Stress - Your Friend and Foe

It’s 5.30 am and everywhere is enveloped in darkness. My alarm goes off. I grudgingly turn around; about to switch off the loud rings disrupting my sleep until it hits me. Today is Monday. Work beckons. Against my will, I get up and prepare for another day, another week of long distance commuting, long hours at work, social activities, short sleeping hours, and all the pressures that comes with it.

More of us now live life in the fast lane, constantly bombarded with various stimuli pulling us left, right, and centre, fighting for our attention, sometimes putting more pressure on us than we are able to cope with.

Researchers have suggested that stress levels today are higher than our counterparts 30 or 40 years ago. Anna Hinton, a Health Specialist with the Oxford City Primary Care Trust defines stress as the “…physical and mental response of the body to demands made upon it - the result of our reactions to outside events, not necessarily the events themselves.” Studies have shown that our bodies actually need a manageable amount of stress to enable us to function at an optimal level. Stress can push us to work harder, faster and smarter, achieving feats we previously thought impossible. Stress can also give us drive and passion and prevent us from shutting down due to inadequate mental stimulation. But as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing can quickly become detrimental.”

Causes of stress can include academic deadlines, adjusting to new environments, poor housing conditions, overburdening student debts, personal problems, and bullying, leading to a variety of emotional reactions. When stressed, some people turn to food, alcohol, or smoking to provide emotional relief. However, this can lead to a vicious circle where the victim constantly consumes in excess, feels guilty, so he or she forcefully purge (a symptom of bulimia), or consume even more in an ever more downward spiral. A 2003 survey by the National Centre for Social Research confirmed the connection between obesity, alcoholism, and living in stressful conditions.

A small number of stress victims resort to actions that are far more drastic. I recall an incident at university where a student, stressed from academic and personal pressures, flung himself from a 16-storey building. This is by no means an isolated case. Studies carried out by the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals show that suicide rates amongst students has almost doubled over the last 3 decades, confirming that more young people are taking their own lives in order to escape what they might see as a hopeless situation.

Ways to manage stress include balanced nutrition and exercise. Engaging in various sporting activities with friends, or just spending 10 - 20 minutes everyday doing sit-ups or going for a brisk walk, can go a long way in keeping physically and mentally healthy. When we exercise, our brain raises serotonin levels (a neurotransmitter responsible for determining our moods and emotions) making us feel better about ourselves.

However, if exercise is not an option, an alternative activity is knitting. Knitting as relief from stress is becoming popular in the US and the UK. Heather Ordover, a teacher at a Manhattan high school took up knitting post 9/11 to deal with her post-traumatic stress. Knitting proved to be so successful for her that the schools counsellors, feeling that other teachers and students could also benefit, started offering “knitting therapy” to all willing participants, both male and female. They now use it to help students who are easily distracted or disruptive in class. Convinced of its therapeutic qualities, the school allows students to knit during classes.

Learning how to handle stress is one of the biggest issues around today, so why not try one of Keji’s tips and let us know if they helped. If you have any tips of your own send them to us and we’ll print them in the next issue of Smaart Talent.

 Keji Oshin