Disability – the cost of modern life
This chart shows the shift in the nature of disability in America since the early 1960’s. What is hows is that the stress of how we live is crushing millions of people. The images in this post come from an excellent article here.
Back pain is strongly linked to issues of lack of control. It shows itself in a physical way, but its roots are in stress that comes from not having enough control. Depression has the same connection.
As the job world shrinks, millions are left out of society and so we see the disability grow.
There are close to 10 million people on disability. There is no “cure” in a medical sense. For the root cause is within the psyche of the person. Medication for you back does not touch this.
The cure will be a different kind of economy. My first book – You Don’t Need a Job – describes what is going on and what I mean by a new kind of economy. I se a trend where many are now taking making a living into their own hands and are starting a life as networked artisans. But for many who are disabled and who will be, I fear for their future. For they have given up. How many million will be in this position in the next 10 years? The current cost to society is $240 billion a year.
Time to look at this and to start a conversation abut what we can do.
[…] Disability – the cost of modern life | The Missing Human Manual. […]
Amen to this article. Too many people receive disability as a result of indulging in an unhealthy lifestyle. As a former financial aid professional I can attest to the fact that most of the people I dealt with who were on disability were extremely overweight. When is our society going to wake up? I understand that some disabilities can limit mobility and create conditions that foster weight gain. However, I also KNOW that there are accommodations that can be made so that almost anyone can live a healthy llifestyle and improve their quality of life.
Many disabilities cannot be seen.
Hi Rob,
Nice to see you’re writing again. I have been thinking about the effects of stress on our lives too. Many of the people I know on permanent disability aren’t that “disabled”. In fact, permanent disability seems to make many people unable to heal themselves. It’s actually, really sad to watch.
Stress is a real killer. Getting diet right will go a long way towards health but somethings we need a bit of help from the plant world to help manage cortisol. I have been doing some research on adaptogens still the death of a family member. Here are some of my favorite homemade remedies for stress:
http://eatkamloops.org/healthy-household-remedies-for-stress-depression-and-grief/
http://eatkamloops.org/healthy-household-a-good-nights-sleep/
http://eatkamloops.org/healthy-household-adaptogen-green-drink/
I hoping your stress isn’t too high!