My identified B.E.A.S.T (drain) is social media and sales requirements. Research has conflicting sides to almost everything. Issues can be seen as to how it helps and how it isn't helpful. The one-sided approach is to only see things from an one-sided view; which makes things bias. My objective is to explore both sides and see what the outcome is. I love researching things. I have a large family to identify with the changes and factors that impact human lives through behaviors, social, economic, and environmental factors. Much like Freud, but more so like Erikson. Two pioneers in the field of psychology.

Here is what research states:

In organizational contexts, “inconsistency in expectations” is captured by two robust constructs: ambivalent leadership and psychological contract breach (PCB). Ambivalent leadership—leaders perceived as simultaneously supportive and burdensome—has been tied to higher depression, anxiety, fatigue, and vital exhaustion at both individual and work-group levels, indicating that collective climates of inconsistent leader behavior have groupwide mental-health consequences (Herr et al., 2022). PCB—when employees perceive that promised obligations are not met—prospectively predicts poorer mental and physical health, operating via increased effort–reward imbalance (ERI), a well-validated stress mechanism linked to cardiovascular and metabolic risk (Griep et al., 2021). Newer evidence reinforces that PCB directly harms mental health and does so indirectly via equity-related appraisals (e.g., equity sensitivity, self-control), highlighting the cognitive–affective processing of “unkept promises” as a pathway to strain (Mensah et al., 2024). A 2022 review likewise concludes that breaches elicit strong negative affect (violation) and stress responses that cascade into adverse health and attitudinal outcomes (Topa et al., 2022).

Role ambiguity and conflict—classic forms of expectation inconsistency about duties, priorities, or standards—also elevate psychological strain. Multistudy evidence finds that overload triggers strain and that high-quality leader–member exchange can buffer some stressors, but not ambiguity/conflict, underscoring that unclear or competing expectations are uniquely toxic for mental well-being (Tang et al., 2021). Synthesizing across relationship types, contemporary social health models posit that ambivalent ties blunt supportive coping, sustain vigilance, and amplify physiological stress systems (e.g., HPA axis, inflammation), thereby increasing disease risk over time (Holt-Lunstad, 2025; Herr et al., 2022; Birmingham et al., 2019).

Taken together, the last seven years of evidence converge on a simple mechanism: when both parties send or perceive inconsistent expectations—“sometimes yes, sometimes no”—people expend cognitive and emotional effort to monitor, interpret, and guard against unpredictability. That chronic vigilance and ERI predict higher distress, exhaustion, elevated blood pressure, and disrupted recovery (nighttime dipping). Practically, the research supports interventions that (a) increase role clarity and expectation alignment, (b) reduce breaches through realistic commitments and fair rewards, and (c) target ambivalence directly via communication training and leader consistency—approaches likely to improve both mental health (lower anxiety/depression, fatigue) and physical risk markers (blood pressure, possibly inflammatory pathways). (Birmingham et al., 2019; Herr et al., 2022; Griep et al., 2021; Mensah et al., 2024; Tang et al., 2021).

I found that for myself, this incongruent response leads to anxiety and fatigue in my process to expand my business. However, I have lived a life of trying to be perfect for over 40 years, and when my health worsened 6 years ago, I was faced with having to not see myself as perfect, but as human. I also had to go out and use skills learned in higher education to advocate and help with my own healthcare, personal, and family growth, because I learned that the system I trusted really was what my patients were telling me it was. Now I will take and give social media lives two days a week as my 60; and the 5 will be periods of mental rest so that I can always perform at my best and recognize the inconsistencies in processes that are expecting others to react consistently.

References (APA)

Birmingham, W. C., Wadsworth, L. L., Hung, M., Li, W., & Herr, R. M. (2019). Ambivalence in the early years of marriage: Impact on ambulatory blood pressure and relationship processes. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 53(12), 1069–1080. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaz017 Oxford Academic

Birmingham, W. C., et al. (2024). Marital ambivalence and blunted nocturnal blood pressure dipping. [Journal information on article webpage]. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11204195/ PubMed Central

Griep, Y., Vantilborgh, T., et al. (2021). How psychological contract breach affects long-term mental and physical health: The longitudinal role of effort–reward imbalance. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 13(2), 321–343. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12246 IAAP Journals

Herr, R. M., Birmingham, W. C., van Harreveld, F., van Vianen, A. E. M., Fischer, J. E., & Bosch, J. A. (2022). The relationship between ambivalence towards supervisor’s behavior and employee’s mental health. Scientific Reports, 12, 9555. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-13533-2 Nature

Holt-Lunstad, J. (2025). Social connection as a critical factor for mental and physical health: Evidence, trends, challenges, and future implications. American Psychologist, 80(4), 560–574. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11403199/ PubMed Central

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. (2024). The association between sibling ambivalence and well-being of older adults (Advance online publication). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02654075241302505 SAGE Journals

Mensah, J., & Asumeng, M. (2024). Psychological contract breach and mental health: The role of equity sensitivity and self-control. Organizational Management Journal, 21(2), 63–75. https://www.emerald.com/omj/article/21/2/63/1232793 Emerald

Tang, W.-G., Liu, Y., Oh, H., & Weitz, B. (2021). The role of psychological strain and leader–member exchange: Evidence across studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 691207. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8176030/ PubMed Central

Topa, G., Ariza-Montes, A., & Alcover, C.-M. (2022). Psychological contract breach and outcomes: A review. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 918430. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9737235/