Dealing with cultural stress means balancing conflicting beliefs. We must learn techniques to regulate emotional triggers and reduce the psychological pressures of a changing culture. This used to apply only when we moved great distances to a new society, but today, change has come via the clash of ideologies. See what you need to do.
The new normal is learning how to cope with anxiety from increasing stress caused by the culture. This stress is because of several factors, including the ongoing Covid pandemic and political turmoil. Here are some practical tactics and tools.
Balancing conflicting beliefs has two layers. The first layer involves managing the internal conflict of self-talk and ideas. The second layer is the external conflicts with people and propaganda. Balancing these conflicts does not mean accepting unhealthy beliefs. It means learning techniques to respond to internal and external forces so that we are not affected by emotional triggers.
Conquering Cultural Stress
Unhealthy stress can be divided into two primary categories: Personal and Cultural.
The Personal category includes:
1. Career
2 Finances
3. Health
4. Major life events
5. Significant personal relationships
All five personal factors are linked, which provide the factors of our socioeconomic profile. Work and home are directly influenced by society. The choices we have and the opportunities we have are often determined by the resources we command. So, the higher our socioeconomic standing, the more choices we have. The lifestyle you enjoy is determined not so much by your intelligence but by the status of the family to which you are born.
Work and home are linked from a social standpoint. However, the strategies for conquering cultural stress differ from those we can use at home. You have much more freedom at home than at work or in many other social environments.
The Cultural category includes:
1. Religion
2. Politics
These stressors manifest in the culture in several ways:
1. COVID-19 Pandemic: The pandemic has left lasting effects, altering our daily lives and well-being. Loss of loved ones, changes in workplaces, and disruptions to schools contribute to stress.
2. Global Conflicts: Ongoing conflicts around the world impact our social conscience. News of wars, geopolitical tensions, and humanitarian crises cause stress.
3. Racism and Racial Injustice: Social awareness and activism have highlighted racial disparities and systemic racism. These issues contribute to collective stress and trauma, as right-wing conservatism makes racism more visible.
4. Inflation and Economic Uncertainty: Economic challenges, rising prices, and financial instability add to stress levels. The greed of corporations is clear, but news organizations ignore the outlandish profits of people and corporations because they control much of the media.
5. Climate Change: Natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and extreme weather events create anxiety. Concerns about climate change impact our mental well-being. Climate change is emerging as one of the major cultural stress triggers.
6. Violence and Crime: Mass shootings, crime rates, and safety concerns contribute to stress.
7. Social Divisiveness. Healthcare issues related to access and affordability play a role in creating uncertainty.
8. Rise of Religious Conservatism: The effects of religious conservatism are used to justify the attack on personal rights and autonomy.
9. Inequality of the Law: As the Supreme Court continues to make rulings that protect former President Trump, confidence in legal systems is eroded, leading to stress and anxiety over the future.
What Dealing with Cultural Stress Means in Everyday Life
The effects of stress and anxiety sneak up on you like the frog in the pot of water on the stove. If you gradually turn up the heat, the frog will die. It’s the same way with stress that comes from a culture in conflict. It’s an accumulation of small things that are subtle and hard to recognize.
We are like the frog in a pot of water we call a pandemic. Time only intensifies the psychological pressure. The first step in conquering stress is admitting that it exists. You must recognize and acknowledge it.
Admitting that stress is affecting your life doesn’t mean you have failed. If you recognize the effects, you can do something about it. It’s like the frog in the pot of boiling water realizing they need to get out or they will die. Recognizing the cultural stress triggers below is the key.
Sometimes, a simple change can have a very positive effect. The modern lifestyle fills our lives with stress, but we can recognize this psychological pressure and use it positively.
The psychological pressures of our modern world are a recent development for humanity. Balancing conflicting beliefs is a necessity if we are to maintain our health and wellness. Be honest. Read the list and see if any apply.
Effects of Dealing with Cultural Stress Triggers
1. Pessimistic Thinking or Feeling Dissatisfied
Do you have pessimistic thoughts and feel dissatisfied with life? It’s natural to be mindful of undesirable consequences. But when worst-case scenarios become the primary topic of your thought-life, it becomes a source of emotional and physical stress. When you feel stressed out, you attract more of the same feelings.
To cope with adversity, you need to find solutions. A pessimistic mindset is like wearing a blindfold. It prevents you from seeing potential solutions.
