What is Pressure?

There are many types of pressure that we feel on a sometimes-daily basis. Peer pressure, time pressure, performance pressure, family pressure and social pressure, and financial pressures are only some of the examples of the types of pressure we feel. But what is pressure exactly? Is it the same as stress? Is there anything we can do about it or are we stuck with this feeling? Why can some people turn to diamond under pressure where other people just break? For the next few weeks, I will attempt to answer these questions.

When trying to define something, the first thing I usually do is look at definitions available to try and understand the concept. The most common definition of pressure is the physical one: the force exerted on an object by something in direct contact with it. The pressure I mean here; however, is the second definition and that is: “the burden of physical or mental distress (i.e.: the weight of social or economic imposition)”. We all have one form of pressure in our lives or another. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It can create diamonds. What I mean by that is that because of these pressures, we learn to work better, to work faster, to be more creative and to learn to grow under it.

On the other hand, if we are overwhelmed under the pressure, we break. Anyone ever look at those hydraulic press videos on YouTube? I have. The destruction that just applying pressure can do to things can be impressive. Unfortunately, when that pressure is in our minds, pressure can quickly lead to mental health issues and even to higher risk for physical health issues. So, what is happening and how can we mitigate it? Or learn not to break but turn into diamond instead?

What is mental pressure?

All the types of pressure I enumerated at the beginning are forms of stress that occur because of how we perceive them. I will be bringing these up again when I look at what stress actually is but that will be for a later article. These factors usually result in distress and anxiety when associated with a feeling of being over-burdened or overwhelmed.

Time pressure

This is where we perceive there is not enough time to do what we have set out to do, or what we have been told to do. Procrastination can make this pressure even higher. Lack of organisation and unrealistic goals and tasks as well. Usually this is linked to a fear of failure, that we will not measure up to the task.

Social pressure

This usually includes peer and family pressure as well. This feeling is one where we must act a certain way, behave a certain way or we feel that we will be rejected, judged, or critiqued harshly. It can feel that we need to conform to what others do. For innovators and creatives, this can be a particularly hard pressure to juggle, because we need to think outside the box and essentially stick out to be seen and make a living but depending on your culture it is possible that the nail that sticks out can get hammered. Resisting that pressure and refusing to be knocked down can also add to this pressure. We also don’t necessarily want to go against what are family is saying either. Humans are social creatures, and the feeling of connection is important to our societies, so this type of pressure is very common and the needs of the many need to be juggled with the needs of the individual. Not easy to do so it is easy to develop stress related to this aspect of our lives.

Performance pressure

This is linked to social pressure in a way and can also be linked to perfectionism. We have high expectations and often we put this pressure on ourselves. If we are perfectionists, (that is an article on its own, which I will be looking into) this is particularly true. For the purpose of this article; however, I will only say that it is again linked to our fear of judgment and of not reaching expectations.

Financial pressure

This is a difficult one, because we all have needs and some are fundamental, but because we have the need to survive this one is major. As artists and creatives, we always must struggle against the “starving artist” persona. It is possible to make a living at our creative pursuits, but it takes time and some creative strategies. We need to develop fortitude and some resilience in the face of uncertainty and risk in order to succeed.

Next week I will continue with this topic and look at strategies to calm ourselves when we are stuck in the pressure loop.

How do you define pressure? Do you think it is the same as stress? Please leave a comment below. Please register to my newsletter to get news and updates and not miss a post, if you haven’t done so already.

Thank you for reading.

“Pressure comes from within and so must be mastered from within”

– Ed Jacoby

Resources

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/6406-emotional-stress-warning-signs-management-when-to-get-help#:~:text=Being%20more%20emotional%20than%20usual,to%20relieve%20your%20emotional%20stress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_stress