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Stress - Is life more stressful today?


Stress Poll - is life more stressful now  

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6 hours ago, Ulty said:

If a millennial says life is more stressful now than ever, I don't put much stock in that.

 

6 hours ago, NM11046 said:
  • Reading thru the millennial stress points made me laugh out loud.  Doing dishes?  Phone screen breaking?  Seriously how sad are those?

 

1 hour ago, JJ Husker said:

I think most of that list of millennial stressors is laughable. If those things are causing them stress I'd hate to see what a truly stressful situation would do to them.

 

 

I went ahead and looked for the survey. Can't find it anywhere, so I don't know how the questions were framed and neither does anyone else replying to this. We don't know that these aren't just "every day stressors." Also, BIG stressful things are pretty rare, so if you interview 2,000 people they're not going to make top ten lists. E.g. a family member dying, losing your job, etc. You're also not going to get a lot of people that take world events or politics seriously, so those would likely not end up in the top 10 either. I don't care what age you are. There actually was another survey done by OnePoll for all ages and the #1 stressor was finances. Well, the #1 for millennials was losing a credit card/wallet.

@Ulty, it seemed pretty clear from the link that the question wasn't about whether this is the most stressful time in history, it was about life being more stressful for the person answering the question than at any other time previously in their own lives. They've only lived their own life, and it makes more sense to be more stressed age age 30 than you were at 20 or 25 or any other age, because you have to do more adult things.

Lastly, I f#&%ing hate doing dishes.

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11 minutes ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

 

 

I went ahead and looked for the survey. Can't find it anywhere, so I don't know how the questions were framed and neither does anyone else replying to this. We don't know that these aren't just "every day stressors." Also, BIG stressful things are pretty rare, so if you interview 2,000 people they're not going to make top ten lists. E.g. a family member dying, losing your job, etc. You're also not going to get a lot of people that take world events or politics seriously, so those would likely not end up in the top 10 either. I don't care what age you are. There actually was another survey done by OnePoll for all ages and the #1 stressor was finances. Well, the #1 for millennials was losing a credit card/wallet.

@Ulty, it seemed pretty clear from the link that the question wasn't about whether this is the most stressful time in history, it was about life being more stressful for the person answering the question than at any other time previously in their own lives. They've only lived their own life, and it makes more sense to be more stressed age age 30 than you were at 20 or 25 or any other age, because you have to do more adult things.

Lastly, I f#&%ing hate doing dishes.

Not sure what the point is here but there is a huge difference between “finances” and losing a credit card/wallet. One can cause legitimate stress and the other is a minor inconvenience that just needs to be taken care of. In fact, most of the tings on that laundry list were just short term minor inconveniences. I’d be very concerned about people who view those as stressful things. But it may all be context, as you alluded to.

 

And what is so difficult about doing the dishes? Sure it’s boring and monotonous and it sucks but it’s just something that has to be done. It’s not a stressful situation.

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58 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

Not sure what the point is here but there is a huge difference between “finances” and losing a credit card/wallet. One can cause legitimate stress and the other is a minor inconvenience that just needs to be taken care of. In fact, most of the tings on that laundry list were just short term minor inconveniences. I’d be very concerned about people who view those as stressful things. But it may all be context, as you alluded to.

 

And what is so difficult about doing the dishes? Sure it’s boring and monotonous and it sucks but it’s just something that has to be done. It’s not a stressful situation.



Well, here you go:

12. Paying bills
13. Job interviews
15. Credit card bills
17. School loan payments
18. Job security

 

Also, I used to stress when I didn't know how to pay my taxes, so I can understand stressing over a lost credit card if it had never happened to me.
 

The point is it's yet another "it's fun and easy to bash millennials" thing, when we have no idea how the survey was worded or how other generations would reply to the exact same wording. People are chatting here comparing wars to this list of things, as if these silly millennials actually think these things are terrible compared to people dying. I'm guessing young people are a lot less likely to stress about death, though, due to being less likely to have had close friends die due to their friends being in their 20s/30s.

With the dishes, it's stressful when I compare it to other chores, because it's my least favorite one. As far as the overall picture of life, no I don't give a crap about the dishes. Again, we don't know how the survey was phrased. If it's daily life s#!t, the list is pretty normal.

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5 hours ago, Moiraine said:



Well, here you go:

12. Paying bills
13. Job interviews
15. Credit card bills
17. School loan payments
18. Job security

 

Also, I used to stress when I didn't know how to pay my taxes, so I can understand stressing over a lost credit card if it had never happened to me.
 

