Coping with stress
Stress is thought to be a precursor to mental health problems and, eventually, suicide.
When Mvita MP, Abdulswamad Nassir, took to the dais in Parliament to move his motion on mental health on August 5, it took him less than a minute – it could take the same time, or even less, for one to switch from normal to stressed.
The lawmaker moved the motion after being alarmed by the increasing number of suicides in the country.
Stress is thought to be a precursor to mental health problems and, eventually, suicide. However, psychologists say that stress is poorly understood and often overlooked.
Some countries have appreciated that their people could be stressed, or are generally unhappy, and have created Cabinet positions in that regard.
In the United Kingdom, there is a Minister for Loneliness and the United Arab Emirates has a Minister of Happiness.
In other countries, similar efforts to deal with the issue have attracted the wrath of the citizens. In 2013, for example, Venezuela hinted at creating the Ministry of Supreme Social Happiness, inviting backlash both online and offline. Nigerians, in 2017, took to Twitter to express their outrage and disbelief after a Commissioner of Happiness and Couples Fulfilment was appointed.
Should you be unhappy or stressed in Kenya, there is no specific ministry that will cater to you. However, the Health ministry is responsible for mental health.
In June this year, the government launched the 2021–2025 Mental Health Action Plan that covers psychosocial support among Kenyans. Despite this, there is no current local data on people affected by mental health in the country, yet the issue is increasingly becoming a concern.
This year, out of the 149 countries that took part in the World Happiness Survey by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Kenya was ranked position 121.
Six key issues were used to analyse happiness in the report: social support, health, perceptions on corruption, people’s average income, generosity and freedom to make life choices.
What is making us (Kenyans) unhappy, stressed?
Healthy Nation spoke to different people to get their views on stress and its triggers. We also schemed through posts on Twitter and used the advanced search function of the application using “stress” and “Kenya” as the keywords.
Anita Mbithe, 50, a snacks vendor in Nairobi, said that the high cost of living and the constant increase in taxes makes her struggle to fend for her family. On the days that she cannot, she feels like she is failing, and it eats her up.
“I have to leave town past 9pm because at that time, the fare is cheaper. One morning, my child was so grumpy because most of her classmates had a book that she did not have. Since I could not afford it, I told her to share with her classmates and she was so upset that she refused to go to school. I felt that I had failed as a parent,” she says.
“I also stopped buying bread in my house. I no longer use gas to cook but a jiko,” she adds.
Mercy Juma (not her real name), 25, confides in Healthy Nation that her debt from mobile money lenders has made her life difficult.
“Anytime a new number pops up on my phone, I become stressed. Most of the time, I ignore it because I know it could be the people I owe.
“When I borrowed the money, I did not have any source of income and because I had moved out of our home, I needed some money for upkeep. I did not know the debt would escalate as it has now. I cannot pay, unless a miracle happens. I want to, but where do I get the money?” she poses.
Mike Waweru, 28, says that being a man is stressful enough.
“I have to be in charge and it is not easy to go around seeking help so I work extra hard in order to be free from stress. It is not easy even managing a relationship,” he says.
“I think men feel the most pinch even when the effects of the economy come to bite. We are the providers, you know...” he adds.
An analysis of the Twitter search results revealed that financial constraints, relationships of all kinds, pressure at work, poverty, the pandemic, traffic jams, school fees and high cost of living are the leading causes of stress.
Our findings relate with a report published by Geopoll in December 2020 which revealed that Kenyans were not doing so well emotionally, especially at the onset of the pandemic.
“We found that Kenyans reported being the worst off emotionally compared to 2019, with 64 per cent stating that they are feeling worse emotionally,” states the report.
Kenya’s capital city had the highest burden of emotional distress at about 75 per cent. And the Twitter analysis can help decipher why Nairobians were hard hit – high cost of living, traffic jams and relationships. On relationships, you will not find a reason to fault Kenyan artist, Bensoul who produced a song on Nairobi relationships and their entangled nature.
The report also established that there is a link between financial problems and emotional health. The respondents in the survey, whose income had been slashed by a huge margin, said they had been struggling emotionally, that is, stressed. On the other hand, those whose income was not significantly varied went on with their lives as usual.
“When asked about the biggest challenges of the pandemic, we found overwhelmingly that finances are the greatest challenge being faced. Over half of respondents reported that finances are their biggest challenge, above both physical health and emotional well-being, staying at home, and the illness of a loved one,” explains the report.
Young people coped better compared to the elderly. They believed that the economic slowdown was just a phase that would pass in the near future and so they were optimistic of economic recovery despite the constraints.
“Although this study demonstrates the ongoing difficulties related to Covid-19, there is also optimism among respondents regarding the future. A majority believe that both their personal finances and country’s economy will improve within the next year (2021), and most think that routines will return to normal,” states the Geopoll report.
