Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Health Care Series: Got Stress?

In response to a question from moderator Laura Musikanski, Executive Director of Sustainable Seattle about the role of technology in stress, panelist David Levy, Professor at the University of Washington Information School said the following:

"…We have been participating in the West in an acceleration that has been going on for more than 100 years. And I think we’re at the point now where we’re really at a position to see a philosophy of life that goes along with industrialization, which I will call “more, faster, better”… it’s our shared public idea that real and meaningful life is concerned with efficient production… It is our consumer society suggesting that more production, more consumption is what makes for the good life… What’s been happening over the last 10 years or longer is that more and more of these technologies, powerful and wonderful though they are, have been insinuating themselves with the same spirit of “more, faster, better” into all corners of our lives. ….It’s not specifically about the web or cell phones or smart phones. But I think something that’s very interesting about what’s going on today is, in effect we have created this economic machine - some larger sense of ‘we’ – that has been cranked faster and faster. And we’re now at a point collectively where we can see how certain flaws in that original design of the engineers of 100 years ago affects the quality of life. I love my laptop. I love my iphone. I’m certainly not a Luddite here to say that there aren’t wonderful things about these technologies. But I think the stress that we are feeling overall is not the stress per se of the technologies, it’s the stress of the expectation and the assumptions about how we are expected to be living our lives. Those assumptions are affecting how much vacation we take, what happens when we walk into the office and whether we feel like we need to check email constantly… it’s all of those things."

Listen to the full audio version of the program here.

From Left Maya Enista Smith of Mobilize.org and Monica Guzman, Journalist and Community Strategist, discuss young adults, social media, and citizenship. Photo Courtesy of Candace Winegrad.

"While many young adults today are criticized for their constant need to use technology, Smith believes that it is a tool that can help advance efforts to solve problems.

'Social media is the next generation of community media. … I think (having) information at our fingertips is really challenging nonprofits, elected officials and political parties to relate in a way that’s much more authentic, and much more transparent.'

Though technology clearly offers people a way to accomplish many things a lot quicker, Smith said it should not replace our real contact with one another.

'You now just press a button and go into your home, and you don’t need to engage with anyone else,' Smith said. 'So the steps I would suggest is to just look up from your computer every once in awhile. … Value human interaction and taking the time to talk to people.' "

Read more on the UW Department of Communication Website. Article by Candace Winegrad, Student at the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.

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We are so grateful to be building community connectivity together. Wishing everyone a happy holiday this weekend.

The stress experts in Seattle are coming together on Wednesday, November 30th for a special look at stress and the influences it has on our lives and health. How can we combat the negative impacts and ultimately reduce the stress in our lives?

One big thing we can do is - relax. Come relax with us on Wednesday, November 30th at noon. We can all work together to find solutions to stress in our communities and our lives. Hear from an exciting line-up of panelists and combat this epidemic in our communities.

Stress is truly an epidemic in our country. The American Medical Association states that:

• Stress is the cause of 80 to 85 percent of all human illness and disease.
• Over two-thirds of office visits to physicians are for stress related illness.
• Stress is a major contributing factor either directly or indirectly to coronary artery disease, cancer, respiratory disorders, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide; the six leading causes of death in the United States.

–Every week, 95 million Americans suffer some kind of stress related symptom for which they take medication. (holistic-online)

The stress experts in Seattle are coming together on Wednesday, November 30th for a special look at stress and the influences it has on our lives and health. We seek to find out what the major stressors are that people in our community experience. How can we combat the negative impacts and ultimately reduce the stress in our lives? Register today!

Join us just in time for the holidays and hear from our excellent line-up of panelists:

John DeGraff, National Coordinator, Take Back Your Time -

"There are those who will say that with our struggling economy, we can't afford vacations. But the productivity and health numbers show that, in fact, we can't afford NOT to ensure vacation time for American workers." - John DeGraff

David Levy, Professor, University of Washington Information School -

"What are the measurements and requirements of well-being in the workplace? How do we even begin to talk about that? What about someone who answers all his email and makes all his sales calls, but develops a heart problem? What about that?" - David Levy

Marlena Sessions, CEO, Workforce Development Council 

"The Self-Sufficiency Standards shows that 1 in 5 Washington households lacks sufficient income to cover basic expenses...a broad and diverse set of Washington families is experiencing economic stress." - Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County.

Susan B. Winston, LICSW; Director of Counseling Services, Sound Mental Health

"The stigma surrounding mental health in this community is a silent epidemic. It prevents people from seeking support and services, it impacts life in the workplace and in the classroom and it marginalizes individuals in the community. We hope to begin to tackle these issues by engaging the community in rational thoughtful dialog, coupled with education about available resources" - Sound Mental Health 

Moderated by:  

Laura Musikanski, Executive Director, Sustainable Seattle

On the Happiness Initiative: “You get what you measure, and this initiative helps us measure more of the things that are most important for happiness. The important thing is to get more of what matters and not simply more.”  - Laura Musikanski