Do you have negative, overly skeptical feelings? Are you resentful and unhappy with your life? These are also potential signs of stress. When our thinking becomes negative, it is easy to spiral downward to more unhealthy thoughts and feelings. Strange as it seems, this is also a comfort zone, even though it is harmful. Dealing with cultural stress means recognizing this pattern and intervening as early as possible.
When you find yourself in this cycle of thinking, take a break. Engage in self-care. Raise your spirits to find peace of mind, even during crisis circumstances. At the end of this article, you’ll find the strategies to address this. Here are the warning signs of stress.
2. Feeling Sick and Tired
You’ve probably heard the expression, “I’m sick and tired of this or that.” Being chronically tired is only a tiny step away from being physically or mentally ill. Do you sleep a lot on a day off from work but awaken only more tired? Are you mentally lethargic even after that cup of coffee?
Feeling down and sluggish for days and weeks is a sign of stress. Ask yourself some questions about your health and mental state. Are you constantly catching colds, persistent headaches, or body aches and pains? These can also be signs of an overstressed immune and nervous system. Western medicine prescribes a pill to stimulate or kill the infection, but the root cause remains — an overstressed person. Recognizing cultural stress symptoms is an important step.
If you find yourself in an emotional whirlpool, you can implement some changes to raise your spirits and bring about peace in your life, regardless of your circumstances. The goal is to achieve emotional equilibrium. But in today’s world, it isn’t easy to do. At the end of this article, you’ll find the strategies to help you move closer to this goal. Here is one more area of concern.
3. Errors and Self-Doubt
Errors and Self-Doubt go hand in hand. Or if you prefer Self-Doubt and Errors. Either way, they can multiply. The more errors you make, the more self-doubt and second-guessing. It leads to more mistakes. The cycle is debilitating and only causes more and more stress. It doesn’t matter if you are engaged in something physical or mental.
Self-doubt manifests as self-talk, dominated by negative comments. When we realize this is happening, we need to stop the negativity and focus on the things we’ve done right. Focus on your successes and use positive affirmations to break the cycle of self-doubt.
Balancing conflicting beliefs requires a calm and logical approach. Conflicts in the culture can make us second-guess our decision-making process.
Errors are among the most common issues in the workplace. If you make errors, you know your job is in jeopardy. When your livelihood is in jeopardy, this creates more stress, which increases the probability of making more mistakes. Most work environments have progressive discipline for people who aren’t performing. So, instead of making fewer errors, the added stress from the culture leads to more errors.
So, when your company places you on a performance improvement plan, your stress escalates. If you cannot cope with the increased pressure, you are more likely to make more errors. It’s a vicious spiral. It makes you susceptible to the other major stress factors of pessimistic thinking and feeling tired.
To cope with adversity like this, you need to recognize the warning signs quickly. Otherwise, you’ll be unemployed, which is one of the most stressful experiences in anyone’s life.
Techniques to Regulate Emotional Triggers
1. Recognizing Cultural Stress
To implement any technique, you must first recognize the triggers. Modern society has many sources of unhealthy propaganda, which are the home of these triggers.
A. Intense Emotional Triggers. Recognize what situations or thoughts trigger intense emotions. Intense emotions like fear, anger, and hate are the prime drivers of mind control.
B. Recognize the Phycial Symotioms. Pay attention to how your body responds to emotions. Are there muscle tensions, rapid heartbeat, or other physical signs? Grounding yourself in the present by observing these sensations can be helpful.
C. Observe Your Self-Talk. Be mindful of the stories you tell yourself. Challenge negative thoughts and assumptions. Replace them with more positive or balanced perspectives.
D. Watch for Common Fallacies. Unethical arguments often contain flawed logic and fallacies.
Social media is a primary source of religious and political propaganda that has proven to be effective in brainwashing minds. It is a proven practice for swaying the course of political campaigns. Cambridge Analytica (1) is a good example of how it uses targeted advertising propaganda to affect the outcomes of the political process. We saw the biggest example in the election process in the midterm elections of 2014 and the presidential election of 2016. Although Cambridge Analytica is no longer opening working with ex president Trump, the tactics can be employed by anyone who researches their techniques. This is a huge concern for the elections of 2024.
Because the Fairness Doctrine (2) is no longer in force, TV broadcasters like Fox News can present obviously fictitious information presented as news. When in reality, it is right-wing propaganda. Unfounded conspiracy theories and allegations are at the heart of these tactics.
