With the stresses of work, money, and relationships, life can get complicated, stressful, and scary for everyone.
Add on top of that, social pressures to achieve, to end up with the right person (or to end up with someone at all), and to live a fulfilling life, living in the 21st century is a balancing act of figuring out how to survive and how to live.
Of all the challenges that come through in all the phases of life, there are some that stand out as the most painful, most difficult to accept, and most frustrating on which to follow through. Here are some of the most challenging things we as humans have to do when life deals us a bad hand:
Overcome a drug addiction
In 2017, just under 20 million Americans age 12 and older struggled with drug addiction, according to American Addiction Centers. Clearly, this is a human problem many people face.
And getting help can be embarrassing, painful, emotionally taxing, and expensive. Not to mention it can be a full-time job on its own, which for many is not a realistic option. Part of what makes overcoming a drug addiction so hard is that the rest of life’s stressors don’t go away while you’re trying to keep up with treatment. But there are options for getting help: read more.
Get a divorce
Another challenge in adulthood is marriage, and subsequently divorce. Aside from the financial challenges, particularly going to court if the divorce is not amicable, divorce affects entire families. Balancing how a divorce will impact children with figuring out how both parties will live separately financially is incredibly challenging.
Emotionally and mentally, divorce can wreak its own havoc as two people who had plans to spend the rest of their lives together are forced to confront a new reality and uncertain future.
Seek out mental health services
Few things bring such a heavy stigma as mental health issues, which have become a national topic of interest in recent years. As stereotypes and myths about certain mental health conditions still plague social media and the public, it can be difficult to acknowledge when you are struggling.
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates one in five American adults lives with a mental illness. That was 51.5 million people in 2019.
Especially for someone who is struggling with a new mental illness, recognizing it’s started to interfere with their life is challenging. Add on navigating a complicated network of options for getting help on top of struggling with a mental health problem in the first place, and dealing with a mental health problem quickly becomes one of the most challenging things a person might do.
While these three things are some of life’s biggest challenges, there are always, of course, more. As humans, our struggles can be unique to our lives, and what someone finds challenging may be a passing moment in another person’s life.
A smaller glimmer of hope is that as humans, we share in these struggles and can learn from other people facing the same challenges.
Tags: addiction, health, Healthy Lifestyle, lifestyle
