On 30 Nov 2016 at 7:20pm Hyena wrote:
I would be interested to hear people's view on stress.
Are we now less able to cope with this then we did in the past?
Or is it a question of people being more honest and open about their emotions .
On 30 Nov 2016 at 7:29pm Bob wrote:
What exactly is stress?
On 30 Nov 2016 at 7:31pm Bob wrote:
Or rather, how do people on this forum define Stress?
On 30 Nov 2016 at 9:16pm Tipex wrote:
Psychologists would say that there's stress and there's pressure. Pressure is hugely beneficial and concentrates our energies to perform when it's really needed. Stress is when the pressures can't be managed. I guess each generation has its own sources of stress and they've evolved from the physical of 50 years ago to more psychological and emotional today. The key difference is that people - particularly men - are allowed to express their emotions these days although some men struggle with this which in itself is stressful. So, stress is perhaps pressure that we can't manage - either due to having no power to resist (like fear of being sacked for speaking out) or being insufficiently emotionally articulate to express and address.
Thankfully the world's moving away from the 'stiff upper lip" attitudes so stress can be more easily identified and addressed.
On 30 Nov 2016 at 9:26pm Mark wrote:
The idea of "stress" originates in engineering. Metal fatigue and all that sort of thing. Hans Selye (Canadian psychologist) just nicked it for his own purposes. A clever notion.
On 30 Nov 2016 at 9:31pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
I think life was simpler in the past, with the comforts of religion, the extended family and an unchanging local community. Work was hard but straightforward - no HR manager telling you that you need to develop your team building skills. When your entire day is spent working, either in the house or at work, there's little space left for angst. Also, we're exposed to so much information now and worry about the news, our future, our 'lifestyle' and the stability of our job. Millions of us are on antidepressants. Somehow, although we've made many gains, we've also lost something very important.
On 30 Nov 2016 at 9:41pm Tipex wrote:
I agree Earl. We have so much access to what everyone else is doing we have infinite opportunities to beat ourselves up about not living up to the perceived norm. My grandfather worked in the same room and AT THE SAME DESK for 40 years. He didn't worry about his career or boredom. He just had a job and did it. I'd find that incredibly stressful now because the modern world offers a million reasons to doubt myself and the future.
On 1 Dec 2016 at 12:15am Adele wrote:
Gin usually sorts it.
On 1 Dec 2016 at 9:38am Tim wrote:
I get stressed when the internet doesn't work or when my football team loses or when someone puts too much milk in my tea.
On 1 Dec 2016 at 9:40am robp wrote:
The definition I have used for a while is that stress is a mismatch between responsibility and power. People are put in positions where they have responsibility for something but do not have the power to do it. I think one aspect of that which has got worse over recent years is that people in power have become more effective at making people out of power feel responsible for things which are not their fault. The biggest example at the moment is if you're out of work it's your fault, not the fault of a system which deliberately makes jobs precarious in order to keep making money for shareholders. Still worse, if you're disabled or chronically ill, it's still somehow your fault, not the fact of you being unable to do a job.
On 1 Dec 2016 at 9:52am Clifford wrote:
Earl of Lewes wrote: 'I think life was simpler in the past, with the comforts of religion, the extended family and an unchanging local community.'
Though if you read any reputable history of pre-industrial society in England you'll see that these were largely myths. Religious observance was the official creed but not necessarily widely shared, the extended family hardly existed, and geographical mobiity in society was common. People always like to imagine a golden age of stability and balance.
On 1 Dec 2016 at 2:52pm Pedro wrote:
If/when I feel stressed, I usually deal with it fairly quickly. Taking a nice walk helps, or some breathing and meditation techniques can also help. Alternatively, I fire up the vapouriser, and whack on a tiny bowl of nice fresh weed and take a few deep long tokes, and within a couple of minutes all stresses and anxieties melt away as dopamine floods the brain. Usually, if the stress isn't forgotten by then, its dealt with by pragmatism and logic as the brain is freed up and no longer constrained. A further few minutes later and I'm in the snack cupboard and wondering where I hid the bag of malteasers, followed by inexplicably laughing at crap sitcoms like "Citizen Khan". A couple of hours later and I gently fall asleep, and wake up the next morning feeling refreshed and relaxed.
This will be prescribed by the NHS within the next 10-20 years. Almost certainly. 
On 1 Dec 2016 at 7:08pm Old Malling wrote:
Earl of Lewes wrote: 'I think life was simpler in the past, with the comforts of religion, the extended family and an unchanging local community.'
I'm not so sure. My grandparents lived hand to mouth. We're worried whether they'd have enough money to pay the rent. Were worried that they'd get ill and not be able to afford a doctor. Were worried that they would have to care for extended family as they got old. Were worried that they had no job security. Were worried about wars, TB, polio, poverty and crime. Different generation and different time but plenty to be stressed about.