I need to apologize for there will not be any Ukraine updates this weekend for I will be helping my daughter get ready for the memorial she has put together for my son-in-law….my weekend posting schedule will be pretty sparse until this gathering is done and in the bag….the updates will return Monday if all goes well….again I apologize.
So are you stressed out?
I know I am…… but it is a continuing family drama that has me stressed…..but what about the rest of America?
Rising prices…..inflation set to break the bank…..war……paying bills with little cash……hunger……etc etc……crisis after crisis has taken a toll…..
Feeling stressed out more than you were, say, in 2019? Makes sense, according to a new survey from the American Psychological Association, which says that a COVID-fatigued America now grappling with higher prices at the pumps and supermarkets, as well as gruesome images from a war overseas, is being hit with “unprecedented levels of stress,” reports NBC News. The APA’s annual “Stress in America” poll—conducted for the association by the Harris Poll between Feb. 7 and Feb. 14, surveying more than 3,000 US adults—found that 87% of respondents feel there’s been “a constant stream of crises without a break over the last two years,” with 73% acknowledging they’ve felt “overwhelmed” by it all.
Getting more specific, the poll found 87% of those surveyed said that a “significant source” of said stress was due to a spike in prices of groceries, gas, and other necessary items and services due to inflation. That top factor was followed by supply chain issues (81%), the vaguer “global uncertainty” (81%), Russia striking back over Ukraine via a cyber- or nuclear attack (80%), and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (80%), per a release. Meanwhile, stress about money is the highest it’s been since 2015. The APA’s Lynn Bufka, a clinical psychologist, tells NBC the percentages are “startling,” in that so many people are clumped together sharing the same stressors, instead of feeling stressed from a variety of factors unique to their own circumstances.
“It’s like being kicked while you’re down,” Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Dr. Kali Cyrus, who wasn’t involved with the poll, tells NPR of the financial stressors and current war in Ukraine bearing down on Americans right after the exhaustion of dealing with two years of the pandemic. How everyone’s been dealing with this excess stress, per the poll: drinking booze (nearly a quarter copped to this coping mechanism) and seeing unwanted weight fluctuations, with nearly 60% saying they’d dropped or gained pounds. There is some good news in all of this, Cyrus tells NPR. She notes that while it may be harder for some than for others, and “it might take some time … most people are resilient and actually recover” from temporary stressors like the ones we’re facing now.
Some blame the internet and constant ‘downscrolling’ to get thew ‘news’……
Many people have experienced chronic stress since the pandemic lockdowns. Added to this are the climate crisis, the increasing cost of living and most recently threats to European and global security due to the conflict in Ukraine.
To some, it may seem that there is never any good news anymore. This is of course not true, but when we’re doomscrolling – spending an excessive amount of screen time devoted to reading negative news – we can become locked into thinking it is.
Doomscrolling can promote feelings of anxiety and depression. For example, consider how sad and exhausted you may feel when watching a drama with tragic events and sad music in the background. In contrast, if you watch a funny film or romantic comedy with lively music, you may feel upbeat and energised. This is due to two psychological phenomena: “mood induction” (an intervention that can change our mood) and empathy.
I am use to doing massive research on-line so that does not effect me…..but I can see where most would become stressed out trying to find the information they are looking for…..
So are you stressed out?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
In Saner Thought 
I am definitely stressed about not being able to drive, and not knowing when my licence renewal will happen. Add to that the price hikes on everything forcing an extra £400 expenditure in March, and I feel like I need a stiff drink!
I hope all goes well with your family stuff, chuq.
Best wishes, Pete.
THanx Pete…..prices here are rising quickly…..chuq
I suppose I have reached the age where feelings of anxiety and stress means I am still alive to feel those things… a plus, in a bit of an ironic way. On the other hand, continued anxiety and stress can have health repercussions in the long run. I have a fairly defined sense of empathy which any empathy does help in the balance by introducing the idea that no matter how bad you feel or your situation is, there’s always someone else worse off… many times far worse off. On the other hand, an enhanced sense of empathy tends to be a weight on emotion, and a helplessness in being unable to.. help.
My most stressed periods in my own past was when I was engaged in my own businesses as an entrepreneur, trying to meander the pitfalls of ownership, shifting market conditions not of my making, knowing that in all ways that if the business fails I am the only guy responsible.. just as if it succeeds, I am still the only guy responsible. I was in the midst of raising three kids with my then wife… which inserts its own mix of parental responsibility at the same time. I often submit to those venturing into entrepreneurship that there are few things that engage the stress of ownership more than wondering if you can meet payroll at the end of the week. After all.. you impact the living economics of other people if your checks don’t clear or are delayed.
But I can never compare my experiences with stress to that experienced by others who served in combat. To be a bit more “current events”… I include in that the suffering the civilian populations in the world’s war zones. As for the propensity for doomscrolling… like anything else I am sure there are those among us who are fixated to the point of some mental addiction. In my own self-assessment I hold less of an addiction and more of an “enhanced interest” to anything that becomes “breaking news”. I think the pandemic influenced that as a bit of a survival mechanism (Is the “breaking news” suggesting I better get over to the local Walmart and hoard toilet paper? Gasoline?).
At the moment my moderate-to-insignificant stress is more about cutting back on home and hobby projects that don’t matter in the greater picture of things anymore (I’m building a utility trailer. Why? I entertain my hobby of ham radio with technology of 40 years ago that simply has been replaced by computers and the internet and marginally holds any more interest. Why?). The sword dangling over my head is, regardless of how healthy I may be, the statistical reality is that I might have 5-8 years left on this planet… and I need to clean out all this crap rather than leaving my significant other to deal with it all.
It’s all relative to how we are individually.
So much has happened this year…..cancer diagnosis, family stuff, death….and all I can do is grin and bear it for stressing does nothing to change anything……chuq
Easy to say.. but a challenge nonetheless, I am sure. You’ll make it, buddy.
Thanx Doug chuq
Good luck with the memorial. I have a laissez faire attitude. Things will change or they won’t and other than my little piece of the world I don’t have much control. My wife says I have no control past or over her. Laissez faire or fatalist? I’m not going to stress.
Good attitude…..chuq
My symphaty and support for for all of you. Confronting the emotional difficut task to to say final goodbye to such a close relative is hard to do.
Please let the worlds events be what they are.
Saying goodbye to a loved one comes first.
Thanx Marie….it was a tough couple of hours for the family….but we will make it through…..be well chuq
First of all let me say that I am truly sorry for your loss.
As to increased stress … I am well insulated against most of the stresses presenting themselves these days … My anxieties are more or less on par with everyone else … I have always considered paying attention to the News as a stressor to be avoided whenever possible … Finances are stable with me .. and with my “Interests” … my Broker is excellent in adjusting to upticks and shortfalls …but I understand that there are people less fortunate for myself and I do feel compassion for them.
Thanx for the kind words John…..chuq