Overcoming Our Stressors (1)

Introduction

JUST imagine holding up a can of Coca Cola? Now vigorously shake up this can and open it. The resultant splash we all know will be catastrophic because the ejection of this soft drink will be uncontrollable. Imagine another scenario where this same can is also shaken and allowed to sit for five minutes, then opened. The stress is in the “fizz” and it is acknowledged the difference will be the exact opposite. Stressors are our challenges in life and they need to have an outlet. Which one will it be for you? The earlier or later scenario? Stress basically, occurs when life stressors outweigh the employed coping skills.

Negativity

May I first say that you should “keep away from negative people.”

They have a problem for every solution” (Albert Einstein). Choose your friends carefully, positive friends lift and encourage you. Negative people drag you down and are a source of disappointments and low self-esteem. Second, you may be unaware of stress stealing your joy. The head or body ache that just will not go away. The reoccurrence of those sleepless nights, or your productivity at work going south. There could be no other villain for this malady than stress. The symptoms of these kill joy can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your behavior. But having the ability to recognize common stress symptoms can give you a head start managing them. Stress that’s left unchecked can contribute to health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Effects

In my teenage years I use to believe that people who travel abroad was “I have arrived” or a ‘show off ’ of wealth to family and friends. Well, maybe in a few cases. Now I know better. It is a stress reliever as you shall find out later in this article. The common effects of stress on your; body include headache, Muscle tension or pain, Chest pain, Fatigue, Change in sex drive, Stomach upset, Insomnia; mood includes Anxiety, Restlessness, Lack of focus, being overwhelmed, anger, depression; behavior includes Over or under eating, Drug (including alcohol and tobacco) abuse, Social withdrawal, Not Exercising enough. If you are feeling stressed, there are steps you can take to feel better. As you peruse the following suggestions, remember that coping with stress will not come from a half-baked effort, nor will it come overnight. It will take determination, persistence and time. Some recommendations may help immediately, but if your stress level doesn’t seem to improve, it may require more attention and lifestyle changes.

Balancing Act?

For most of us, our coping abilities far outweigh or edge out our stressors. For some, their stressors surpass their coping skills which can be very dangerous. Being an adult navigating life can be a difficult balancing act. It is easy to get weighed down with the pressures of work, relationships, social life, and family. If personal problems are piled on top of these pressures, one can feel overwhelmed . . . and lose balance.

Navigating the Balance

Some of the personal problems one has to negotiate are what I will call ‘ heavy lifters’ the lack of infrastructure, social failures and personal/character flaws like power outages, armed robbery, kidnapping, loneliness, unemployment, divorce, financial pressures, death of a loved one, unplanned pregnancy, pressures from family, medical and mental health problems, and discrimination. However, what I would call ‘stress busters’ i.e. pressure relievers like keeping a sense of humor, socializing with family and friends (social support), having hobbies, listening to your favorite music, travel, motivation, a balanced diet, avoiding drug use ( tobacco use, excess caffeine and excess alcohol intake, and the use of illicit substances) and therapy are excellent ways to cope. Now these stressors and coping skills will be addressed.

Power Outage:

This is an infrastructure failure. Although many in the more affluent areas have inoculated themselves from this menace, Nigeria is suffering from the worst energy crisis in its history, resulting in its rural communities being subjected to massive power outages, daily. An outage causes computers to shut down unexpectedly. Any files you were working on could be lost or become corrupted. If power outages occur frequently, they can damage your hard drive and reduce its lifespan. This can cause long-term damage to your equipment. Energy promotes economic well-being and makes social life worthwhile but its absence causes massive disruption and stress to the citizenry social wellbeing.

Armed robbery:

This writer believes this is also a failure of infrastructure. There is the untrustworthiness and unavailability of law enforcement agencies to combat this atrocity. Armed robbery is one of the most serious dangerous crimes committed. A robber commits a holdup because he or she believes that the profit will be worth the risk. This can lead to a loss of life and property is extremely stressful on the victim. However, by decreasing the possible profit and increasing the risk of apprehension, potential victims can reduce the chance of becoming a target. Personal safety is always the most important consideration when planning how to react to an armed robbery. To be continued