The Trauma of out Technological
Times
Transportation, communication, and technology have turned the modern world upside
down. Rapid pace, pressure, and ambiguity have changed our lives from being steady,
consistent, and stationary to being fraught with confusion, disillusionment,
and disconnection. The rhythm of the future beings rapid change, dramatic transitions,
and traumatizing uncertainty. We are living in a turbulent, chaotic, and perplexing
era. Never before in the history of mankind have there been so many options,
with so few tools with which to cope and overcome negativity.
What Is Stress?
Stress is a product of our times. It is something that we live with every day.
The way stress affects our lives is a new phenomenon. Think back to early
rural America. Imagine a farmer holding his hat in his hand, wiping his brow
and saying “I’m really stressed out!” It’s hard to
imagine, since life was so different then. This is not to say that the lives
of people in those days were easy, far from it, but it was a different kind
of life from what we live today.
One hundred years ago, our ancestors didn’t have the modern conveniences
we have now, nor did they have the advances in transportation, communication,
and technology. They worked hard from sunrise to sunset. Their labor was physical,
and their worries related to their crops, the land, and dealing with the elements.
The roles of men and women were clearly defined, and the options available
to them were minimal. They didn’t have to figure out what career they
wanted to choose, or where they wanted to live. There weren’t huge controversies
about what they should eat, their cholesterol count, or how much fat, fiber
and sugar they should have in their diet. Chemicals and their effect on health
were not part of their daily conversations. They weren’t confronted with
a wide variety of cars to choose from, or new gadgets to buy, or the option
to travel anywhere in the world in mind-boggling mini-units of time. They didn’t
have to deal with issues such as whether to get married or not, whether to
have children now, later, or ever. They probably didn’t have to deal
with the stresses or relocation. They weren’t mentally burdened with
the threat of nuclear war, AIDS, or cancer. Life was by no means easy, but
the pressures, concerns, and alternatives were certainly different from what
we know today. Their concerns were more immediate, and “stress” did
not exist.
What Produces Stress?
Since stress is a daily phenomenon of our times, let’s examine some of
the things that cause it:
• Confusion and ambiguity about sex roles, expectations, and priorities
• Role: confusion, conflict, overload, underload, either on the job or
at home
• Overglut and bombardment of options, from soap brands to sexual partners
• Rapid pace, heavy demands, and the pressure of intense competition
• Sensory assault from all angles, resulting in over-stimulation
• Alienation resulting from the breakdown of the family, the church, and
the community
• Isolation resulting from high mobility, transience, and instability
• Global financial instability with massive fluctuation in currencies
• The ever-present threat of termination from global war to epidemic diseases,
which weigh heavily on our consciousness
• Lack of time, lack of direction, frustration, and monotony
• Physical pain and disability
• Emotional traumas relating to family loved ones, and friends
• Changes: in lifestyle, economic status, marital status, educational status,
career or job situation, increase or decrease in the family unit, relocation
in home or job
• Baggage from growing up in a dysfunctional home including: feeling disconnected
from our real feelings, being out of touch with our own personal wants, fear
of making mistakes, fear of taking risks, communication, and being abandoned.
Is it any wonder we feel stressed? After all, what is stress? Stress is strain
or force that taxes the system to such a degree that it begins to break down.
In the human system, this means physical, emotional, psychological, interpersonal,
or spiritual tension greater than the person can handle.
In effective self-management, you need to attend to the different aspects of
yourself. You need to take a self-inventory to ensure that all the different
parts of you are in good working order.
Since each person is unique, the degree of stress that each of us can handle
is different. Where one person thrives on stress, another buckles at the thought
of it. The process of managing stress is an individual concern. The problem,
of course, is that most of us were never taught about stress, how to notice
it before it becomes and issue, how to monitor it when it is a concern, and
how to manage it when it has grown out of control. Being creatures of habit,
we gravitate to what we know, to what is familiar. Our coping mechanisms are
for the most part without thought, scrutiny, or conscious choice.
The chart below is a graphic representation of the balance of input and output
necessary to achieve equilibrium.
When you are able to maintain the balance of input and output, you are not
overly stressed and thus also able to overcome negativity. Most of us were
never taught self-management skills and we tend to ignore ourselves, as if
we were
machines
that will go
on running
forever.
We forget that if we don’t attend to our well-being, we will get stressed,
start acting even more compulsively, and reach out for temporary relief in
order to cope with the day.
Dr. Chérie Carter-Scott is a Negaholic Specialist whose expertise in overcoming
negativity overlaps with techniques to overcome stress. To contact Dr. Chérie
Carter-Scott, Negaholic Specialist, for tips, advice, or counseling, please
send your name, email address, phone number and question or comment to info@themms.com.
