I have been noticing during my daily visits to the physiotherapist that a number of people who come in for treatment are quite young. And they are not coming for accident-related physiotherapy, but seeking treatment for stress-related ailments!
I mentioned this to my physiotherapists, Dr. Hardik Patel and Dr. Swati, they shared certain information with me, which makes me really concerned! The numbers below may not be specific to all hospitals / physiotherapy centres across Mumbai, but I believe they surely could be a pointer to a larger syndrome.
More than 70% of the patients who come in for physiotherapy are not accident-related at all. And 5 out of these 7 patients are below the age of 50, with a large majority being in their late 20s and early 30s.
In fact, the youngest patient I saw was a girl of about 23, and I am told that she is not an exception!
All of these young people are coming in seeking help for ailments related to stress.
Apart from the usual suspects – IT and Software Industry; quite a significant number of patients are from Finance, especially Insurance Sales, and other salespeople across industries.
Most IT and Software Industry Professionals face issues with relation to the physical stress; the usual suspects - repetitive stress injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, slip disc, vertigo (BPPV) etc. Salespeople are also seen suffering from Overuse Syndrome, where the shoulder and neck muscles are affected due to their habit of carrying their laptop around throughout the day.
But to my mind, the big worry is in the increasing number of cases that are related to mental stress.
Mental Stress for 20 and 30 year olds?
Yes! And it is getting manifested in stiffness of muscles; pain in the neck, shoulder, head and back etc.
And there is increasing agreement among doctors on the fact that these issues are all related to the mental stress and anxiety brought about by targets and deadlines!
We have all heard phrases like, “The reward for good work is more work”, “It’s a rat race out there” etc.
The intense competitive environment, as well as the unreasonable pressure put on today’s youth by themselves and their organisations to prove their relevance virtually daily, is resulting in their youth being spent between the office and the doctor’s clinic. One is also seeing an increasing trend among youth to take shortcuts (jugaad, as a research aptly termed it). This is a pointer to the effect the environment is having on their minds too. And the long-term effects will really only be known about 20 years from now.
The Pharaohs of Egypt were known to drive their slaves to death.
Are we becoming the Pharaohs of today?
Is it time we stopped and pondered about the ill-effects of high – maybe unreasonable – targets and deadlines on today’s youth?
Is it time to slow down? Before the problem becomes unmanageable?
I mentioned this to my physiotherapists, Dr. Hardik Patel and Dr. Swati, they shared certain information with me, which makes me really concerned! The numbers below may not be specific to all hospitals / physiotherapy centres across Mumbai, but I believe they surely could be a pointer to a larger syndrome.
More than 70% of the patients who come in for physiotherapy are not accident-related at all. And 5 out of these 7 patients are below the age of 50, with a large majority being in their late 20s and early 30s.
In fact, the youngest patient I saw was a girl of about 23, and I am told that she is not an exception!
All of these young people are coming in seeking help for ailments related to stress.
Apart from the usual suspects – IT and Software Industry; quite a significant number of patients are from Finance, especially Insurance Sales, and other salespeople across industries.
Most IT and Software Industry Professionals face issues with relation to the physical stress; the usual suspects - repetitive stress injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, slip disc, vertigo (BPPV) etc. Salespeople are also seen suffering from Overuse Syndrome, where the shoulder and neck muscles are affected due to their habit of carrying their laptop around throughout the day.
But to my mind, the big worry is in the increasing number of cases that are related to mental stress.
Mental Stress for 20 and 30 year olds?
Yes! And it is getting manifested in stiffness of muscles; pain in the neck, shoulder, head and back etc.
And there is increasing agreement among doctors on the fact that these issues are all related to the mental stress and anxiety brought about by targets and deadlines!
We have all heard phrases like, “The reward for good work is more work”, “It’s a rat race out there” etc.
The intense competitive environment, as well as the unreasonable pressure put on today’s youth by themselves and their organisations to prove their relevance virtually daily, is resulting in their youth being spent between the office and the doctor’s clinic. One is also seeing an increasing trend among youth to take shortcuts (jugaad, as a research aptly termed it). This is a pointer to the effect the environment is having on their minds too. And the long-term effects will really only be known about 20 years from now.
The Pharaohs of Egypt were known to drive their slaves to death.
Are we becoming the Pharaohs of today?
Is it time we stopped and pondered about the ill-effects of high – maybe unreasonable – targets and deadlines on today’s youth?
Is it time to slow down? Before the problem becomes unmanageable?
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