Stress means tension and worry in coping with the routine problems of a profession or merely day to day living. None can escape stress altogether. Uncertainty is an inseparable part of human existence and consequently a certain amount of stress ‘ will always be there.

Stress becomes problematic only when it starts interfering with the routine pursuit of one’s profession or daily life. A life without some uncertainty or conflict is difficult to imagine. Birth, schooling, adolescence, examinations, marriage, joining a profession, retirement, serous illness and death, any or all of these can be the cause of a little or unbearable stress depending on the neuro-psychic make up and life situation of an individual.

Most people pass through these milestones of life without undue stress amply helped by the society. Some people, however, fail to achieve proper integration with society and undergo extraordinary strain in coping with crucial stages in life.

Stress is usually a function of an individual’s capacity to tolerate uncertainty and the complexity of a situation. Stronger nerves or simplicity of life situation both can enable an individual to avoid stress. Life of simplicity with very few wants has been recommended by many religious and saintly personalities. For an average wordly man, however, voluntary asceticism is not possible. In an acquisitive society, where one’s j bank balance is the index of one’s station or success in life, a man with few wants will always be an exception rather than the rule. As the things stand, every man will try his j best to maximize his earning and possessions to achieve upward mobility in the social ladder.

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A materialistic outlook can very well be held to be the main cause of ever increasing stress in the life of moder man. The spirit of the age is propitious for promoting the cause of materialism and an insatiable consumerism. Advertisement capmaigns launched through or sustained by satellite television are nurturing consumerism on a worldwide scale and with an unprecedented success. All the glamour of fiml stars and sports men is roped in to impart an unfailing cutting edge to advertisement campaigns.

The unsuspecting, star crazy masses lap up the products promoted and recommended by their favourite heroes and heroines. Not all the consumers are earning enough incomes to buy the recommended goods. Many of them fall into a debt trap to buy the goods simply to keep up with the Joneses. The consequent difficulty in managing the finances of one’s family imposes great burden and stress on the head of the household.

Although desire forever-larger possessions have always resided in the human heart, Indian way of life never offered unreserved adherence to materialistic pursuits. Earning material wealth was only one of the four important pursuits prescribed under the four¬fold ashrama: Brahmacharya-ashrama comprising the first part of life upto the age of twenty five was meant to study; the Grihasthashrama was meant to earn wealth and satisfy physical desire and raise a family; Vanprasthashrama was to be devoted to the disinterested service of society while the last and the fourth ashrama was supposed to be a life of renunciation away from worldly affairs. Material pursuits thus occupied only one fourth of one’s life. We, Indians, no longer follow the for-fold ashram-dharma. We have been completely overwhelmed by the westernised culture of consumerism and are ready to engage in materialistic pursuits till our last breath.

Modern life style, particulary life in the urban areas has progressively increased the incidence of stress. Degeneration and at times complete absence of community life has taken a heavy toll of happy social life. Living in the jungles of concrete in the metropolitan cities, individual is leading a self-centered and atomised existence having virtually no refreshing human interaction with the neighbour’s or residents of his locality. He gets little affection or emotional sustenance from his immediate environment. His near and dear ones are quite remote from him in space and time. At the time of sickness or stress he has nobody to console him. Such situations take a heavy toll of his peace of mind.

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Cut throat competition in almost all fields of human endeavour is responsible for an abnormal increase in stress. Where success is valued as the chief good in life, failure or even fear of failure can lead to unremitting mental stress. The pursuit of success has made modern man highly self-centered. His social interaction has narrowed down considerably. The remedy of reducing his unhappiness by sharing it with other is, therefore, not available to him. He has to bear the cross all by himself. With the making of a self-centered mind-set, his success too does not bring him much happiness, as he can not increase his happiness by sharing it with others.

Man of today is always in a hurry. It seems as if the spirit of the wandering god Hermese, ever desirous of making new achievements, possesses him. He is always dissatisfied with his present lot. His mind is always busy thinking. His nerves are never at ease. He does not know how to relax. The psychologists say that there is an optimum amount of anxiety-creative anxiety-which is good for performance. Too much anxiety narrows down the cognitive field and causes deterioration in performance. He is thus caught in a vicious circle. Stress and anxiety interfere with free functioning of his thinking and creative faculties and the hoped for success eludes him. He makes mistakes and commits errors of judgement. This in turn leads to greater stress.