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Stress and
Quality of Life

We must learn to awaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful, but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest art.

Henry David Thoreau

Stress: A Way of Life?

'Improving the quality of life' appears to be one objective that everyone on this planet shares. It is the reason for all the technology and 'progress' over the centuries, and concerns us now more than ever before.

It is natural to want to find a happier and more contented way of living, and each of us chooses different ways in our search. Despite our efforts, however, it is often the case that the enjoyable times we experience become less frequent and shorter in duration the more we 'progress'. Surveys confirm this and report that a quarter of men and a third of the women suffer from anxiety or depression. It appears that the harder we strive for happiness the more it eludes us, and as a result we can feel angry and more disillusioned with life as time goes on. Despite all our obvious material gains, many of us suffer from a new affliction - chronic stress.

Stress is a problem that affects us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It can cause anxiety, which in extreme cases may permeate our whole existence until life is hardly worth living. It affects us physically in such a way that our whole system is constantly on 'red alert', ageing us before our time. It can even cause stress-related illnesses such as strokes and heart problems which can threaten life itself. Stress affects us mentally by over-stimulating the mind, eventually causing mental blocks or, conversely, an overactive mind which gives us little or no control over persistent unwanted thoughts, causing endless worry for no reason. It affects us emotionally because we can lose control of our anger and react irrationally, perhaps eventually damaging our relationships with family or friends. And it affects us spiritually by preventing us from being in contact with the peace and tranquillity that should be the very essence and foundation of our lives.

How often do we really pause for even a moment to see whether the path we have taken in life is actually making us more satisfied, fulfilled and contented - and if not, why not?

The Price We Pay for Progress

On the whole, society rarely measures progress in terms of how people feel, concentrating instead on our ability to accomplish certain tasks. In fact, we are now 25 times more productive than we were 150 years ago, and during this time the manner in which we live has changed more than at any other time in human history. With the introduction of time-saving technology we have been promised an easier lifestyle with more comfort and leisure time than ever before - yet is this really the case? From the way many of us rush around trying to keep appointments, meet important deadlines or reach impossible targets, it seems as if the very opposite is happening.

Even though it is obvious that we now live longer and are far more efficient than we used to be, when you add joy and fulfilment to the equation it is not at all clear that we have really achieved a better quality of life.

When we talk about progress we must consider all aspects of life, including - though this should be obvious - how much peace and happiness we feel. Despite the huge volume of technology now at our disposal, it seems that more people are suffering from continuous stress than perhaps at any other time. An increasing number of people are visiting their doctors when they find themselves trapped in an accelerated spiral of speed and stress which can manifest itself in chronic muscle tension, acute anxiety, fidgety or restless behaviour, or a distinct lack of peace of mind. Sleeping tablets or anti-depressants may present a short-term solution, but we need to find a more permanent answer that does not rely on the use of potentially addictive drugs, many of which lose their effect over a period of time.

If we feel stressed during our working day, adrenalin - which causes the brain to be in a state of excitation - remains in our system for many hours or even days afterwards, and as a result we are likely to have less patience than usual. When we arrive home, we may be more prone to anger or irritation than we otherwise would be. The increase in stress over recent years certainly takes a toll on marriage. The alarming divorce statistics - which don't take into account the escalating number of unmarried couples who separate, nor the increase in unwanted teenage pregnancies where the couple may not live together in the first place - reflect just one possible side-effect of rising stress levels.

City Life and Work

Today, over half the population of the world lives in cities and has to cope with the incessant noise, pollution, overcrowded living conditions and traffic congestion that accompany city life. Even those people who are financially well off are not immune to the effects of stress in the city and therefore are not necessarily any happier than their less well off counterparts. In fact, it sometimes seems that the more material possessions a person has the more unhappy he or she becomes: perhaps this is because such people feel they have more to lose should they risk scaling down their work and financial commitments.

Modern society, in which money has become more important than health or education, is becoming more and more dehumanized; an enormous number of homeless people wander the streets, while at the same time there is an increase in the number of people who own a second holiday home; tons of food are wasted each day, yet at the same time millions of children are starving to death. Many people today are angry, confused, depressed or frustrated, as their search for happiness is hampered by unseen obstacles. Although it is profoundly clear that materialism is not the answer, we continue to think that money will be the solution to our problems.

We are living in a strange world indeed, as an increasing number of us stare at a computer or television screen for a large proportion of our lives. This type of static posture tends to cause both physical and emotional stress.

Stress is also extremely infectious. Just as we are favourably affected when we come into contact with happy or lively people, and a smile or kind word can brighten up our day, so we will absorb stressful atmospheres and pick up other people's tension without realizing it. This causes us to become irritated with our family, friends or colleagues at work without knowing why. In fact, stress at work is now reaching crisis point, as people are given huge workloads to complete in impossibly brief time spans. There is a common underlying feeling that if we are not rushing around feeling panicked or overwhelmed then we are not being responsible. Many people I talk to have been subjected to unspoken pressures to get them to work extra hours. If they refuse, bosses and colleagues alike will imply that they are 'letting the side down' or 'not pulling their weight'. They are also aware that if they do not 'toe the line' their chances of promotion will be severely affected, or they may even lose their job. These fears are often caused by subtle, unspoken emotional pressures which can be very hard to ignore. There is also the pressure not to take time off even when genuinely ill. The stress we're likely to feel if we do take time off - or continue soldiering on - is thus likely to increase, leading to more chronic illness later on.

Hint

When coping with impossible deadlines we need to remember that no one has ever been reported as saying on their deathbed, 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office' or 'I wish I'd reached those business targets.'

Recognizing Stress

It is important to distinguish between the constructive energy we feel when we face new challenges in life and the detrimental effects of continual stress over a long period of time. People talk of 'stress management', but as far as we can we need to eliminate as much stress...