PREAMBLE
"Life is like the dice that, falling still show a different face. So life, though it remains the same, it always present different aspects" Alexis. Evidently, living a life free from all sort of worries make life a gift par excellence.
All over the world today, the issue of 'stress' has become a perennial issue that almost everyone talks about either positively or negatively. Many people view stress to be a bad terminology as its affects health in this contemporary period and it demands for immediate intervention. Over the years (Antiquity) when things seem moderate, Serene and conducive, even though they had their own problems to tackle, stress was never conceivable as threat to health which of recent has become business for each day. Many people have had to complain of been stressed up. What exactly causes stress? Many people have conceived life as unbearable,unreliable and unfair due to the nonchalant attitude towards stress. This particular environmental, ecological acclaimed bodily response to changes in the body system brings another side look to the impact of stress on health.
Incontrovertibly, its beyond any reasonable doubt that the world was handed unto us to keep and maintained. More so, the earth is the only unique planet which is able to support life in all its forms. Furthermore, it is a beautiful place that springs up many natural and God's endowed atmosphere for the holistic development of man. Unfortunately, it is disheartening that the so called beautiful world has been hijacked and overtaken by stress in a way that is astonishing. Right from birth, we utter a cry of stress as an impelling force expels us from our safe, cool haven (The Womb) to the noisy world outside. But we cannot continue to groan under the weight of what is changeable, neither is it enough to continue to mask our pains with some form of defense mechanism, we must wake up and use our God given capabilities to adjust our square pegs on round holes to how they were meant to be. "We can groom our personalities to portray a true image of the serene God who created us in His own likeness. And the first step towards doing this is to identify the problems, then dissect them and get them properly focused for management"
CLARIFICATION OF TERMS
Whenever the issue of stress comes up, a lot of people have their own definitions of the well known word. This is because everybody experiences some pressure situations that are often called stress. Stress can be referred to as a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium, the internal distribution of force per unit area (pressure) within a body reacting applied forces which causes strain or deformation. All these definitions agree that stress involves having a nervous tension that results from internal conflicts which arise from a wide range of stimuli.
According to May, stress can be define as the wear and tear our bodies experience as we adjust to our continual changing environment. This wear and tear create an undesirable strain that causes disquiet within our systems and may make us to age faster than ordinarily we should depending on how we handle it.
WHY STRESS
There are various forms of stress according to how they affect our health. The daily demands and pressure encountered by each one of us is as a result of acute stress, while the word stress connotes a negative impression, acute stress is what actually brings about excitement, joy and thrill in our lives. When this stress is accumulated, emotional distress, such as angry, anxiety, irritability, physical problems like headache, pain, stomach upset, dizziness, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, hypertension come as a symptoms.
Meanwhile, episodic acute stress is seen and observed in persons that are over competitive and aggressive, demanding and sometimes tense and hostile. The symptoms of episodic acute stress are the symptoms of extended over arousal: persistent tension headaches, migraines, hypertension, chest pain and heart disease. Treating episodic acute stress requires intervention on a number of levels, generally requiring professional help, which may take many month.
Furthermore, if acute stress isn't resolved and begins to increase or lasts for long periods of time, it becomes chronic stress. Chronic stress can be detrimental to your health, it is the total opposite of acute stress; it's not exciting and thrilling, but dangerous and unhealthy. Chronic stress tears the life of a person apart his mind, body or spirit. This stress seems unending due to long term exposure to stressors like, unhappy marriage, traumatic experiences, poverty, chronic illness and it can contribute to several serious diseases or health risks, such as heart disease, cancer, lung disease, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.
