In a longitudinal stress study by the American Psychological Association, more Americans than ever before reported struggling to cope with rising stress levels with 1 in 5 reporting a level of stress beyond their capacity to cope.

Chronic stress, especially when long term, can impact adversely on health. Untreated, stress can lead to or worsen a number of existing conditions such as -

cardiovascular disease

digestive problems

obesity

insomnia

depression and anxiety

Stress impairs the immune system. We can be stressed until we are broken.

Modern life is stressful.

Mobile technology enables communication but shackles us to be available, accessible and always “on”. Links have been found between mobile phone usage and rising anxiety levels in mobile phone users, especially the young and the anxious. Living alone 16% live and eat alone – that’s a lot of us living without the support of a family unit. The figure of single occupation has nearly doubled in the last 40 years ago.

Career V portfolio The world of work has changed. The concept of career has evolved into a ‘portfolio’ of work opportunities demanding us to shape shift for each employer -11 on average.

Take home Home ownership is an unlikley concept for many. A large section of the working population are working for the cognitve reward of not being unemployed.

Those most vulnerable are those unprotected from the sharp edges of a changeable economy and an unstable workplace; the young, the poor and those with a disability.

“Millenials” (18-24) reported the highest stress levels. They proved too the most likely to engage in negative, dangerous coping activity. Young people without family, without financial support face the biggest trials.

The government is proving to be a harsh task masker. In the UK, benefits for young people as well as those for people with a disability have faced the biggest cuts. Today sees further announcements to young people’s benefits if they are NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training).

The future for young people without recourse to support looks fraught.

The Future

It comes as little surprise that the World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the largest threat to global health in 2030.

In the New England Journal of Medicine “Global Mental Health” researchers identify the most vulnerable groups as the young who do not have easy access to mental health services, the old who are not adequately catered for in terms of dementia care or elderly mental health and those in developing countries. The authors warn of “intense suffering.”

Subject to the vagaries of scale, depression can impair an individual’s natural ability to manage their everyday responsibilities. At it’s very worst it can incapacitate, hospitalize and lead to loss of life through suicide. Almost 3,000 lives are lost each day according to the WHO.

The young and the old are forever exposed to health inequality. Despite us all travelling from one port to another, we seem ignorant to the vulnerabilities until arrival.

The Mechanics of Worry.

Some people make decisions quickly, expertly, like cognitive knee jerks. Others ruminate, incapacitated by the myriad of options that a decision presents.

A study by Sussex University into the inner workings of chronic worry has pinpointed the site in the brain — the left front lobe, the exact same spot as complex thought.

A team of Sussex psychologists analysed 30 years of cognitive research to breakdown the components of worry finding that the part of the brain used in complex thought processes or “systematic processing,” is also activated in cases of “perservative cognition” – chronic, debilitating worry found in severe cases of depression.

Depressed, anxious people experience “effortful” thought and trigger systematic processing, non-anxious people have a more “heuristic” process – a quick, effortless “short cut” to decision making.

Unlike animals, people can replay distressing past and potential future images. It is often a component of depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress. This “perseverative cognition” involves rumination, negative thoughts and excessive analysis, often triggered by stress and when left untreated can be debilitating.

Non anxious people have a much easier ride than depressed people when making decisions and imagining the future – this new discovery goes in some part to explain why.

Notes:

Clinical Psychology Review

Systematic information processing style and perseverative worry

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735813001232

Affects of worry on the body: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399905002151

Depression: A Global Crisis PDF report http://www.wfmh.org/00WorldMentalHealthDay.htm

Stress in America: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/

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