The point is it's yet another "it's fun and easy to bash millennials" thing, when we have no idea how the survey was worded or how other generations would reply to the exact same wording. People are chatting here comparing wars to this list of things, as if these silly millennials actually think these things are terrible compared to people dying. I'm guessing young people are a lot less likely to stress about death, though, due to being less likely to have had close friends die due to their friends being in their 20s/30s.

With the dishes, it's stressful when I compare it to other chores, because it's my least favorite one. As far as the overall picture of life, no I don't give a crap about the dishes. Again, we don't know how the survey was phrased. If it's daily life s#!t, the list is pretty normal.

Well to be fair, it wasn't my intent to bash millennials. It could just as easily be a fault in the survey or with the article. My point is, if a person thinks life is terribly stressful and the best examples they can offer are things on that list then God help them when real problems come along. 

 

I agree it's likely mostly a problem with how the questions were asked and then with how the answers were framed in the story. But what fun is that when it's portrayed as people losing 3 nights of sleep per week because of slow WiFi and phone batteries dying? You gotta admit it sounds pretty ludicrous.

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9 hours ago, Moiraine said:


@Ulty, it seemed pretty clear from the link that the question wasn't about whether this is the most stressful time in history, it was about life being more stressful for the person answering the question than at any other time previously in their own lives. They've only lived their own life, and it makes more sense to be more stressed age age 30 than you were at 20 or 25 or any other age, because you have to do more adult things.
 

 

That's what I meant about lacking perspective. Of course someone who has only been an adult for a couple of years is going to consider those last couple of years to be more stressful than their youth. The words quoted in the OP were that millennials "feel life is more stressful right now than ever before", so the wording kind of sucks, or maybe the whole study sucks.

 

When my 9 year old son touches one my 7 year old daughter's toys without permission, she thinks it is the end of the world, and to her, that time might be more stressful than any other time she can remember. But we don't need a research study to analyze my kids' lack of worldly experience. 

 

What I would like to see more of, instead of parsing out why and how millennials get stressed about slow wi-fi and phone charging, is how they are going to solve the world's problems. Prior generations f#&%ed things up and handed them a plate full of crap, without giving many of them the coping skills to manage it. I work on a college campus and regularly see kids who are brilliant, creative, and socially conscious , but at the same time, they are all on anxiety medications and can't figure out how to do manage regular tasks or solve problems on their own (often thanks to the helicopter parents who don't know when to butt out). Yes that is a severe over-generalization and an old-man rant, but hey. I investigate serious issues at our school, but I often field silly complaints that make me want to say "suck it up snowflake."

 

 

9 hours ago, Moiraine said:

Lastly, I f#&%ing hate doing dishes.

 

SUCK IT UP SNOWFLAKE

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18 hours ago, Ulty said:

If a millennial says life is more stressful now than ever, I don't put much stock in that. They lack the perspective of understanding the good times and bad times of other eras. And that list of stressors is mostly ridiculous. Today's socio/political climate is crazy, yet kids are more stressed about all this trivial nonsense.

 

Not all the millennials' fault, though. The generation that raised today's millennials did a poor job of equipping these kids to deal with real problems on their own. The pendulum swings. 

 

 

I saw a newscast last night on 'adulting'  I guess that is the new contemporary word.  There is an organization that is teaching millennial how to become adults - how to do the basic everyday things like unplugging a sink and basic around the house stuff or changing a tire to how to look for a job.  The story noted that millennial parents are partly to blame (of course) because we (some) were too busy trying to get their kids prepared for college by getting them involved in every sport and school activity that they didn't have time to teach kids the basics of life.  No time to really sit down around the dining table to talk about useful, needful things.    There is a youtube series of videos on the subject and books written on how to become an adult.  

 

adult·ing
/əˈdəltiNG,ˈaˌdəltiNG/
noun
informal
noun: adulting
  1. the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks.
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I think we need to consider what is being considered "stress".  Yes, if you're struggling to make ends meet and you're working two jobs and about to take bankruptcy and lose your home....THAT'S obviously stress that all of us can understand.

 

However, there are other forms of stress in our lives that we don't think about.  Seeing a news broadcast 24/7 on a missing child in Wisconsin, we think we see it and are sad for that person, but move on.  In reality, it adds a little more stress to our lives.  When my cell phone doesn't work, it adds a little more stress to my life.  I use it for work.  It's part of me.  When my computer at work goes caput.  It adds stress.  I don't use cash for anything so when my card doesn't work, it adds stress.  When you're scrolling through facebook and you see a forwarded article on some made up conspiracy, it adds stress.

