work = stress

I talk to hundreds of people in my practice, and I want to share with you an observation that I have made. With all the media attention lately on the fact that America has hit 90 million people who are not in the workforce, I see very little being written, asking the big question, WHY?

It is easy to say that the main reason is the entitlement culture affords people the ability to not have to work, but I am hearing the real reason is STRESS. People are reluctant to admit that they just can’t take the pressure anymore of day-to-day living, and the biggest way to relieve stress is to not work.

Think about how our culture is now structured for the average adult: STRESS, everywhere you look--commuting in horrible traffic, as you want to scream in frustration--money stress, to pay rent/house note, tuition, utilities, gas, insurances, vacations, cable bill, rising food costs, and on and on and on--stress from family problems, divorce, delinquency, drugs, crime, infidelity, keeping up with the Jones, etc.

People have too high an expectation of what they should have out of life, and get overly stressed over it all. How does all of this manifest itself? A prescription drug culture (Zoloft, Xanax, etc.) that tricks people into thinking a pill will knock back the stress, when these drugs, in my opinion, only make things worse.

I am hearing more and more that people just want to drop out from it all, as they are reaching a breaking point, and have decided less income and dependency on entitlements will reduce their stress, and is not so humiliating, so giving up working becomes more acceptable, to KEEP ONE’S SANITY.

I know I am correct, from the feedback I hear every day, and the financial media does not see this like I hear it every day. People don't want to admit that they are too weak to deal with stress, so the financial pundits are not aware of this critical factor because they don't talk to Joe Sixpack.

The government can stimulate all they want, but the unemployment/job problem will not improve because the root cause is not being recognized. We have built a culture that is far too stressful for millions of folks, so they do what they must for their mental sanity, by removing the stress of work. It matters not what level of pay they may earn, because their mental health is more critical than high income.

More and more, it is like a spiritual awakening, as people realize chasing after materialism was making them crazy with anxiety and stress. They find not working, and downsizing their expectations, makes it easier to cope with all the other aspects of living.

From zh