Ours is an age where the word ‘instant’ has become the buzzword. From instant coffee to instant Internet connection, there seems to be no provision for a break.
Pausing for two minutes for the traffic light to wave us on is a bore; cooking wholesome food to make for overall good health is a burden and time-consuming. In fact, taking 30 minutes off for break is unthinkable while at work. As such, we eat while working, all in a bid to meet daily schedules — even if it is at breakneck speed.
Experts describe these activities as stressors — that is, events, experience or activities that cause stress.
Stress has been described as a normal physical response to events that make an individual feel threatened or upset his balance in some way. Experts say when one senses danger — whether it is real or imagined — the body’s defences kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the ”fight-or-flight” reaction, or the “stress response.”
Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. And, sometimes, the level of stress an individual experiences depends on the nature of his job and life’s pursuit. For many people, though, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life.
Psychologists say some stresses get you going and are therefore good for you. In fact, they say, without any stress at all, our lives would be boring and would probably feel pointless. However, they are quick to add that when the stresses undermine both a person’s mental and physical health, they are bad. “When you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body pay the price,” they warn.
The stress response, experts further explain, is the body’s way of protecting a person. When working properly, it helps him to stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save an individual’s life — giving him extra strength to defend himself, or spurring him to apply the brakes to avoid an accident.
According to Helpguide, a non-profit resource that helps to understand, prevent and resolve life’s challenges, “Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, sharpens your concentration when you’re attempting the game-winning free throw, or drives you to study for an examination when you’d rather be watching TV.”
It explains that in general, stress is related to both external and internal factors.
“External factors include the physical environment, including your job, your relationships with others, your home, and all the situations, challenges, difficulties, and expectations you’re confronted with on a daily basis. Internal factors determine your body’s ability to respond to, and deal with, the external stress-inducing factors. Internal factors which influence your ability to handle stress include your nutritional status, overall health and fitness levels, emotional well-being, and the amount of sleep and rest you get.”
Helpguide is of the view that beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to health, mood, productivity, relationships and overall quality of life.
An ex-Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Adedamola Dada, says long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems.
“Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body,” he warns. “It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.”
A medical author, Dr. Melissa Conrad-Stöppler, notes that most people admit that when they are under stress, healthy eating habits can be difficult to maintain. She concludes that whether one is eating to fill an emotional need or grabbing fast food simply because there’s no time to prepare something healthy, a stressed-out lifestyle is rarely a healthy one.
Medical experts also warn that while holding a job can give our lives structure, purpose, and satisfaction through financial income, the workplace can also become a cause of stress and subsequent ill-health, if not well managed.
An epidemiologist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and University College London, Dr. Marianna Virtanen, in an 11-year study of 600 British civil servants says, in part, that long hours may be associated with work-related stress, which interferes with metabolic processes, as well as ”sickness presenteeism,” whereby employees continue working when they are ill.
Virtanen and his team published their findings in the European Heart Journal.
Indeed, medical practitioners say, the longer the hours an individual works, the more exposed he is going to be to the problem of ill-health occasioned by work-related stress.
In his reaction to the study, a professor of clinical pharmacology at the University of Glasgow’s Western Infirmary, Gordon McInnes, says, “If the effect is truly causal, the importance is much greater than commonly recognised. Overtime-induced work stress might contribute to a substantial proportion of cardiovascular disease.”
Dada, in his assessment of the situation, says those prone to work stress are those who don’t rest. Localising the situation, Dada says Nigerians, especially Lagos residents, don’t rest. “They wake up early, go through the terrible hold-ups to and from work, arrive home late, have little or sometimes no sleep, before hitting the road again at the break of dawn. Such a lifestyle is definitely stress-inducing.”
A professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology, Abdulfatai Mabadeje, says the category of workers that are likely to suffer work-related stress are those who have to meet certain deadlines. These, he says, include journalists, bankers, doctors and nurses, among others.
Asked how the symptoms of stress are manifested, Dada says the manifestations are different among individuals, but that medical and physical examinations will reveal an individual’s stress level as well as the environmental factors responsible.
He says the signs and symptoms to look for when talking of stress overload include memory problems, inability to concentrate, poor judgment, seeing only the negative, anxious or racing thoughts and constant worrying. “All these fall under cognitive symptoms,” he says.
He explains further, “Emotional stress symptoms include moodiness, irritability or short temper, agitation, inability to relax, feeling overwhelmed, sense of loneliness and isolation, depression or general unhappiness
“Physical symptoms include aches and pains, diarrhoea or constipation, nausea, dizziness, chest, pain, rapid heartbeat, loss of sex drive and frequent colds.
“Behavioural symptoms include eating more or less, sleeping too much or too little, isolating yourself from others, procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities, using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax, and nervous habits such as nail biting and pacing.”
To burst stress, Netdoctor, an online publication, recommends the consumption of avocado peas, dark chocolates, broccoli, salmon, tuna, bananas, nuts, oranges, spinach, black tea, warm oatmeal, warm milk, whole-grain breakfast cereals, breads, and pastas, and drinking water at regular intervals. Experts also recommend the good old exercise.
Webmd, another online publication, says a healthy diet can counter the impact of stress, by shoring up the immune system and lowering blood pressure. So, burst your stress by eating aright.
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