Does this mean America is going to pay even more people not to work?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Too Much Work, Food, Media May Be Hurting Health

Many would do better, physically and mentally, with less, expert says

MONDAY, June 6 (HealthDay News) -- America may be seen as a land of plenty, but some experts are beginning to believe that plenty may have become too much.

Cheap and convenient food, busy work and social lives and a constant barrage from media sources have overloaded Americans and are having a detrimental effect on their mental and physical health, according to Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and co-director of the UCLA Center for Community Health and the Global Center for Children and Families.

All of this prosperity goes against the survival instincts that human beings adopted as they evolved, said Rotheram-Borus, who teaches a class at the UCLA Family Commons titled "Too Much? How to Do Less & Enjoy More."

"We were groomed for millennia to survive on too little," she said. "We didn't have enough food. We didn't have enough clothing. Our genetic code was built on those who could survive adversity."

But because it's ingrained in human nature to enjoy what you have when you have it, people may have taken too well to having too much.

Cheap fast food has led to Americans eating an average of 1,000 more calories a day than they need, Rotheram-Borus said. Constant media exposure creates stress while also numbing people to normal human interaction. And to pay for it all, people are working longer hours and enduring longer commutes.

Dr. Patricia Wong, a Los Angeles psychiatrist and a spokeswoman for the American Psychiatric Association, said that the advent of text messaging and smart phones has added to people's stress because they "create a pressure to be constantly available" that used to be endured only by doctors, police officers, firefighters and other professionals who spend much of their lives on call.

"Everyone is on call every minute of their lives now," she said. "There's no wonder people feel stressed out. Now mundane life is an emergency."

But doctors are finding that when people cut back -- by eating less or reducing their media viewing, for instance -- their mental and physical health improves, Rotheram-Borus said.

"The shift to paring down is new," Rotheram-Borus said. "Now we do better if we have less."

She emphasized that these problems are societal in nature. "It's structural," she said. "Changes in society have been major in the last 30 years, and we haven't adjusted our lifestyles. These are structural problems that have nothing to do with people making bad decisions."

Nonetheless, if something isn't done about this, Rotheram-Borus said, she sees a future in which obesity is rampant, stress is overwhelming and everyone is deep in debt from trying to fulfill their various appetites.

Wong doesn't completely agree with Rotheram-Borus' hypothesis. For example, she thinks most stress these days is not caused by having too much but rather by hoping to maintain what you already have in tough economic times.

"I don't think, in this current climate, that is as relevant to people as real economic need," Wong said. "I do know people who are driven by that 'chase of a dream,' but the general public is stressed out because they're wondering if they're going to keep their job or pay the rent."

And, though Wong agrees that stress from overfilled lives is contributing to the obesity epidemic, she doesn't think it's because people haven't adapted to having food readily available.

"People are overwhelmed, and they don't know how to deal with everything and become stressed or depressed," she said. "They turn to eating as a form of self-therapy."

But if people want to improve their health by cutting back, Rotheram-Borus and Wong suggest that they:

Set a consistent routine that is aligned with the values they want their children to have. For example, make family dinners the norm, rather than an occasional treat. "If you value your kids more than your job, you need to be at home for dinner," Rotheram-Borus said. "If you want your kids to be balanced human beings, you can't work 100 hours a week yourself."

Take a time out before making a purchase. Be clear about what you need when you go into a store.

Cut back on your food intake, and choose healthy foods. Throw out all the junk food in your house. "Once you have it in the house, you're very likely to eat it," Rotheram-Borus said.

Turn off the cell phone and disconnect from other media for a set period of time each day. "The reality is, in most situations a text message can wait," Wong said.

Remember that gifts don't always have to be purchases. Experiences, favors and thoughtful gestures can be just as meaningful.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2011/06/06/too-much-work-food-media-may-be-hurting-health

Edited June 6, 2011 by Some Old Guy

[slim 1,525]

I wonder how we ever survived without fast food and cell phones.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I wonder how we ever survived without fast food and cell phones.

I do.

[The Dude 206]

We should just deport all the criminals to a penal colony. We'll all be fine.

[slim 1,525]

We should just deport all the criminals to a penal colony. We'll all be fine.

You mean Australia?

[The Dude 206]

You mean Australia?

I would suggest somewhere like Zimbabwe, or Somalia, where the libertarian criminals could be in an environment that would be conducive to their recovery.

[slim 1,525]

I would suggest somewhere like Zimbabwe, or Somalia, where the libertarian criminals could be in an environment that would be conducive to their recovery.

Look what happened to Australia. From penal colony to socialist nanny-state in only a few generations!

When you say "criminal" where are you drawing the line? I'm sure you've had a speeding ticket or been convicted of some other "criminal" offense at some point in your life. Is everyone getting on the boat or just the "real criminals?"

[^_^ 5,021]

Look what happened to Australia. From penal colony to socialist nanny-state in only a few generations!

When you say "criminal" where are you drawing the line? I'm sure you've had a speeding ticket or been convicted of some other "criminal" offense at some point in your life. Is everyone getting on the boat or just the "real criminals?"

Speeding is not a criminal offense.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Look what happened to Australia. From penal colony to socialist nanny-state in only a few generations!

When you say "criminal" where are you drawing the line? I'm sure you've had a speeding ticket or been convicted of some other "criminal" offense at some point in your life. Is everyone getting on the boat or just the "real criminals?"

How about convicted felon? Does that have a nicer ring to it?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Speeding is not a criminal offense.

Not yet. Just wait until the prison corporations hurt for more inmates to sustain their growth. They'll lobby and it will be. The futility of their business model will come to light once we reach an incarceration rate of 50% or so. When all you have is people either drawing Social Security, watch inmates or doing time, then we'll have an issue. Unless, of course, inmates are then rented out to other corporations to work.

Edited June 7, 2011 by Mr. Big Dog

[slim 1,525]

Speeding is not a criminal offense.

It's not?

Are you not breaking the law when you're speeding?

How about convicted felon? Does that have a nicer ring to it?

I'm sure those who've broken into someone's home to steal a TV set need to be shipped off to Zimbabwe for rehab. That'll surely help our country become a better place!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Are you not breaking the law when you're speeding?

Yes but not every act of breaking the law meets the threshold of a criminal offense.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

How about convicted felon? Does that have a nicer ring to it?

Some states you can get a felony for shoplifting more than one carton of cigarettes, or by breaking a no contact order...yet catch only a misdemeanor after then umpteenth time of selling crack.

*Iv'e also noticed on this board that most of the f*cktards who love to give sh*t answers to anyone on this board that doesn't tow the liberal line are confessed libs themselves. Kind of crazy isn't it...that conservatives on this board show a bit of class while the libs on this board (not all of course) tend to act like a bunch of pr*cks with zero class.

[slim 1,525]

Yes but not every act of breaking the law meets the threshold of a criminal offense.

Straight from Wiki - Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority (via mechanisms such as legal systems) can ultimately prescribe a conviction.

Speeding is a crime. If you commit a crime, you are a criminal.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Straight from Wiki - Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority (via mechanisms such as legal systems) can ultimately prescribe a conviction.

HAd you read just a few lines further, you would have found out that:

While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime; for example: breaches of contract and of other civil law may rank as "offences" or as "infractions".

Speeding is a crime. If you commit a crime, you are a criminal.

See above. It's a shame, really. You were born here, grew up here and were educated here and still need to be clued in by some immigrant that there's a threshold that has to be met in order for an act of breaking the law to be a crime.