Public Comment

If you experience a lot of stress through things that don't seem to bother other people, I think you deserve validation because everyone experiences stress differently, and if you are like me, meaning sensitive to stress, you could have been slammed for it by people. And this is wrong.

Stress really exists, and it kills. If you work in a corporate environment, the term "easy does it," will probably not be allowed. You are expected to crank out work as though you are a machine. You are expected to regurgitate the prevalent cynical, power-oriented attitudes. You are expected to be tough, or at least project that, so that you can survive in that environment. Corporate work environments are often hostile environments.

I am mentally ill; however, I have worked before--at real jobs. In my past I've done electronic repair and worked alongside and competed with other technicians, usually without disclosing a disability. I am not without that experience under my belt. In my twenties, I went through several jobs in which the social atmosphere was difficult enough that I couldn't focus on the work at hand well enough. Most people probably would not consider them to be "hostile environments." But how I experience things differs from how others do, because my psychiatric condition makes me a lot more sensitive to environments. 

In my past, I functioned well in mama-papa companies, in which the personalities were compatible. I dealt directly with company owners. That was always my ideal work situation. Yet, by the time I hit thirty, trying to keep up with "normal" people had taken its toll, and I relied on Social Security. I obtained benefits at age twenty-five. However, I didn't truly throw in the towel until several years later. Additionally, at thirty I was at a cognitive low. 

I can tell you that if you feel that you are under stress, then you are under stress. Regarding stress, credit and validity should be given to the subjective experience. I can also tell you that your brain needs to be rested like any other part of the body--probably more so. When you're pushing and pushing on yourself, or when someone else is pushing you to try harder, you should watch out. Pushing too hard, if you have a psychiatric issue, should not be done. 

When we find ourselves under situational pressure, (meaning a situation we find ourselves in has too many demands) then we have no choice; we must do what is needed. In some instances, we'll later need a lot of recovery time afterward. My mind's operating systems were damaged by a series of rough events. This happened several different times in my past. A situational pressure can't always be foreseen because no one can predict the future. The damage could be partly cognitive, or it could have other ways of showing itself. This is the nature of life--bad things happen. 

Despite the reality that the aftermath of a stressful series of events might not show up on medical diagnostic equipment, it doesn't matter: Damage has been done to the operating system that you use to interact with the world. 

Good things happen as well. And, if you can find a way of profiting on hardship, it could be the best-case scenario: you are turning something bad into something good. Good and bad things happen to everyone. You are not alone.  

If we refuse to go into some situations that we know will be too hard, it is probably for the best, even if someone is offended. 

We have some amount of control over internally generated stress. I could give you an example of internally generated stress: Worry about your job security, whether founded in truth, or not. Actual job security or lack thereof, is a separate issue from the worry about it. You might need to take action to shore up your job, but the worry concerning this is internally generated. Second example: Being worried about the political climate. While this could lead you to participate in activism, the stress by itself is internally generated, unless you have been arrested by the FBI and are being interrogated. 

Some amount of stress is to be expected and is probably good for you, and I think studies have been done that imply this. You probably need a moderate amount of stress for overall wellness. But stress at a level that raises your blood pressure to a life-threatening level, as a no brainer, is to be avoided.