Tears and Laughter: Being stressed-out, worried, and mad may be the new normal

The United States enjoys having the world’s strongest economy and is the most dominant military power. That should give Americans a certain level of hope and assurance. It should give – one would think – everyone the opportunity to thrive, succeed, and live in peace.

But according to a Gallup survey, Americans have significantly higher stress levels than the global average. Greece had the highest levels with 59 percent of their population reporting daily feelings of high stress. The Philippines was second and Tanzania – where most people live below the World Bank poverty line and could get eaten by a lion – was third. But tying for fourth with Albania, Sri Lanka, and get this – Iran, is us.

According to the survey it isn’t older Americans who are stressed, it is instead the 15 to 49 crowd. And we aren’t just stressed-out. We are also worried, and we are mad.

We must be doing something wrong. We have to be.

Our grandparents generation – the Greatest Generation – endured years of doing without and making do with what they had during the Depression. Then many of them were shipped overseas upon graduation from high school to fight in a war few of them probably fully understood. And when they came home they were ready to put the gloom and horrors of World War II behind them.

It was along in there somewhere that self-restraint began to be less important. It wasn’t so much culturally noticed until years later, but the moral climate began to change in 1945.

This desire for more positive thinking became increasingly popular throughout the 50’s and 60’s and just prior to the dawning of the 1970’s the self-esteem movement began. It was a shift between a culture that had been centered around moral demands to a more self-indulgent way of living.

It was a beneficial time in cultivating self-identity and inner strength. It gave voice to those in society who had previously felt inferior – women, the poor, minorities – and helped them to move forward  As the movement marched onward and upward, people became more proud and were confident in themselves.

Book after book was written about the idea of putting ourselves first. The moral climate our grandparents lived in – some of them perhaps unknowingly, because it was just part of their ethos – continued to dissipate. Humbleness and modesty was replaced with arrogance and excess. Attitudes of servitude and self-sacrifice were lost in the idea that we all authentically hold within our core the answers to what is best for us individually. Courage and kindness declined. Competition and the pursuit of personal achievement were replaced with expectations of special treatment and unearned entitlement.

The notion that personal desires and inner feelings are the best guide to what is right and what is wrong has all but replaced self-discipline. We continued to put more emphasis on self. Selfies became a thing. We were all taught to love ourselves most and trust ourselves above all else and to believe completely in ourselves.

Now here we are – far enough out to look back and consider the results…and we are stressed, worried, and mad as hell.

I’m just not sure it’s working.

Amanda Walker is a contributor with AL.com, The Selma Times Journal, Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, and Alabama Gazette. Contact her at Walkerworld77@msn.comor at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.