Psyches Under Siege

"You're going to compensate me for psychological damages!"

U.S. News and World Report reported in April last year that more and more American companies are facing a new kind of pressure: pressure from employees suing them for damages from job-related stress.

As to the ROC, a study by Cheng T'ai-an, a neurologist at National Taiwan University Hospital, indicated that one-fourth of all Chinese workers say that they feel stress on the job. In fact, people today face pressure just about everywhere.

What are the major pressures on Chinese people living on Taiwan today? The ones that have received the most study are educational stress, stress on women, and stress from environmental pollution.

"For anyone growing up on Taiwan, the examinations to test into high school and college are without a doubt a major source of stress," says Huang Kuang-kuo, a professor of psychology at National Taiwan University.

Just how bad is it? A 1982 study indicated that 80 percent of high school students in Taipei feel stress from the joint college entrance exams. And Chang Chueh, associate professor of public hygiene at National Taiwan University, has found that high school seniors suffer significantly more than freshmen from headaches, backache, indigestion, and other symptoms of stress, while enjoying less sleep, leisure time, and interpersonal activity with their families.

Nor is the pressure limited to high-schoolers. The guidance department at Taipei's Tat'ung Middle School discovered widespread concern among seventh-graders at the school that they were not spending enough time studying and would be unable to test into high school.

"When adolescence is turned into a time of burden and stress, teenagers will seek for channels to vent their frustrations. The craze for motorcycle drag racing is definitely related to that pressure!" exclaims one reporter.

"The examination system seems like a source of pressure superficially," says Hu Hai-kuo, another neurologist at National Taiwan University Hospital. "But considered from the aspect of internal values, the stress actually comes from people's desire to achieve."

The desire to achieve is also a major source of stress for women today. Ch'en Chiao-mei, an associate professor of psychology at National Chengchi University who is conducting a study with the National Science Council on stress in the daily life of married women, indicates that the major source of stress on women in the R.O.C., as in other industrialized countries, comes from the burden of playing a dual role. "On the one hand, they hope to be a modern woman--responsible toward their work, money earners, and independent," she says, "while on the other they must bear the traditional duties of a wife and mother--clean and cook, look after the parents-in-law, support the husband, and raise the children."

Besides stress at home, working women face unequal treatment on the job. Cheng Wei-yuan, associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, says that while wage differences between men and women on Taiwan are declining each year, differential treatment in the nature of work persists. Many employers refuse to hire women because "they're not suited for the work" or ask them to quit after marriage or pregnancy. In addition, because of the traditional concept that men should accomplish more than their wives, many women have a "phobia of success."

"Women on Taiwan may be the most capable in the world," says a married woman who worked and studied in the U.S. for many years before returning to Taiwan to work in a trading company. "They have to wear so many different hats--as mother, wife, daughter-in-law, and so forth--at work and at home entertaining."

Stress from the environment is something which affects men as well as women, especially those living in the city: noise, air pollution, traffic jams, and crowding are particularly urban problems. One study has shown that people suffering from physiological reactions to excess noise, such as hearing loss, insomnia, and irascibility, often fail to identify the cause and fail to take appropriate measures against it.

"As long as human nature constantly seeks achievement and satisfaction, stress is unavoidable," Hu Hai-kuo says. "Life is a process of overcoming pressure. So if you treasure life, you should treasure pressure."

Life truly is worth treasuring. Can we learn to feel the same way about stress?

[Picture Caption]

Stress is a constant companion along the road of life.

City life is fast-paced, tense, and stressful. (photo by Chung Yung-ho)

The conflict between modern and traditional roles puts today's woman under great stress. (photo from Sinorama files)

School entrance exams are a source of stress common among all who have grown up on Taiwan.

Can saying prayers and casting fortunes relieve stress? (photo from Sinorama files)

Traffic disorder is a constant source of stress.

City life is fast-paced, tense, and stressful. （photo by Chung Yung-ho）

The conflict between modern and traditional roles puts today's woman under great stress. （photo from Sinorama files）

School entrance exams are a source of stress common among all who have grown up on Taiwan.

Can saying prayers and casting fortunes relieve stress? （photo from Sinorama files）

Traffic disorder is a constant source of stress.