STRESS: THE SILENT KILLER.

 

You are on Keffi-Falomo road and it’s 5p.m, snails are moving faster than the Uber you are in. You have had a hectic day where thunder roared and lightening flashed in the sunlight. These roads have made it their collection decisions to suck all your energy, like school and business have not squeezed you dry enough. 

You are trying hard to resist the thoughts slowly navigating your mind; the in-course you have tomorrow by 9a.m and how unprepared you are. If only your trip to the island wasn’t so important, but it was, and you are an entrepreneur. 

Your head is aching; the type that feels like your head is burning. You excuse it to your lack of proper sleep which was due to the fact that your mind wouldn’t just let you, you feel like your nervous system is in a battle with itself. You have no excuse for the tightness you feel in your chest though, it’s just there. You are anxious, and it is the reason you have been trying to read that Iron Metabolism slide on your phone for hours, but you can’t concentrate, so your eyes stray to the time often and you are shocked at how fast time is flying and how slowly the vehicle is moving. 

The time is 8p.m, and you are still in Falomo.  You can hear the pulsation in your veins; sweat pours from your head as you bite your nails. You remember how your friends warned you it was a bad idea to go get things for a customer a day before your in course, and how you have been stressing yourself too much; it was beginning to tell on you, how you dismissed their advice saying you could pull it off. 

You finally made it to the hostel by 11pm, delivered the goods you went to get and then tried to read. You dozed off as you tried to complete 10 pages of the 70-paged Iron Metabolism slide. Your friends wake you by 7:30a.m for the 9a.m in-course.

There you are sweating in an air conditioned lecture theatre, and you finally realize that you are not as strong or powerful as you think. 

WHAT IS STRESS?

 

Stress is the body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat, a mechanism designed to keep us safe. It is the nervous system’s flight or fight metabolism that helps you to rise and meet challenges. It is what keeps you on our toes, drives you to read instead of watching Big Brother Naija. 

When a stress response gets to the brain, where the amygdala, the part of the brain that handles decision making, memory and emotions is, it is categorized to be either a threat or not. If it is a threat, the hypothalamus – the part of the brain that controls hormones – is alerted of the danger. Then the hypothalamus informs the rest of the body of this signal through the release of the hormone, epinephrine which triggers a “fight or flight” response. 

As a short term response to danger, stress worked as a natural reaction that served our ancestors well, but in our time, it is triggered too often by emotions or situations that really pose no threat. It is these long-term stress responses that are extremely hard on the body.

CAUSES OF STRESS

What causes stress depends on your perception of it; while some are terrified of getting up in front of people to perform or speak, others live for the spotlight. Stress is individual-dependent, and can be triggered by both internal and external causes. External causes include: major life changes, work or school, financial problems, family, etc. Internal causes include: Pessimism, uncertainty, negative self-talk, etc. Stress can also come from simple things like: having a heavy workload or too much responsibility, poor self-management, unclear expectations of your work, giving speeches in front of colleagues, facing discriminations, an upcoming in-course, etc. 

WHAT DOES STRESS DO?

Your nervous system isn’t excellent at differentiating between emotional and physical threats. Whichever the case is, it causes the body to react strongly as if you are in a life-or-death situation. 

If you tend to get stressed out frequently, your body may exist in a heightened state of stress most of the time; and that can lead to serious health problems. Stress disrupts your immune system, upsets your digestive system, and even increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. It can even rewire your nervous system leaving you at the mercy of anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. 

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN I AM STRESSED?

Many don’t even know they are stressed until they finally break their limit, and their body shuts down, they go down with sicknesses and then they realize the weight of all the strain they had put their body through. 

Stress is very silent and if you are not paying attention, it will creep in on you and kill you before you even know it. That’s why it is important to be aware of the common warning signs of stress over load. They include: memory problems, inability to concentrate, anxiety, moodiness, loneliness and isolation, aches and pains, frequent colds or flu, chest pain and rapid heart rate, eating more or less, sleeping problems, nervous habits like nail biting, etc.  

AVOIDING STRESS

But then can you avoid stress? Isn’t that like trying to escape traffic in Lagos? Well, just like traffic in Lagos, you can’t necessary escape or run away from stress. In this modern world of information overload, we are all bound to be stressed, but we can strategically avoid unnecessary stress. Just like we can avoid, reduce or elude traffic in certain places in Lagos by going at specific times, we can do the same for stress too. 

Modern life can be so busy, especially when you realize that you have so much to do within so little time, you tend to want to do everything at once, overestimating your powers and then you end up stressed. So, you need to slow down! Set your watch to 5 or 10 minutes ahead. That way you would always get to wherever you intend to go and can avoid the stress that lateness comes with. Break your jobs into smaller ones, take as little as you can, chew and swallow it before you take another.

Another way to elude or reduce stress would be getting a lovely good night’s sleep. Yes, you need to read, you need to burn the midnight candle and all that, but whenever you begin to tick green on at least three of the symptoms of stress listed above, I think it’s time you pack up your books and go to bed. Like the saying goes, “never underrate the power of good sleep.”

Are you a foodie? Yes? Then you properly know of this already, but for the rest who are not, food can help reduce stress. Yes you heard it well, food! Eating a regular, well-balanced diet will help you feel better in general and may help alleviate your moods as well. Skipping meals is not good for you, and can put you in a bad mood which can eventually lead to stress.

Make time for hobbies! You know the cliché saying, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” Get yourself a hobby, something you can do every day that makes you feel good, and it will help relieve your stress. You could do it for as little as 10 – 15 minutes per day and it helps in the battle against stress.

If things are bothering you, talking to someone about them could help lower your stress. Never underestimate the power of talking to a family member, a friend, a trusted clergyman, doctor or a therapist. The more helpful part of talking is that these people would most likely have experienced what you are going through, so they could offer practical advice that would help. 

You could also talk to yourself, it is called self-talk, and no, it is not weird at all, just don’t do it on the road. If you decide to self-talk, ensure you are telling yourself positive and not negative things.

Lastly try your best to identify what your triggers are, and try to eliminate them if possible, or at least reduce them. If you cannot identify them right away, try keeping a stress journal. Take note of what inspires your stress states and the patterns, then find ways to reduce or totally eliminate them. 

Remember, there is more to life than increasing its speed, and it’s not always the load that breaks you, it is how you carry it.

Michael Ayomide

Member NIMELSSA EDITORIAL TEAM 19/20