IMPLICATIONS OF STRESS ON HEALTH
Wether it is down to work pressure, money worries or relationship troubles, most of us if not all experiences stress at some point in our lives. When the body is stressed, muscles tense up at once, and then release their tension when the stress posses. Chronic stress causes the muscle in the body to be in a more or less constant state of guardedness, this is to show how it affects the musculoskeletal system in the body. Stress can make someone breathe harder, worst for those with asthma or emphysema. The heart and blood vessels that provides nourishment and oxygen to the organs of the body when attacked by acute stress, causes an increase in Heart beat rate and stronger contraction s of the heart muscle, wuth the stress hormone adrenaline nor adrenaline and cortisol. In addition, the rate of which blood is pumped to the heart by blood vessels can result in blood pressure. As regards chronic stress when dealing with cardiovascular, it ends up bringing hypertension, heart attack or stroke.
When the body is stressed, the hypothalamus signals the autonomic nervous system and the pituitary gland. Chronic stress over a long or extended period of time, can affect testosterone production, sperm production and maturation and even cause erectile dysfunction or impotence. Also, it may make premenstrual symptoms worse or more difficult to cope with and pre-menses symptoms may be stressful for many women. Stress may affect women as menopause approaches, hormone levels fluctuate rapidly.
More so, when stress starts interfering with ones ability to live a normal life for an extended period, it becomes even more dangerous, the longer the stress lasts, the worse it is for both nes mind and body. Stress can make existing problem worse, the human body is designed to experience stress and react to it, stress becomes negative to health when someone faces continuous challenges without relief or relaxation between challenges. As a result, the person becomes over worked, stressed and related tension builds up. Stress also becomes harmful when people use alcohol, tobacco or drugs to try to relieve their stress. Unfortunately, instead of relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances tend to keep the body in a stressed state and cause More problems.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO PREVENT STRESS
Apparently, the best way to reduce the risk of stress related health implications is to tackle the stress itself. In other words, to do this, first we need to recognize the symptoms of such stress. Though these vary in each individual, as enumerated in the forms of stress. This basis of good approach to any problem is to look for the root of that problem, ether familiar or strange, do have a cause which they may either be due to some infections, unhealthy lifestyles, genetic factors or the state of the mind. "Any one who want a fewer health challenges later in life should know that they have to adopt a healthy lifestyle early in life" May.
Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress, but you don’t have to be an athlete or spend hours in a gym to experience the benefits. Just about any form of physical activity can help relieve stress and burn away anger, tension, and frustration. Exercise releases endorphins that boost your mood and make you feel good, and it can also serve as a valuable distraction to your daily worries.
Social engagement is the quickest, most efficient way to rein in stress and avoid overreacting to internal or external events that you perceive as threatening. There is nothing more calming to your nervous system than communicating with another human being who makes you feel safe and understood. This experience of safety as perceived by your nervous system results from nonverbal cues that you hear, see and feel.
Many sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors, such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change. Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control—particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems. Look for the upside. When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes. Learn to forgive. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.
CONCLUSION
Stress without any prejudice is some form of strain on the human person which has existed with man since his inception. Surprisingly, in the seemingly serene Garden of Eden, Adam was stressed up with the longing for a suitable companion which was made evident by what the Almighty said "it is not good that man should be alone" and the exclamation Adam himself made when he was presented with Eve, "this at last, is the flesh of my flesh and the bone of my bone" (Gen. 2:18-23)
Stress has no distictive domicile, it moves and attacks anything that comes around its territory. The onus is basically on every human being who longs to overcome stress and any related health issues, through eating of good food, living healthy lifestyles, sleeping and waking at fairly regular intervals, exercising and taking a good rest when our body demands it and lastly, with a life of good moral discipline.
References
May Ohaedoghasi, (2009), "Stress Management and Personality Development" A Holistic Approach, Egbeda, Lagos, Em & May Consults.
May Ohaedoghasi, (2010), "Midlife Passage with Ease" Prepare for and Cope with Midlife Challenges, Egbeda, Lagos, Em & May Consults.
May Ohaedoghasi, (2013), "Nurture Brain & Character" Learn and Recall Faster, Isolo, Lagos, Mbeyi & Associates (Nig.) Ltd.
