Nigerians Don't Know How To Manage Stress

Stress is anything that puts pressure on an individual and if the individual feels that he cannot cope with the pressure, then he manifests it with stress. It could also be said that anything that disturbs the mental, physical, psychological and the spiritual status of an individual can lead to stress.

It is pressure that mounts on people which they are expected to cope with but when they can no longer cope, it then manifests as stress.

What are these pressures?

Family pressures, financial, spouse, children, Lagos and work pressures. There are so many pressures also referred to as stressors which we are expected to cope with, once we are not coping, we manifest with stress.

What are the warning signals?

It could be physical, mental and behavioural. Today scientific fact says that between 60-70 per cent of modern-day diseases are stress related. So it could be as simple as inability to sleep (insomnia), lost of appetite or lost of weight. It could also be as serious as developing hypertension, diabetes or any physical illness. They are sometimes stress related.

On the mental aspect, you could have the individual suffering from sadness that could lead to depression, lost of concentration, lost of attention, lost of memory. This would disturb the productivity and the performance of the individual.

In behavioural manifestation, the individual could smoke more cigarette if he smokes, drink more alcohol or any psychoactive substance. Some over-socialize while others manage stress by being over religious and attend any Christian gathering. Spouse battering and lack of sex drive could also be stress related.

What are the remote causes of stress?

It could be organizational, that is from your work. For instance, bankers who are always under deadline to perform. It could be societal, if you live in the outskirt of Lagos and work on the Island where you have to take about two hours to work each day.

It could be lifestyle. Today people who smoke or take alcohol and eat too much are inviting stress into their lives.

It could be environmental in the sense that, when it rain's in Lagos it gives Lagosians a lot of stress because the traffic on such a day could be horrible.

It could also be familial, that is, stress in the family; between couples, parent and children of course, it could be financial, because if you are broke, then, you could be stressed.

Why are people so stressed up in Nigeria?

We live in a society that has not provided recreational facilities for its citizenry. Nigerians don't know how to manage their stress because they believe that when they go to parties that is the way to manage stress. At parties what do they do, except to drink and eat more? That way, we imbibe a negative lifestyle which is what add stress to people's life.

We have not taught ourselves how to manage stress, because there are few mental health specialists that teach how to manage stress in Nigeria.

How is stress managed?

Stress management involves a gamut , that is a basket full of techniques which we must all acquire to be able manage any stress we encounter. For instance, one of the best ways to manage stress is to write down the stressor. If you identify anybody that gives you stress, you can write a letter to that person. In the letter, you could say unprintable things about the person. The psychology behind this trick is that you must hide the letter for seven days, that way you have detonated your emotion. You have downloaded, your emotion and after seven days when you go back to the letter, you will feel relieved.

If you fell like punching or slapping somebody, just get a big party bag, draw an eye, nose and mouth. Write the name of the individual you feel like punching on it and begin to punch until you are exhausted. In some countries, there is what is called the scream room, if you are tensed and feel like shouting at anybody just go to the scream and shout your head out.

Another way of managing stress which we do a lot is to tell people to dance away their stress by playing their favourite tune and dancing to it.

One important way to manage stress again is by laughing away stress. Nigerians have forgotten how to laugh, instead they wear long faces because they are always stressed. When facing a challenge or problem, just put up a smiling face and approach the problem with a positive emotion. When you smile, it indicates that you are happy, sane and alive. The psychology behind this trick is that, you can not be happy and sad at the same time. Smiling alone can reduce stress, but we must cultivate the habit of laughing all the time because it can reduce physical pains, emotional pains and body tension.

When you laugh some hormones called endorphin are secreted in the body so anti-stress hormones too counter balance this endorphin and cortisone that have the tendency of giving stress

Physical exercises is a wonderful way of managing stress. Most Nigerians are not physically fit. What does it means to be physically fit? You must do a physical workout or exercise at least three times in a week for 30 minuses so as to increase your heart beat to about hundred beat per minute. If you are physically fit you will have the stamina and the endurance to fight stress when it comes.

When you are stressed you can as well play your favourite sport and you will be relieved.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing is another way to manage stress, that is, you take a deep breath for 5 minutes and hold the breath for another 5 minutes continuously. This gives a calm, smoldering and sedating effect.

Another is autogenic relaxation technique where you teach yourself how to relax the muscles in the body

What is the relation between stress, hypertension, stroke and heart attack?

About 60-70percent of today's modern day diseases are stress related. When an individual is stressed up, the adrenaline (a chemical found in the body) cortisone the stressor in all parts of the body which causes imbalance in the organs so you have precipitation and cardiac arrest when it gets to the heart.

Stress could also bring about disorderliness in the body. When any organ is disordered due to stress, it manifests as physical illness.

Can diet help to reduce stress?

Yes we are talking about lifestyle which food is also a part of. Food contributes to stress management. Unfortunately most Nigerians don't know how to eat. We have been advised by nutritionists to eat our breakfast like kings, lunch as prince and dinner as paupers. But this contradicts the culture and tradition in Nigerian since the reverse is the case here. It is important we watch what we eat. Take a lot of water, fruit, vegetables and protein. Avoid salt.

Can stress be completely eliminated?

No, because we are surrounded by different challenges in life but we must learn to manage them so as to be more productive.

Can a stroke or heart attack victim recuperate and become as strong as he/she was before the attack?

Yes there are different types of stroke and heart attack. We have the minor, moderate and severe. Those with the mild attack can recover within 2-3 months after treatment. Those with moderate and severe would need more hospitalization to recover from paralysis which would take about 3-12 months before full recovery.

Do we have a CT scan machine that scan for hemorrhoid of the brain

Yes, so many in Lagos and even LASUTH

Does it have the ability to clean blood from the brain?

No machine has the ability to suck blood from the brain. It is just an advanced X-ray machine that does X-ray of the brain. It helps the doctor to visualize what is wrong with the brain.