Psychosocial Stress

Psychosocial Stress = Stress due to changes in social situations and/or interactions with other people.

We have so much information flowing into our lives, much of it distressing and challenging. We are constantly interrupted and distracted by technology. We can track our friends, enemies, spouses, our children (that’s a good thing in my opinion) our competitors and even total strangers.

We can look into the intimate lives of people who live on the other side of the planet. We’re exposed to disasters in real-time from all around the globe 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

There is enormous and mounting social pressure to disclose our personal information, and not just the dictionary definition of “personal” either. People today disclose so much about their personal lives that little if anything is left to the imagination. All of this can lead to what we now call psychosocial stress.

Stress itself is present in everyday life in a variety of situations such as divorce, bereavement, work-life stress, parenting or illness but it seems as though we’re discovering new ways to become stressed, anxious or depressed.

In young people, psychosocial stress can be related to school performance, friendships, bullying and keeping up a social status. Just look at the social acceptance of being famous for fame's sake. Not having to work for or achieve anything other than getting your face on the TV or social media platform. I watch in disbelief our children glued to YouTube watching other people play computer games from their bedrooms! So they’re not actually playing the game but watching someone else play the game. Apparently, some of these “gamers” have made millions of pounds/dollars before they’ve even grown facial hair.

So many children when asked what they want to be when they grow up reply “famous”. Over and above hopes of academic success, achievement, a loving family and a sense of community.

Where are we headed?