It is a mantra we hear on TV every day - "work harder and you will live better". While that may be true in terms of financial success, it looks like that success does not come without a price. And the price is worse health due to the stress endured in order to climb the social ladder.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160408183657.htm
"...They found that young adults who come from adverse backgrounds -- but also show resilience to break that pattern and achieve a higher social status -- are more likely to be unhealthy later in life than those not motivated to change their circumstances. Specifically, the researchers found that stress increased participants' risk of developing cardio-metabolic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The study, published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, relied on self-reported stress from participants to determine the cause and clinical markers including blood pressure, body mass index, glucose levels and others to determine subsequent health effects."
"...As young adults work to break the cycle of poverty or strive toward being the first in their family to go to college, they experience a disproportionate burden of stress -- and were not resilient in terms of their future health due to the combined burden of lived adversity and striving to change it. This stress is then likely to cause irreversible weathering in their body systems."
"...The findings suggest that although there may be long-term health benefits associated with increased socioeconomic status, there may also be consequences due to the subsequent mental and physical strain. The notion seems counterintuitive at first, but the relationship between stress and health risks has been shown before. This study shows the intensification of health effects for future-oriented youth with a stressful family background."
This study reminds me of another recent finding - that humans are not as resilient to stress as previously thought.
People Are A Lot Less Resilient To Stress Than Originally Thought
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160408183657.htm
"...They found that young adults who come from adverse backgrounds -- but also show resilience to break that pattern and achieve a higher social status -- are more likely to be unhealthy later in life than those not motivated to change their circumstances. Specifically, the researchers found that stress increased participants' risk of developing cardio-metabolic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The study, published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, relied on self-reported stress from participants to determine the cause and clinical markers including blood pressure, body mass index, glucose levels and others to determine subsequent health effects."
"...As young adults work to break the cycle of poverty or strive toward being the first in their family to go to college, they experience a disproportionate burden of stress -- and were not resilient in terms of their future health due to the combined burden of lived adversity and striving to change it. This stress is then likely to cause irreversible weathering in their body systems."
"...The findings suggest that although there may be long-term health benefits associated with increased socioeconomic status, there may also be consequences due to the subsequent mental and physical strain. The notion seems counterintuitive at first, but the relationship between stress and health risks has been shown before. This study shows the intensification of health effects for future-oriented youth with a stressful family background."
This study reminds me of another recent finding - that humans are not as resilient to stress as previously thought.
People Are A Lot Less Resilient To Stress Than Originally Thought