Guest post by Ted Malloch author of Davos, Aspen and Yale
A new, breaking study has found that we are living through a “Stress Mess.” It suggests 3 In 5 Millennials say life is more stressful now than ever before.
Life is hard and complicated; ambiguous and often less than purposeful.
Here are the Top 20 stressful scenarios reported by today’s millennials:
- Losing wallet/credit card
2. Arguing with partner
3. Commute/traffic delays
4. Losing phone
5. Arriving late to work
6. Slow WiFi
7. Phone battery dying
8. Forgetting passwords
9. Credit card fraud
10. Forgetting phone charger
11. Losing/misplacing keys
12. Paying bills
13. Job interviews
14. Phone screen breaking
15. Credit card bills
16. Check engine light coming on
17. School loan payments
18. Job security
19. Choosing what to wear
20. Washing dishes
Seriously, this is the whole list. It is what they recorded with objective academic researchers in some 2000 surveys conducted nationwide.
Can you fathom the stress of having — zero likes on Facebook?
The negative effects, both socially and personally, were severe. On average this millennial group lost 138 nights of sleep a year. Sleep deprivation is bad for your health and effects all interpersonal relations.
They actually believed their lives to be “far more stressful than the average person’s”.
The problem of micro stresses also arose, things that can trigger a really bad day or horrible experience.
These included such catastrophes as being stuck in traffic, having to wait for an appointment, or the lack of WIFI.
God forbid!
What has the world and our larger culture come to when these snowflake, precious, spoiled brats are so bummed out?
Are they so special, so spoiled, and so entitled, that the rest of us have to put up with them? How did they get this way? How and when did it happen?
I thought I would make a counter list of the Top 20 things that stressed out Americans looking back over the many decades since our Founding. Compare them with the millennial’s list of today.
- War
- Death by disease (often at an early age)
- Economic travails, like a depression or losing your job
- Seeing your children suffer
- Not having enough to eat
- Lack of sanitary conditions
- No central heating (or cooling)
- Inhospitable conditions on the frontier
- Religious freedom
- Dangerous working conditions and long hours
- No electricity
- Poor diets
- Incurable diseases
- Longevity of 40-60 years, less for many men
- No pension or security
- Discrimination and segregation
- Invasion by enemies
- Pillage
- Insufficient schooling
- Rape and incest
Please correct or add to my list. Thanks.