2021-09-01
Debarati Basak
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MENTAL HEALTH OF ADULTS

“Age alone does not an adult make. Becoming an adult” is more of an elusive, sort of abstract concept than I’d thought when I was younger. I just assumed you’d get to a certain age and everything would make sense. Bless my young little heart, I had no idea!”

- Maria Eleusiniotis

Adulthood is a period that poses a variety of developmental tasks starting from taking responsibility for oneself, managing the separation from parental protection and control, redefining relationships, developing skills that opens the avenue of career possibilities, developing intimacy, parenthood, defining values and finally finding a place in society.

Being asked any adult to recall a time when he was happy, many are likely to mention an experience or moment when they felt their psychological needs rather than material needs being satisfied. Happiness is usually derived from feelings of independence, competence, self esteem or relating well with other people. On the contrary when they are asked what makes them unhappy and unsatisfied they mention incidents in which basic psychological needs were not fulfilled to a satisfactory extent. Moreover, some very usual challenges of adulthood like finding a job that matches with talent and interest, receiving promotion and growth opportunities, finding a suitable partner, having children and compromising own interest and hobbies for work and personal demands make their life stressful.

The present scenario has added more challenges in front of adult life.The pandemic continues to dramatically affect our lives, including our relationships with other people in our families, our homes and our workplaces.Millions of us have lost some, or even all, of what were our normal ways of seeing others, as we try to keep each other safe.Both losing face-to-face contact with people and being thrown into much closer contact than usual can feel stressful and may be worrying, frightening or even unbearable. At a time when we all face ongoing uncertainty and worry about coronavirus, these stresses on our relationships are probably all the harder to cope with. Pandemic stress, the pressures of working from home, school closures and social isolation have caused a rise in abusive behaviour inside family.Increased burden of care as a result of quarantine measure and homeschooling situations.Social distancing measures have led most people to be isolated from their usual support systems and cut off from regular coping mechanism Existence of digital divide have intensified the stress of middle and late adulthood.

In a survey conducted on 107 single and 126 married people it was found that the perceived stress in single individuals is more than that of married couples. A systematic enquiry into the system revealed the fact that the single individual lack the opportunity to share their concern, they are insecure and lonely, they are uncertain about their future career and family plans, scarcity of resources and inability to access balanced information and burnout due to varied responsibilities contributed to their higher stress levels.

Researchers in the field of psychoneuroimmunology have found stress produces several outcomes out of which the most immediate is a biological reaction. Over the long run, the constant wear and tear caused by physiological arousal produces negative effects like psychosomatic disorders. At a psychological level it creates a situation of frustration and conflict which finally leads to manifestations of anxiety, depression, persistent thought about stress, social withdrawal, panic attacks and loss of emotional control. So it is important to put effort into controlling, reducing and learning to tolerate the threats that lead to stress.

The success with which adults deal with stress depends in part on their coping styles, hardiness and building resilience. There is no single formula which can cover all cases of stress, some general guidelines can help all of us to cope with stress (Bionna,2006)-

● Seek control over the situation producing stress
● Redefine threat as a challenge
● Find social support
● Use relaxation techniques
● Try to maintain a healthy lifestyle that will reinforce body’s natural coping mechanism
● Keep in mind that stress is a part of life and successfully coping with it can be a gratifying experience.

Reference:
Bionna,R. (2006) Coping with stress in a changing world. New York: McGraw-Hill
Robert S. Feldman & Nandita Babu, Development Across the Life Span. 8th edition, 2020.

Debarati Basak ( India )

Practicing Psychologist & Founder partner of Carpediem EdPsych Consultancy LLP

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MENTAL HEALTH OF ADULTS

Debarati Basak ( India )

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