The Future of stress

Stress has been on the increase for a long while. Part of this may be recognition of it by the medical profession, but a large proportion comes from our change in lifestyle:

• we take less exercise so we use up less of our adrenaline. For example we will jump in the car, instead of walking, take the lift instead of taking the stairs
• social change has brought the breakdown of community and family support structures
• computers and other similar technologies are leading to rapid changes - change itself is a major cause of stress
• technologies are removing the need for people to be located in the workplace, leaving employees feeling more alone and with no one to share their problems on a day to day basis
• as the world becomes smaller, companies are merging to become bigger, which will in turn lead to a climate for further rapid change – corporate reorganisation, relocations, corporate culture clashes and job insecurities
• stress has also been fashionable, with many people believing stress means power and status

One thing is for sure, stress is set to increase as the millennium approaches. To avoid the repercussions we need to be aware of the causative factors and try to plan the solutions in our day to day lives.