Stress Management: How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress, http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm, 16/10/2015
Stress: its surprising implications for health - Medical News Today, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289969.php, 16/10/2015
"Life is like the dice that, falling still show a different face. So life, though it remains the same, it always present different aspects" Alexis. Evidently, living a life free from all sort of worries make life a gift par excellence.
All over the world today, the issue of 'stress' has become a perennial issue that almost everyone talks about either positively or negatively. Many people view stress to be a bad terminology as its affects health in this contemporary period and it demands for immediate intervention. Over the years (Antiquity) when things seem moderate, Serene and conducive, even though they had their own problems to tackle, stress was never conceivable as threat to health which of recent has become business for each day. Many people have had to complain of been stressed up. What exactly causes stress? Many people have conceived life as unbearable,unreliable and unfair due to the nonchalant attitude towards stress. This particular environmental, ecological acclaimed bodily response to changes in the body system brings another side look to the impact of stress on health.
Incontrovertibly, its beyond any reasonable doubt that the world was handed unto us to keep and maintained. More so, the earth is the only unique planet which is able to support life in all its forms. Furthermore, it is a beautiful place that springs up many natural and God's endowed atmosphere for the holistic development of man. Unfortunately, it is disheartening that the so called beautiful world has been hijacked and overtaken by stress in a way that is astonishing. Right from birth, we utter a cry of stress as an impelling force expels us from our safe, cool haven (The Womb) to the noisy world outside. But we cannot continue to groan under the weight of what is changeable, neither is it enough to continue to mask our pains with some form of defense mechanism, we must wake up and use our God given capabilities to adjust our square pegs on round holes to how they were meant to be. "We can groom our personalities to portray a true image of the serene God who created us in His own likeness. And the first step towards doing this is to identify the problems, then dissect them and get them properly focused for management"
CLARIFICATION OF TERMS
Whenever the issue of stress comes up, a lot of people have their own definitions of the well known word. This is because everybody experiences some pressure situations that are often called stress. Stress can be referred to as a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium, the internal distribution of force per unit area (pressure) within a body reacting applied forces which causes strain or deformation. All these definitions agree that stress involves having a nervous tension that results from internal conflicts which arise from a wide range of stimuli.
According to May, stress can be define as the wear and tear our bodies experience as we adjust to our continual changing environment. This wear and tear create an undesirable strain that causes disquiet within our systems and may make us to age faster than ordinarily we should depending on how we handle it.
WHY STRESS
There are various forms of stress according to how they affect our health. The daily demands and pressure encountered by each one of us is as a result of acute stress, while the word stress connotes a negative impression, acute stress is what actually brings about excitement, joy and thrill in our lives. When this stress is accumulated, emotional distress, such as angry, anxiety, irritability, physical problems like headache, pain, stomach upset, dizziness, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, hypertension come as a symptoms.
Meanwhile, episodic acute stress is seen and observed in persons that are over competitive and aggressive, demanding and sometimes tense and hostile. The symptoms of episodic acute stress are the symptoms of extended over arousal: persistent tension headaches, migraines, hypertension, chest pain and heart disease. Treating episodic acute stress requires intervention on a number of levels, generally requiring professional help, which may take many month.
Furthermore, if acute stress isn't resolved and begins to increase or lasts for long periods of time, it becomes chronic stress. Chronic stress can be detrimental to your health, it is the total opposite of acute stress; it's not exciting and thrilling, but dangerous and unhealthy. Chronic stress tears the life of a person apart his mind, body or spirit. This stress seems unending due to long term exposure to stressors like, unhappy marriage, traumatic experiences, poverty, chronic illness and it can contribute to several serious diseases or health risks, such as heart disease, cancer, lung disease, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.
