Det er ingen hemmelighed at jeg længe har savnet solide forklaringer på vores stress-epidemi. Den er et faktum – men også et mysterium. Taler du fx med udenlandske ledere vil de fortælle dig at det er langt værre her end i nabolande. Til trods for at vi har verdens næstbedste work-life-balance… Og til trods for at vi har empatiske ledere (dem som tror at de er mere livsfarlige, har ikke arbejdet i udlandet… ;-))
MEN så kom der måske lys i mørket – leveret af professor Vibeke Koushede. Måske skyldes vores ‘føring’ på stress at vi i er kommet længere end andre lande med at afmontere relations-støtten i samfundet… Man står mere alene med presset end i nabolandende. Det giver mening.
Hun skriver på linkedin:
Like neurologist Robert Sapolsky and other researchers I believe that one of the major reasons for the escalating rates in mental health problems is the withering in social support and social capital.
I can highly recommend reading this interesting article. “Nobody in their right mind would say that it’s more stressful today than what it was like for someone whose farm in Oklahoma was blowing away in 1930. But what I think has changed — and is at the root of an awful lot of these levels of stress skyrocketing — is that the most effective sources of communal support have been withering away.
Social support is declining. This is the stability of communities and families. Stability has gotten jettisoned in part because social capital as a whole is crashing in many different communities”. We are social creatures. A sense of community and of belonging is fundamental for mental health.
