(201) Health 2018 Edition | Page 36

STRESS Everybody is EXHAUSTED Barrage of bad news puts us through the wringer WRITTEN BY JIM BECKERMAN AND ROBIN SHREEVES LISA CASSIDY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT RAMAPO COLLEGE IN MAHWAH 34 2018 EDITION | (201) HEALTH T he chaos of life and its colli- sion with technology and tragedy has more of us feel- ing drained, frazzled and emotionally overrun. Put simply: We are exhausted. What’s to blame? The list is long — and growing, experts say. Wildfires, terror attacks, rising tensions with North Korea, racist ral- lies, political investigations in Washington, the non-stop barrage of Presidential tweets, more and worse mass shootings from Las Vegas to Florida, a Gloria Cresttsunami of sexual harassment accusations, the role of Russians in our elections, climate change, red state-blue state division and not one, not two, but three of the worst hurricanes on record — including one that nearly blew Puerto Rico out of the Caribbean Sea. Put it all together and it’s understandable why exhausted Americans are limping along and running out of gas. Take a look at your friends and families. How many do you know who are sleepless with worry? Bleary-eyed from watching our favorite (and, too often, partisan) cable news outlets as pundits explain, blame and offer everything but what we want: More sleep and stress- ending solutions. There’s a consequence to all this chaos, doctors and medical experts say. Sixty three percent of Americans say the future of the nation is a very or somewhat significant source of stress for them, according to the recently released “Stress in America” report by the American Psychological Association. Outwardly, it could be argued, life hasn’t really changed for many of us. And that may be the final, cruel kindness. v — Jim Beckerman “SOCIAL MEDIA IS AN EXTENSION OF THE DESIRE FOR HUMAN CONNECTION, BUT SOCIAL MEDIA CAN ALSO BE USED TO EXPLOIT OUR FEARS AND OUR WORST IMPULSES.”