Ancient Stress VS Modern Stress
August 2nd, 2008 | 
Author: 
Our ancient forefathers had to deal with poor sanitation, violent attacks upon their person, diseases for which there were no cures, in fact, everything that makes the modern man or woman shudder right down to the points of their little Gucci shoes.
The fact of the matter is that modern man and modern woman have to deal with stresses that were not really known to ancient or even not-so-ancient man. The stress that we have to deal with today are much more related to psychological factors than physical factors.
Stress in the modern world is primarily related to our self esteem and our sense of self-worth, and less with physical discomfort and threats. Up to about 60 to 80 years ago, work was seen as a necessary evil to provide for the basic necessities of life. People did not stress about their work and their careers (or at least, if they did, we don't really know about it!).
But in the past couple of years, work has increasingly started to be seen as a way to personal fulfillment. Job satisfaction gives a sense of purpose and meaning to live.
But this also means then that a large proportion of stress arises from work related stressors. We have to deal with a constant bombardment of information, forcing decisions upon us on a daily basis that tap our energies and cause us stress (which type of coffee to choose from a bewildering array of choices while the queue mounts up behind you, grumbling all the while), whether we really think so or not. Work relationships can add to workplace stress, as well as the one culprit that probably contributes the most to stress ? work overload.
New technology is forcing us to have to learn more and more, and to react faster to new developments almost on a daily basis.
More women now work than ever before, yet, the amount of responsibilities that they have in the home have not reduced correspondingly. This adds to a lack of time to relax and get rid of those bad stress hormones!
The problem is that people who are under stress does not perform well in the workplace. They make bad decisions and their health ultimately deteriorates. Workplace stress is therefore one of the biggest problems today faced by both the individual as well as the employer and it is endemic of the modern lifestyle and the information age that we live in.
Tags: ancient man, job satisfaction, lack of time, modern man, modern woman, necessary evil, personal fulfillment, physical discomfort, physical factors, psychological factors, sense of purpose, stress hormones, stressors, violent attacks, work overload, work relationships, workplace stressRelated posts
Posted in What Is Stress | 
Tags: ancient man, job satisfaction, lack of time, modern man, modern woman, necessary evil, personal fulfillment, physical discomfort, physical factors, psychological factors, sense of purpose, stress hormones, stressors, violent attacks, work overload, work relationships, workplace stress