There is a reason why psychological needs are at the base of the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – they are vast and important. Lacking any of the items in the hierarchy (safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualisation) can actually lead to stress.
What do psychologists say about stress?
Loice Noo, a psychologist, says that stress is a basic human experience and everyone is prone to experience it at one point or another in their lifetime.
Stress means there is something that is pressuring you that is not normal and your mind has not been prepared well to process it.
“If you do not experience stress, you cannot achieve much or make progress in life. You will not be compelled to work hard if you are stress-free,” she says.
Loice insists that even though stress is highly talked about, it is least understood, especially its impact and how it can complicate – the dynamics of stress that can really complicate life.
“When someone goes to hospital and the doctor tells them that they could be suffering from stress, they tend to take it as a joke, yet they need help,” she says.
She categorises stress into three: healthy, manageable and unmanageable stress.
Healthy stress is called eustress. Say you receive a promotion at work, or get a scholarship, you are taken out of your comfort zone and forced to make major adjustments in order to adapt to the changes. This is good stress because it forces you to make changes that have a positive outcome.
Manageable stress, Loice says, is likely to go away once the stressing factor has been dealt with.
“When one is sick, or they lose a loved one, they will be stressed for a while but it will die down,” she says.
The unmanageable one is the high degree of stress, one that someone cannot cope with and will most likely need help.
“It is the stress that is the mother of depression and the trigger to any other mental illness,” explains Loice.
She adds that stress can be triggered by so many things. She explains that any unanticipated change is a stress trigger and the stress could either be positive or negative.
“When I leave the house in the morning, I hope to get to the office in thirty minutes. If I find a traffic jam on the way, I am likely to be stressed. That is a trigger, and there could be many such occurrences in our day to day lives,” she explains.
While stress in itself is a common occurrence, the bigger issue is how to get out of it before it causes an even bigger problem, such as depression.
When somebody is not sure how to manage stress and they live somewhere with no support system, it will likely get into their head. The person is likely to fail to manage the stress.
“Someone needs to know who they are. If you are a planner and things do not go your way, try and adjust to the new plan else it will stress you,” says Loice.
She adds: “You have to be aware of the stress and then look for ways of managing it. In that regard, look for things that work for you when you are stressed to help reduce it.” Things that can help reduce stress include taking a walk, engaging in a hobby or socialising, depending on the individual.
With the three types of stress, the higher the degree, the likelier you will get intense effects from it.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that a little bit of stress is not a problem, but inordinate levels of stress affect the body, causing one to experience unpleasant physical effects. These include headaches, loss of appetite, tight muscles, heavy chest, lump in the throat, as well as neck and shoulder pain.
“In stressful situations, difficult thoughts and feelings hook us, and we are pulled away from our value,” says a WHO report.
What Loice classifies as an unmanageable stress can be compared to what the WHO calls an “emotional storm”.
“It means that you experience intensely difficult thoughts and feelings. They are so strong they are like a mighty storm, and they can easily overpower you.”
A study published by the Nature journal points out that acute stress can make one’s hair turn grey. This irreversible effect of stress is caused by an unknown relationship between the nervous system and the pigment producing cell that is responsible for hair colour.
What are the ways through which we deal with stress?
There are varied ways of dealing with stress, but if one hits the lowest ebb, professional help is the way to go. The people around you could also be the answer to your problem, or they could know someone that could help you wade through the murky waters.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention outlines five key self-care tips that people should embrace when they feel stressed. These are: connecting socially with other people, avoiding taking drugs and alcohol, being active at all times, seeking support from the people around you and generally taking care of yourself by eating well, exercising and getting enough sleep.
When it comes to handling stress, there are two choices – you can either wallow in it or use it positively.
A study published by the Academy of Management explained that it is all about someone’s mindset.
“Participants in the stress- mindset training reported significant improvements in their experience of physical symptoms, greater overall satisfaction with their health, and better performance at work with respect to generating new ideas, sustaining focus, being engaged, and collaborating well at work,” explained the study.
Another study by the American Psychological Association says that how people react to things that could be stressing them determines their health and well-being.
“Counter to most stress reduction approaches, the goal of optimising stress might, in some cases, lead people to seek out stressful situations,” says the study.
“For example, a person might seek to address a conflict with their partner rather than avoid it,” they explain.
The study goes on to explain that going head-on with what stresses you can sometimes cause even more stress.
“The goal of optimising stress can also lead people to disengage with stressful situations that do not align with valued goals. For example, dissolving a relationship that is unfulfilling, or turning down opportunities in order to complete unfinished tasks, despite that saying “no” or exiting situations can themselves be highly stressful,” say the researchers.