2. Avoidance
Avoidance is the best and simplest way of dealing with cultural stress triggers. Turn off or avoid harmful programming from TV, social media, and religious and right-wing conservative sources.
Unfortunately, avoidance may not be possible at work or in other social situations. You can’t avoid coworkers who make comments and display the symbolism of racism and conservativism. When it isn’t possible to avoid, such as at work or other social events, it’s important to maintain your emotional equilibrium. Your first instinct may be to refute illogical, inaccurate, and racist propositions, but this can lead to conflicts.
When you are at work, this can create problems, so it may be better to inform someone with the ability to curtail their activity. Human resources (HR) may be your best option. If the religious or political environment is tainted with unhealthy rhetoric many times, HR may not intervene. If overt right-wing religious and political conservatism are established as the norm, your best option is to seek other employment. Otherwise, you will be subject to this unhealthy rhetoric, which will increase your anxiety and stress.
3. Nature & Nurture
Take a walk in the wilderness or a park. Above all, learn the basic techniques for “Forest Bathing.” Essentially, this practice focuses your attention on your body and the landscape, getting you out of your head. It is one of the best time-tested techniques to regulate emotional triggers.
If you can, find a natural setting. Nature is full of healing. The ideal place is the wilderness. Someplace untouched by the hand of man is best. If a natural environment isn’t available, walk in a quiet park where you can hear and see the world’s natural beauty. If you need to walk in the city, walk on the grass or bare ground when possible; it is better than concrete and asphalt. But, if you are in the town, at least get outdoors and look at the sky. If you are stuck inside, visualize a place in nature.
The key is to stop ruminating and get out of your head. Find a calming and peaceful place. Walking outdoors will improve our attitude.
When you catch yourself ruminating, stop. Take a break. It’s okay to reminisce. But re-running conversations and events past can be self-destructive. Tell yourself to leave them alone for a while. Walk outdoors and use your senses to feel how hot or cold it is, smell the season, and listen to the birds. Camp out in the wilderness. Yes, you’ll have to fight bugs and weather, but your spirit will reconnect with nature. Nature is our home.
4. Meditate
Meditate and bask in the state of pure consciousness, even if it’s just for 5 minutes. If you don’t know how to meditate to reach this state, many do not find someone to teach you Japa or Transcendental Meditation. Meditation is one of the best ways to deal with stress and anxiety.
You can start by learning basic mindfulness meditation techniques. It is easy to learn these seated and moving meditative practices you can use anywhere for any length of time. Learning to quiet the mind is an asset. It’s the most powerful tool for conquering stress.
Chant mantras designed which bring peace. Find a mantra that resonates with you. When you chant, a mantra takes your mind out of your normal hectic problem identification mode and into a peaceful but energizing mood. It helps ease the anxiety and thought patterns that cause stress. It also enables your heart to relax from any negative emotional state, thus reducing stress.
Affirmations are used to reprogram your self-talk. It can be very effective if you remove the negative self-talk first. That means you need to deal with the source of the negative self-talk.
5. Read Something New and Challenging
Reading is how we install new software in our minds. It’s essential to read something fun and read things that stretch your thinking. Above all, read things outside of your comfort zone. Believe it or not, this will reduce your stress. It gives the mind something new to think about, which is therapeutic. It also creates new neuron pathways, which help you cope with adversity.
Reading is one way of dealing with cultural stress triggers that lead to new solutions. Just don’t confuse reading new material with consuming religious propaganda.
6. Practice Self-Care
Do the things that help restore your emotional equilibrium. You cannot help others when you need nurturing. Taking care of yourself gives you the energy to help others. Self-care is not selfish if we do it in moderation.76. Use Consciousness Development Tools.
We have spent 30 years compiling the most effective methods for healing and developing body, mind, and spirit. We divide them into four categories, and you can learn most of them from articles on this website. Pick one or two from the following major categories:
— Analytical Tools
— Meditation
— Awareness Tools and Techniques
— Natural Healing Modalities
Conclusion — balancing conflicting beliefs
Dealing with cultural stress means learning how to use the techniques to regulate emotional triggers and reduce the psychological pressures of a changing culture.
References
(1) Cambridge Analytica, Wikipedia
(2) Fairness Doctrine, Wikipedia