As economic and political problems continue to afflict the US, it is taking a physical toll on the people. I have covered this before on Shoebat.com in other forms, such as with moral decline and the spread of STDs. However, this time, a new study from Studyfinds reveals another interesting change, which is that due to increasing stress among the population, one-third of adults in the US function in a ‘concussion-like’ state.
A survey of more than 31,000 people shows that insufficient sleep, mental health problems, and stress were the causes of a whole host of symptoms doctors are used to seeing in head injury patients. Symptoms of what doctors call post-concussion syndrome (PCS) range from persistent headaches, dizziness and anxiety, to insomnia and loss of concentration and memory.
While 27 percent of people report having several of these symptoms, between one-half and three-quarters say they experience at least one. The most common symptoms are fatigue, low energy and drowsiness. Yet despite their findings, researchers believe the number in the general population could be much higher.
The study, funded by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the US military, was designed to improve care for athletes and soldiers who suffered concussions. A total of 2,039 military service academy cadets and 18,548 student athletes were surveyed.
“The numbers were high, and were consistent with previous research in this area, but it is quite shocking,” says study lead author Dr. Jaclyn Caccese, assistant professor in The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, in a statement. “These are elite athletes who are physically fit, and they are experiencing that many symptoms commonly reported following concussion. So looking across the general population, they’d probably have even more.”
Researchers hope their results will help doctors figure out which symptoms are due to head injuries and which had other causes.
“When a patient comes into a clinic and they are a month or more out from their most recent concussion, we need to know what symptoms they were experiencing before their concussion to know if their symptoms are attributable to their concussion or something else,” adds Caccese. “Then we can start treating the concussion-related symptoms to hopefully help people recover more quickly.”
For both military cadets and athletes, sleep problems — particularly insufficient sleep the night before the test — and mental health problems had the strongest links to concussion-like daze effects. Meanwhile, struggling academically, migraines, ADHD, and depression also contributed to PCS symptoms. (source)
Americans are known for being a notoriously stressed out people. Arguably, many Americans judge their worth against their fellow Americans by how ‘stressed’ they are in a job.
But there is only so much stress that any one man can endure. It is not a sight of strength, but perhaps a measure of sickness, for how much stress one carries. If American life was already stressed, and given there is only so much that one can endure, eventually it reaches a point where one could break.
A trend to look for in the future, amid the increasingly unpayable nature of bills and economic decline, will be for people to start engaging in alcohol, food, and drug abuse. It will also be to look for a potential increase among men and women in suicide, as people see no way out from their desperation and choose to destroy themselves.
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