One Nation Under Stress: The Trouble with Stress as an Idea

“In One Nation Under Stress, Dana Becker exposes the ideological work accomplished by the concept of stress. With dry wit and stylish prose, Becker enables us to finally see what is right before our eyes.”
–Jeanne Marecek, former Wm. Kenan Professor Emerita of Psychology, Senior Research Professor

“A compelling exposé of what Becker calls ‘stressism’ – the pervasive idea that the tensions of everyday living are due almost entirely to our individual lifestyle choices and deficiencies, to be fixed by managing stress. Not only does this siphon all our efforts into individualized, and often futile solutions, but it obscures the social and economic conditions that perpetuate injustice, inequality, and ‘stress.’ Forget about poverty, sexism, racism, and working for political change; soak in a scented bath and light some nice candles instead. This is an important and timely book.”
–Nicola Gavey, Associate Professor, DipClinPsych, PhD, University of Auckland

“In this powerful book, Becker, an associate professor of social work at Bryn Mawr College, argues that there’s a bigger, more basic problem. Balancing a career and the demands of the domestic sphere is not just a “woman’s problem,” she contends. It’s a societal problem… An important book for psychologists, gender studies students, anthropologists, business leaders, and policy makers alike.” — Publisher’s Weekly

“Stressed out? Tell me about it! The Stress concept makes itself real, looping back to become a mantra that we enact. In the process, it does questionable emotional and political labor, often obscuring other sources for our problems, be they physical or psychological illness, cognitive deficits or even social problems. Dana Becker’s eloquent and insightful analysis of stress-talk highlights the need to resist the atrophying of consciousness that comes when stress becomes a cliché.”
–Sanford F. Schram, co-author of Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race (Chicago 2011).

“One Nation Under Stress yanks back the cover-up that has millions of people thinking the intolerable pressures under which they live and the hurdles they have to try to jump are their own, personal problems, those of “stress” rather than the myriad forms of oppression, violence, and poverty. What Dana Becker does in this book is revolutionary, upending the powerful and hugely profitable portions of the mental health system that want everyone to believe that all their problems are individual, intrapsychic ones. Dr. Becker shows that the word “stress” is used to keep people’s thinking so vague and general that they do not notice where the real causes of suffering lie. That the writing is crystal-clear and compelling is an added bonus.” –Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D., is an Associate at Harvard University’s DuBois Institute

“Becker rather nimbly translates her obviously thorough academic research into readable prose…Becker is plenty worked up throughout this book, and refreshingly so-intelligent anger is essentially extinct in today’s public sphere.” —The New Republic

“Is stress a ‘lifestyle problem’, or the inevitable result of larger social and political inequities, imbalances and shifts? Sociologist Dana Becker argues that in the United States, the diffuse concept of stress now covers all kinds of tensions – effectively masking their triggers, from dual-career marriages to the frenetic, technology-driven pace of daily life. As a result, real social change in areas such as health care stalls. Becker’s analysis tracks the evolution of ‘stressism’ from its origins as the ‘price of progress’, through medicalization, gender politics and conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.” — Nature

“In One Nation Under Stress: The Trouble With Stress as an Idea, Dana Becker, a psychologist and professor of social work at Bryn Mawr College, turns a critical eye on stress, asking where the concept came from and what its assumptions have done to us. Becker believes modern Americans are in thrall to ‘stressism’, which she defines as ‘the current belief that the tensions of contemporary life are primarily individual lifestyle problems.’ This stops us from seeing them as societal ills that ‘need to be resolved primarily through social and political means.’ Instead of wondering about how the world might be different, we are expected to adjust ourselves to it as best we can.” — Tom Jacobs, Pacific Standard

“Useful in creating a fresh point of view for researchers and sociologically inclined readers.” —Library Journal

Dana Becker, PhD, is Associate Professor of Social Work at Bryn Mawr College. Her previous books include Through the Looking Glass: Women and Borderline Personality Disorder and The Myth of Empowerment: Women and the Therapeutic Culture in America