By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu
Living life itself combined with modern issues can pose a great deal of stress. Having one’s life stressed out creates an incredible draining feeling and nothing is worth poisoning your health for. Managing stress is a personal decision. You either let it ruin you or you learn to control it. l personally define stress as handling many issues of concern at the same time, thereby creating mental tension which ultimately results in exhaustion. Life issues like losing a job or a loved one, increase in financial responsibility, divorce, emotional problems like low self-esteem, guilt, anger etc can be challenging but your reaction to it determines your well-being. This article is poised to reveal how stress as common as it may sound, can pose a great deal of health crisis.
Medically, stress is seen as a condition whereby, a person psychologically responds to an internal or external stimulus that triggers the fight or flight response. The response of human body to the changes in its normal balanced state is what we also call stress. Stress types range from Acute, which is not always adverse, the body reacts immediately to a new challenge, event or demand. There is also Episodic Acute stress and then Chronic stress which is Acute stress that is not resolved and has lasted for a long time, the resultant effect is that it becomes chronic. This stress is constant and does not go away, like dysfunctional family, poverty etc. Chronic stress constitutes to serious health hazards like heart diseases, liver issues, accidents, suicide etc.
Stress has its own negative effects ranging from PHYSICAL- where it can threaten the physiological homeostasis, to EMOTIONS- where it can produce negative or non constructive feelings about self, to COGNITION-where it can influence a person’s perceptual and problem solving abilities and concentration, to SOCIALr WISE-where it can alter a person’s relationship with others and then SPIRITUALLY-where it can challenge one’s beliefs and values.
Stress can be caused by the following factors
PHYSICAL STRESS: surgery, infection, trauma from injury, long walking hours, bullying etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS: lnadequate oxygen supply, inadequate lighting, radiation, noise, environmental pollution from pesticides, herbicides,toxins.
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL STRESS: Death of a dear one, loss of job, divorce, not getting married or having issues with child birth, anxiety, fear, stress from children problem e.g exceptional child, delinquents, miscreants; work place stress, office politics and conflicts among staff etc.
SYMPTOMS OF STRESS
Frequent headaches, jaw clenching or pain.
Increase or decrease in appetite.
General negative outlook.
Feeling like fighting or fleeing.
Tremors, trembling of lips, hands.
Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms.
Rashes, itching, diarrhoea or constipation.
Exhaustion, irritability, frustration, fainting.
Neglect or procrastination of responsibilities, performance deficiency, poor concentration, poor memory retention, sleep difficulties.
Alcohol or drug abuse.
Depression, loneliness, agitation, outburst of anger, violent or anti social behaviour, etc.
According to GAS MODEL,(General Adaptation Syndrome) stress is in three stages, First or Alarm Stage, Second or Resistance Stage and Third or Exhaustion Stage, but for the sake of space we will look at the third stage which is the most important stage. A patient must have passed through the first and second stages before graduating to the third stage. Exhaustion occurs if exposure to the stressor (the stressor is the stimulus that causes stress) is prolonged. At this phase, endocrine activity increases and produces deleterious effects on the body systems especially circulatory digestive and immune system which can lead to death. At the end of this stage, the body has used all its coping mechanism to overcome the stressor and may either rest and return to normal or develop diseases such as ulcers, depression, diabetes etc or even death, depending on how effective the coping is in overcoming the stressor. If not effective, the effect of stress may spread to the entire body.
STRESS MANAGEMENT
- ldentify the cause of the stress and if it is possible, remove the person from the situation causing the stress.
- Good communication is very effective through counseling. Share your worries.
- Get sufficient relaxation and sleep.
- Learn when and how to say no to demands.
- Estimate your abilities and acknowledge your limitations. Physical, mental and emotional abilities.
- Set appropriate priorities.
- Anticipate and take steps to avoid stress before it builds up.
- Explore and use relaxation methods, like yoga, meditation, massage, breath of fresh air etc.
- Pray to God for peace.
- Seek medical aid/attention if stress is causing serious health problems.
- Proper diet and exercise help alleviate stress, e.g vitamins and minerals, proteins, roughages, water, fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid processed foods. Excercises like muscle and stamina building relax tense muscles and tight connective tissues e.g brisk walking, jogging, playing tennis,squash or soccer etc.
- Avoid negative viewing, thinking and speaking.
- Manage anger.
- Create a sense of humour.
Hope the article is enriching. Watch out for more.