IMPLICATIONS OF STRESS ON HEALTH
Wether it is down to work pressure, money worries or relationship troubles, most of us if not all experiences stress at some point in our lives. When the body is stressed, muscles tense up at once, and then release their tension when the stress posses. Chronic stress causes the muscle in the body to be in a more or less constant state of guardedness, this is to show how it affects the musculoskeletal system in the body. Stress can make someone breathe harder, worst for those with asthma or emphysema. The heart and blood vessels that provides nourishment and oxygen to the organs of the body when attacked by acute stress, causes an increase in Heart beat rate and stronger contraction s of the heart muscle, wuth the stress hormone adrenaline nor adrenaline and cortisol. In addition, the rate of which blood is pumped to the heart by blood vessels can result in blood pressure. As regards chronic stress when dealing with cardiovascular, it ends up bringing hypertension, heart attack or stroke.
When the body is stressed, the hypothalamus signals the autonomic nervous system and the pituitary gland. Chronic stress over a long or extended period of time, can affect testosterone production, sperm production and maturation and even cause erectile dysfunction or impotence. Also, it may make premenstrual symptoms worse or more difficult to cope with and pre-menses symptoms may be stressful for many women. Stress may affect women as menopause approaches, hormone levels fluctuate rapidly.
More so, when stress starts interfering with ones ability to live a normal life for an extended period, it becomes even more dangerous, the longer the stress lasts, the worse it is for both nes mind and body. Stress can make existing problem worse, the human body is designed to experience stress and react to it, stress becomes negative to health when someone faces continuous challenges without relief or relaxation between challenges. As a result, the person becomes over worked, stressed and related tension builds up. Stress also becomes harmful when people use alcohol, tobacco or drugs to try to relieve their stress. Unfortunately, instead of relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances tend to keep the body in a stressed state and cause More problems.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO PREVENT STRESS
Apparently, the best way to reduce the risk of stress related health implications is to tackle the stress itself. In other words, to do this, first we need to recognize the symptoms of such stress. Though these vary in each individual, as enumerated in the forms of stress. This basis of good approach to any problem is to look for the root of that problem, ether familiar or strange, do have a cause which they may either be due to some infections, unhealthy lifestyles, genetic factors or the state of the mind. "Any one who want a fewer health challenges later in life should know that they have to adopt a healthy lifestyle early in life" May.
Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress, but you don’t have to be an athlete or spend hours in a gym to experience the benefits. Just about any form of physical activity can help relieve stress and burn away anger, tension, and frustration. Exercise releases endorphins that boost your mood and make you feel good, and it can also serve as a valuable distraction to your daily worries.
Social engagement is the quickest, most efficient way to rein in stress and avoid overreacting to internal or external events that you perceive as threatening. There is nothing more calming to your nervous system than communicating with another human being who makes you feel safe and understood. This experience of safety as perceived by your nervous system results from nonverbal cues that you hear, see and feel.
Many sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors, such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change. Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control—particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems. Look for the upside. When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes. Learn to forgive. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.
CONCLUSION
Stress without any prejudice is some form of strain on the human person which has existed with man since his inception. Surprisingly, in the seemingly serene Garden of Eden, Adam was stressed up with the longing for a suitable companion which was made evident by what the Almighty said "it is not good that man should be alone" and the exclamation Adam himself made when he was presented with Eve, "this at last, is the flesh of my flesh and the bone of my bone" (Gen. 2:18-23)
Stress has no distictive domicile, it moves and attacks anything that comes around its territory. The onus is basically on every human being who longs to overcome stress and any related health issues, through eating of good food, living healthy lifestyles, sleeping and waking at fairly regular intervals, exercising and taking a good rest when our body demands it and lastly, with a life of good moral discipline.
References
May Ohaedoghasi, (2009), "Stress Management and Personality Development" A Holistic Approach, Egbeda, Lagos, Em & May Consults.
May Ohaedoghasi, (2010), "Midlife Passage with Ease" Prepare for and Cope with Midlife Challenges, Egbeda, Lagos, Em & May Consults.
May Ohaedoghasi, (2013), "Nurture Brain & Character" Learn and Recall Faster, Isolo, Lagos, Mbeyi & Associates (Nig.) Ltd.
Stress Management: How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress, http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm, 16/10/2015
Stress: its surprising implications for health - Medical News Today, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289969.php, 16/10/2015
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