessive drinking of alcohol. Prolonged unhealthy eating habits immensely result into the type 2 diabetic condition. Excessive drinking of alcohol adequately results into the liver cancer. Stress is also an indirect contributor to other health conditions such as stomach ulcers as well as Alzheimer diseases (McDaid, 2012). Conclusion High levels of stress have a very high linkage to the dangerous chronic health problems. Different individuals therefore need to learn how to manage stresses by all means possible. Smith et.al (2014) recommends that stress should be managed at its earliest stage to prevent it from becoming a bigger problem that has severe implications on the lives of the different individual persons. Psychologists of the world recommend that sleeping, regular exercises and active participation in communal based programs as vital ways of managing stress in different persons. References America Psychological Association. (2011). Stress in America: Our health at Risk. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2011/final-2011.pdf Gill, J. S. (2002). Reported levels of alcohol consumption and binge drinking within the UK undergraduate student population over the last 25 years. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 37, 109-120. Hancock, P. and Szalma, J. (2008). Performance Under Stress. Ashgate Publishing Group. Abingdon, GBR. Hussien, T. and Hussien, S. (2006). Strategies for Coping Educational and Psychological Stress. Dar Alfiker. Amman. McDaid, D. (2012). Long-term conditions and mental health. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 29(6). Smith, M., Segal, R. & Segal, J. (2014). Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes. Help guide Organization. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-causes-and-effects.htm Stoica, Mihaela and Buicu, Florin. (2010). Occupational stress management. Management in health, 2(11), pp 7-9. Thawabieh, Ahmad. M. & Qaisy, Lama. M. 2012. Assessing Stress among University Students. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 2(2). Wicki M, Kuntsche E, Gmel G. (2010). Drinking at European universities? A review of students’ alcohol use. Addict Behav;35:913–24. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.06.015 Read More