 

Are any one of those items things that destroys someone's life or are horrible events in the grand scheme of the world?  No.

 

People can poo poo all this you want.  But, it does contribute to people's (un)happiness and overall contentment.  Which....over time, can cause depression and other severe issues.

 

And...no, I still don't believe life is more stressful now than in the 60s.  But, it's still an issue that people need to be aware of.

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17 hours ago, Moiraine said:

I think it’s important to separate the causes and the results.

 

I think there is less reason to stress now, but it’s easier to find out about stressful things happening elsewhere. We can find out about all sorts of s#!tty things happening everywhere now. There are also people actively trying to get people angry and vote a certain way.

 

I was born in the 80s so I wasn’t here for the 60s, but at least then you read/heard the news only at set times during the day.

 

I don’t watch news on TV but I view news websites at all hours of the day. Sometimes I think it’d be better if I didn’t/couldn’t do that.

Moiraine, I agree - there is less reason to be stressful today - we have more conveniences now then ever before. Tech helps us in so many ways and soon tech will be driving are cars - we are approaching the era of the Jetsens.  But we are also exposed to so much clutter (even important clutter) that we have a difficult time sorting the needful from the non-needful, the important from the urgent.    While tech has informed us and has given us all kinds of new ways to communicate with each other, we actually are communicating less.  We've loss the personal, the touch of the other person - either physical touch or the emotional touch because even though we have emojis  :P  they really don't communicate like a face to face smile, hand shake or shared tear.  Thus the more 'tied together' we are by all of the social networking, we've become more isolated.  I see this as the problem with modern society.  My wife and I will go to a restaurant and we'll see a family of 4 at another table - are they communicating - yes but wt their phones and the faceless person on the other side of the social media they are accessing, while at the same time they have lost the opportunity to develop a meaningful relationship - right next to them in their own family.    I try not to text - I prefer a phone call - I want to hear the person's voice in all of its reflections so I can truly understand what they are saying.  

 

So is life more stressful? Perhaps due to our disconnection to true relationships ....but in relationship to real world issues - it doesn't compare to 1960-70s.

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It would also be less stressful if we turn off talk radio and yes 24 hour news - whether it be CNN or Fox.   I got off talk radio some time ago and my wife noticed a big difference.. 

 

So a lot of our stress can be self induced.  Take steps to reduce it. 

Here are some practical ways to reduce stress:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/16-ways-relieve-stress-anxiety#section4

 

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

Moiraine, I agree - there is less reason to be stressful today - we have more conveniences now then ever before. Tech helps us in so many ways and soon tech will be driving are cars - we are approaching the era of the Jetsens.  But we are also exposed to so much clutter (even important clutter) that we have a difficult time sorting the needful from the non-needful, the important from the urgent.    While tech has informed us and has given us all kinds of new ways to communicate with each other, we actually are communicating less.  We've loss the personal, the touch of the other person - either physical touch or the emotional touch because even though we have emojis  :P  they really don't communicate like a face to face smile, hand shake or shared tear.  Thus the more 'tied together' we are by all of the social networking, we've become more isolated.  I see this as the problem with modern society.  My wife and I will go to a restaurant and we'll see a family of 4 at another table - are they communicating - yes but wt their phones and the faceless person on the other side of the social media they are accessing, while at the same time they have lost the opportunity to develop a meaningful relationship - right next to them in their own family.    I try not to text - I prefer a phone call - I want to hear the person's voice in all of its reflections so I can truly understand what they are saying.  

 

So is life more stressful? Perhaps due to our disconnection to true relationships ....but in relationship to real world issues - it doesn't compare to 1960-70s.

This would stress me out!  I hate phone calls...seems like they are always bad news.

 

I do love seeing the ... pop up on my iPhone as I wait for a text!

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14 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

Vietnam

Cuban missile crisis 

President assasinated

presidential candidate assasinated

human rights leader assasinated

rise of drug problems

kent state

 

 

 

 

 

But damn good music.  

cities on fire - race riots

campuses closed down and occupied by protestors - anti war

LBJ doesn't run for re-election - failed on the war front

Vietnam daily body count

 

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2 minutes ago, teachercd said:

This would stress me out!  I hate phone calls...seems like they are always bad news.

 

I do love seeing the ... pop up on my iPhone as I wait for a text!

Yes, if it is that call from family far away that you aren't expecting - first thought is 'What happened now?"

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