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Overly stressed: the global emotional tsunami.

Article Excerpt
People everywhere seem to be more stressed. Work seems to be harder, complaints about everything in people's lives are being heard more frequently and with greater intensity, and reports of feeling anxious and depressed are being heard more and more. What happened to stress tolerance and why can we no longer relate this solely to the economy?

Most will say that the bad economy is hurting them personally. People are stressed about losing retirement funds, homes or home equity, and employment, along with dealing with mounting bills and credit card debt. Isn't this just an economic issue? Why can't we seem to be able to handle one area of our lives being so troublesome? What else is impacting us so profoundly? Therapists are seeing many things in their patients: fear, panic, anxiety, depression, irritability, relationship issues, and addictive behaviors.

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"Supportive friends are vital for people facing economic crisis," says Lanny Berman, Executive Director of the American Association of Suicidology. "A lack of supportive relationships is tied to higher suicide rates among the unemployed. Unemployed adults have two to four times the suicide rate of employed people, but coping skills in hard times vary widely," he adds (USA Today, Marilyn Elias, 3/12/09). Unfortunately, I often hear people saying they don't have the time or energy for others' problems; they are doing everything they can just to hold on themselves.

It is no surprise that economic challenges are taking a toll on the emotional and physical health of people. According to a USA Today/Gallop poll (conducted nearly one year ago--9/23/08), "more than half of Americans report irritability or anger, fatigue, and sleeplessness, and almost half say they self-medicate by overeating or indulging in unhealthy foods (USA Today, Sharon Jayson, Oct. 2008).

The economy is down. Financial pressures are hitting from every angle. Relationships are strained. Emotional and physical health is overly stressed. What is going on? Typically, we can handle stressors one, two, and sometimes three at once. Our tolerance level for stress mediates and we use various coping skills to accommodate. Even when these coping skills fail, most often we can seek professional and personal help and get through the tough times. But what we're dealing with today is an all-out global "emotional tsunami," and we are all dealing with it.

Tsunami

According to a friend of mine, famed meteorologist and entrepreneur Paul Douglas, a tsunami is "triggered by undersea earthquakes. They form immediately and usually reach the coastline within 1-3 hours of the quake itself, leaving some time for evacuation to higher ground. They slam ashore and then quickly recede" (personal conversation, July 17, 2009).

It is undeniable that we are in an "economic tsunami" of sorts. There are so many economic forces collapsing in unison, making it almost impossible to argue against this. However, it is my belief that what is happening today goes beyond...

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