Mental tension

Nervous tension
Intellectual strain
Mental stress
Brain strain

Nature

Examples of mental stress are high responsibility, long hours, perfectionism, anxiety, and worry. Present-day reasons for increased stress are: rapid and disturbing changes due to modern science and technology; education that creates a spirit of competition and rivalry; the great expansion of cities; the change in values and lifestyles; the break-up of family life and loss of faith and love in mutual relations. This stress or build-up of mental tension does not only result in a lack of peacefulness but causes many physical and mental diseases such as: high blood pressure, insomnia, indigestion, asthmatic ailments, peptic ulcers, heart attacks and even cancer. It lowers man's immunity to diseases and accelerates the process of ageing.

Background

Academic researchers have shown direct evidence that prolonged exposure to stress can accelerate the aging of brain cells and lead to impairment of learning and memory. Abnormally high levels of stress hormones, such as adrenalin, damaged brain cells (of rats) and in humans may be linked to Alzheimer's disease by affecting the cells of the hippocampus region of the brain.

Incidence

Mental tension is a pervasive issue affecting populations across all continents, with the World Health Organization estimating that hundreds of millions experience significant psychological stress annually. The problem spans diverse age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds, contributing to reduced productivity, increased healthcare costs, and diminished quality of life on a global scale. Its incidence is rising, particularly in urban environments and among younger demographics, due to factors such as economic uncertainty, social isolation, and rapid technological change.
In 2022, a nationwide survey in Japan reported that over 60% of respondents experienced heightened mental tension, attributed to prolonged pandemic restrictions and economic instability.

Claim

Although the problem of increased stress starts at the individual or group level, it acquires global dimensions. Wars, hot or cold, are an outcome of tension, as are communal riots or ethnic strife. Political tension may result in nuclear war which, in turn, could cause world catastrophe. Almost every individual suffers from tension and a man under tension often disturbs others and spreads waves of peacelessness. Sustained or frequent states of tension make a person physically and mentally weak so that he is unable to face even the slightest opposition or the smallest problem.

Stress causes the brain to lose the ability to think, and worry can make the hippocampus shrink by half, with the shrinkage increasing as the stress lasts longer.

Counter-claim

Frankly, the fuss over mental tension is vastly overblown. People have always faced stress—it's simply part of life. Instead of treating it as a major problem, we should accept it as normal and move on. Dwelling on mental tension only makes it worse and distracts from real issues. Society needs to toughen up and stop exaggerating the impact of everyday worries. Mental tension is not the crisis people make it out to be.