Wearing Stress as a Badge of Honor

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Image Source: PeaPodLife

“You think you have a lot to do? Let me tell you about MY week.”

Does this sound familiar? As college students, we are constantly pushed to overachieve and be the best/most productive versions of ourselves. Hard classes on one side, six clubs on the other, volunteering, working part-time, doing research, getting internships, networking, spending time with friends and family, eating healthy, exercising– it all adds up. People are constantly expected to be busy working on something, running off somewhere to be productive. One time, as I was reading a book at a lounge in my residence hall, a person came up to me and said: “Must be nice to be a health major!” When did people decide we were no longer allowed to just… be?

Our society has become increasingly fat, sleep deprived, anxious, sick, and depressed over the years. The novel culture of stress has hugely contributed to these factors. We look at stress as a badge of honor. We over-glorify it, leading us to believe that if we do not run ourselves into the ground every single day, we will never be successful. However, it hasn’t always been like this. In the 14th century, the term “stress” was associated with poverty and hardship. However, things shifted after the Second Industrial Revolution. Work culture became more prevalent thanks to longer shifts and better infrastructure. Now, we can’t imagine disconnecting from our work because we have ready and instant access to the internet and other forms of technology. Our inability to separate ourselves from productivity has led us to feel constantly burdened by it.

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Image Source: CDC
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Image Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

The modern stress mentality is killing us. The top two leading causes of death in the U.S. are cardiovascular disease and cancer, both of which have been linked to excessive, chronic stress due to elevated blood pressure and reduced immune function. Both these causes of death are also related to obesity, which is more prevalent among people who experience high amounts of stress. When we get overwhelmed, we tend to crave high-fat, high-sugar comfort food and chuck the running shoes out the window. Stress is positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and telomere shortening, meaning our cells age much faster than they should. Furthermore, stress robs us of sleep, but time and time again it’s been shown that sleep deprivation can cause a myriad of issues, including diabetes, hormone dysregulation, and end in premature death. It is a grim reality for our generation.

We need to research and understand modern day stress to help us re-frame society’s perspective on it. This way, we may be able to better health outcomes, eradicate disease, and significantly decrease the high number of premature, preventable deaths that occur in the United States every year.

4 thoughts on “Wearing Stress as a Badge of Honor”

  1. This is a very interesting idea for you to choose to explore. I think we have watched this shift happen through social media, and I can’t wait to hear your take on it.

  2. First off, I love your image- it made me laugh. Second, I think this topic is so, so important, especially in the social media age. People are constantly trying to one up each other on how hard their major is our how hard work is-its exhausting! I feel like people need to realize that it is okay to just sit and relax sometimes. I definitely think it would be interesting to explore how the idea of being stressed has changed over time, and I think you are off to a great start.

  3. You could absolutely write a topic about this. Studies show that teens have the average anxiety levels of mental hospital patients. More students are going to college than ever and the stress of the coursework doesn’t get any easier. The diseases don’t go away either like you stated. I think that people are going to keep dying sooner because of these diseases getting worse by the day. It was not that bad of a problem in the twentieth century, but in the new era it’s all about being the best and earning financial freedom.

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