Research Paper Example: Stress Over Time

📌Category: Health, Mental health
📌Words: 1493
📌Pages: 6
📌Published: 02 February 2022

Even though many people believe that people these days aren’t under a lot of stress, really they are under more now than in the past. The American Psychological Association is a team in Washington that surveys people to find out how they feel about certain situations. In one of their surveys, they found that 84% of adults felt very stressed in the past two weeks (American Psychological Association 2). People are much more stressed than they were in the past, they have many issues that make it more stressful now than it was in the past. Now, people have more advanced technology, strain in relationships, school, and work issues. 

According to Penn State University of Health and Human Development, professor, David M. Almeida, states, ‘“In the ’90s, the internet did keep people connected, but not to the extent that it would 20 years later,”...“I think constant connection to information can be great in some ways, but never gives you a break”’ (Cassata). Being able to connect to so many people on social media and online is stressful because people feel the need to constantly be on their phones and electronics that people never to a break to calm down and enjoy what is happening. A group of researchers who work for the Pew Research Center stated, “Stress might come from maintaining a large network of Facebook friends, feeling jealous of their well-documented and well-appoinetd lives, the demands of replying to text messages, the addictive allure of photos of fantastic crafts on Pinterest, having to keep up with status updates of Twitter, and the  “fear of missing out” on activities in the lives of friends and family” (Pew Research Center). In later years, people are so focused on what others think of them on social media, that they are stressing themselves out trying to become that person. Many people now post things online that aren’t fully true just so they can be seen as cool. A very stressful thing is now people have the world at their fingertips and can instantly talk to someone. Being able to do that is very stressful because now when people hear that little ding they instantly respond, but that can be stressful. For example, if someone has a business group chat, it can be stressful trying to understand the situation or it could just be too many things happening at once. A lot of people have family members who live far away from them and social media helps people connect and keep in touch, but the stress of having to always keep up with everyone can be very stressful. Constantly being connected to people, people relying too much on their phones, and the fear of missing out are reasons why people are more stressed now than in the past. 

While technology is a big stressor in today’s world, so are the strains in relationships that are happening. Dr. Sudha Prathikanti, an integrative psychiatrist at the University of California, says, “‘A lot of the women I’ve worked with who divorced or are divorcing later in life took out significant amounts of time earlier in their career to raise families. Now they are not in the place where they have the economic security that they had earlier in life” (Cassata). Being divorced tends to be a very stressful situation for most, they get a lot more responsibility put onto them. For example, if they have a child or children they would have to decide who gets the rights to the kids. If they are the person with the rights, they would need to make sure they get them places on time. Another example would be the person may choose to keep paying for the place they are living in with one income instead of two or they may be required to buy or rent a new place. People who are in a healthy relationship or living with a partner tend to be less stressed than people who aren’t. (Pew Research Center). When people are in healthy relationships they are more likely to make better decisions. Since their relationship is bad, that puts more stress on the person. The American Psychological Association suggests that being constantly connected with family helps relieve stress (American Psychological Association 2).  With Covid, it is making it harder to do things with your family. Covid has affected us in many ways but the big one is the strain in relationships. Covid has been making it hard for people to see their friends and family, they are so used to seeing all the time. It’s stressful for people to go somewhere and visit someone high risk when they know they could get them sick. Another distressing thing is making connections with people when they are wearing masks. It’s stressful for people to go into a new situation with people only wearing masks because it is hard, to learn their names and get to know them. This is why having a strain in relationships is stressful for people. 

While strains in relationships are a big stressor today, so is school. School is now more stressful than ever, especially with Covid numbers still so high. During Covid, the American Psychological Association did a survey and 87% of Gen Z adults in college said that education is a significant source of stress (American Psychological Association). This survey shows that most college students are very stressed during Covid, which is something that they didn’t have to deal with in the past. Covid is making every aspect of life harder and school is definitely one of them. Last year, many students had to teach themselves, due to being online, which was very difficult for many. Some students even had to teach younger siblings what they needed to learn. Students also had to take care of younger siblings, while doing homework and zoom. Another stressful thing about school that is not related to Covid is tuition is becoming higher and higher. According to CNBC researcher, Emmie Martin, “Tuition at Harvard is now almost 17 times as much as it was in 1971” (CNBC Video). Many college prices are going up now versus in the past they were quite a bit less. All college fees are rising with the tuition of the school. It’s hard for people now who are lower class to get into colleges because they are so expensive and exhausting to apply for. Now, people have to pay a pretty big fee just to apply for college. Those people aren’t even guaranteed to get in. Stress due to Covid in schools and raising college tuition are reasons why now people are more stressed than people were in the past. 

Since most adults are out of school and got rid of the stress of school, they now are having to deal with work stress. Some have deadlines they have to work to meet, others have to work in difficult situations. Especially with Covid this year has been hard on working parents and adults in general. The American Psychological Association, says “Work situations changed rapidly: Jobs were lost, essential workers continued employment with the health and safety of their family in the balance, and for many, work was shifted into the home” (American Psychological Association). Work this year was very difficult for many, which is something in the past that people didn’t have to deal with. All these Covid issues that have been added in the past two years, have been very hard on many and have been stress out of their minds. Another issue that is very stressful for people working is their pay. Emmie Martin states, that the prices have been rising faster than wages of most (CNBC). Prices now are making it hard to live for many. Wages haven’t been rising like the prices are so many have to live paycheck to paycheck to try and live. Now that people have gotten the checks for being unemployed it’s even more stressful. They have a little bit of money now and they don’t want to go back to work. Many now have no money left at all because they think that they will keep getting money. These are why people who are working are more stressed now. 

In conclusion, life is more stressful now than it was in the past. IN the past their technology wasn’t as advanced, people relying on their phones too much and people didn’t have to go through the fear of missing out. People now also have to go through a big strain in relationships. The divorce rate is very high now due to Covid and that’s a very stressful situation. School is another significant reason for stress for people now. In the past, the tuition cost for colleges wasn’t as much and they weren’t required to teach themselves due to Covid. Work is a very big causer of stress for people. People are getting paid more, but prices of things are going up faster than the wages and once again Covid is destroying work. These are the reasons why life is more stressful than it was in the past. 

Works Cited

American Psychological Association. “Stress in America™ 2020.” APA, October 2020, https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/report-october. Accessed 05 October 2021.

American Psychological Association. “U.S. Adults Report Highest Stress Level Since Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” APA, 02 February 2021, https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2021/02/adults-stress-pandemic. Accessed 06 October 2021.

Cassata, Cathy. “Why Americans Are More Stressed Today Than They Were in the 1990s.” Healthline, https://www.healthline.com/health-news/people-more-stressed-today-than-1990s#Why-are-things-more-stressful-now? Accessed 27 September 2021.

CNBC. Home prices have risen 114% since 1960 — here’s how much more expensive life is today. 17 April 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/how-much-more-expensive-life-is-today-than-it-was-in-1960.html. Accessed 06 October 2021.

Pew Research Center. “Psychological Stress and Social Media.” Pew Research Center, 15 January 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/01/15/psychological-stress-and-social-media-use-2/. Accessed 01 October 2021.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.