With a certain level of stress comes better performance but when stress becomes excessive, it becomes harmful to the body and then begins to affect performance negatively. Dr. Harrison Otamere, a stress management specialist and Head of Department, Human Physiology, College of Medicine, Ambrose Alli University makes this known in this interview with Martins Ifijeh recently. He also talks about the difference between executive and mental stress, as well as the dangers and ways of relieving stress,among other related issues. Excerpts;

What is Stress?

Stress is the psychological and physical state that results when the body system of an individual is unable to cope with the demands and pressures of what it is being faced with in the environment or work. However, stress varies depending on the situations on ground. There is stress due to injury, eustress, acute stress (which is stress for a short while), chronic stress and psychological stress. Even though we say stress is damaging, it is not all bad. Not all stress are entirely injurious, some are good.

What is good stress?

Eustress is the type of stress that can improve performance. Ideally, this level of stress is needed to be able to optimize performance. So, when stress is bringing about diminishing end or psychological problem, then it is no longer eustress, it is then known as distress. Other types of stress include, stress due to injury, stress due to illness (diseases) such as athriitis, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), e.t.c. Stress could also be for a very short time. But most often, acute stress can be related to eustress because it can also be a positive stress.

Where stress becomes a problem is when it is sustained for a very long time. However, stress affects all organs of the body – liver, pancreas, kidney, brain, e.t.c. At this point, the body tries to respond to it through the global alarm system by providing rapid response. But the issue is that one needs some level of this stress in order to optimize performance.

Stress experienced by workers, top executives, persons with a lot of staff, e.t.c., is regarded as executive stress. This type of stress is fairly different from the one experienced by labourers or road side workers. This one is more of a mental stress. The stress here is not entirely connected to the activities in the office. It might be from the composition of the person’s body system, the environment, his home situation and other factors surrounding the person’s lifestyle.

Some people achieve better results while under pressure. Is that the good stress you are talking of?

It is very connected. If there is no stress at all or the stress is too low to perform a certain work, then there will be boredom. The initial challenge to do a certain work is in itself ‘stress’. So one then naturally responds to that challenge. With a certain level of stress comes better performance but when stress becomes excessive, it becomes harmful to the body and then begins to affect performance negatively.

What are the causes of stress?

Stress could be a result of family issues such as spousal problem and health challenges from loved. Parents who have poor performing or difficult children will definitely be over stressed. Stress could also be psychological. This is very common with people that have negative procrastination. Too much work load, poor working facilities or long working hours can be a major cause of stress. Another major cause of stress which somehow seems universal is the one related to finance. Considering the state of our country, there is always a need to seek for more money. There is no time money is ever enough, so it contributes majorly to what causes stress. Imagine a situation where a man has pressure coming from members of his family, friends and dependants all requesting for money which he may be unable to afford, it then gets to a time one becomes really agitated with anxiety and unrest begins to set in. This is even a serious causes of stress.

Are there any type of stress unique to Nigerians?

Presently in Nigeria, one major stress experienced by almost everyone is the insecurity of lives and property, especially with our brothers and sisters in the northern part of the country in the light of the Boko Haram menace, kidnappings, armed robberies and even killings. People these days are at various times conscious of security of their lives. Job insecurity; fear of being retrenched, sacked, having difficult bosses, fear of low performance and the general consciousness of possible job loss could lead to one been stressed. A situation where one is unable to meet planned targets, it could lead to been stressed. When the target set by your bosses or by oneself is too much, then stress sets in. Conflict or difficult interpersonal relationship could also lead to it. For a boss or chief executive who has difficult subordinates, working under poor condition or poor working facilities could lead to stress. Environmental factors like flooding, bad roads, traffic jam could lead to it. Then death of a loved one can cause serious level of stress to the human body.

How can one know he or she is stressed?

Stress is really not a problem if it is not sustained for a long time. The eustress that brings about better productivity is good like I said. But the one that would raise health problem for an individual is majorly what we are enlightening the society about. The way people respond to stress varies and that determines if the person is being stressed or not. A person who is able to answer these questions effectively can know when he or she is stressed. Do minor problems affects you easily? Do you feel anxious and always ready to expect the worst scenario? Do you over react to minor issues? Do you have trouble concentrating or thinking clearly? Do you experience physical pain? Do you grind your teeth at night or have jaw tension and pain? Do the things that make other people happy fail to make you happy? Do you have low self esteem? Do you feel exhausted easily, yet unable to relax? Do you have difficulty sleeping? or do you have suicidal thoughts? When one answers any of these in the affirmative, it means the person is most likely stressed. These are indications which one can use in checking if stressed or not. 

Is stress avoidable?

Stress is not avoidable in totality. Every living or working human must pass through a level of stress. One can only minimize or manage stress.

During stressful and strenuous work, how can one still be productive?

The best thing to do when one is stressed is to take a break. Most Nigerians do not observe holidays or what we call vacation. It is necessary to say that for someone who has worked for 11 whole months, it is simply reasonable to take time off for vacation. This helps in prolonging the life of the individual. Employers of labour, whether private or public, should encourage their staff to go on leave. It baffles me how some employees will deprive their staff from observing annual leave or vacation all because the organization is understaffed. This is detrimental to the health of such individual.

What are the health implications of stress?

Apart from the normal headache, tiredness and all other minor sorts associated with stress, there are real terrible outcomes if stress is not well managed. It can terminate one’s life or bring about terrible level of disability. For example, hypertension which leads to other forms of ailments like cerebrovascular accidents, heart attack and stroke. Mental illness, which is the inability to think coherently could result as a result of stress. It could also just be an issue of sudden death. Sustained stress on its own affects all the organs of the body negatively, from the brain up to the liver, kidney, e.t.c.

How can one manage stress since it is unavoidable?

People should learn to take break from work, observe leave and go on vacations. I mean vacation from organizations where people are really working, not in some government offices where you see people not working through out the day and then continue like that through out the year. Employers of labour should make it a priority to encourage their staff to observe at least an hour break every day during work. One should also learn to engage in social activities and then spend time with nature; zoological gardens, the beach, serene environments, e,t,c during annual leaves and holidays. Observing annual leaves should be encouraged.

People should also try to exercise, especially the big ‘ogas’ in the office. Sedentary lifestyle coupled with stress could be very dangerous with serious health implications. Unfortunately, we have very few zoological and botanical gardens in the country. However, there are nice places where one can go and relax. Like the beach, nice gardens, serene environments away from home, and so on. At least, somewhere that will take one off work activities. Workers, especially senior workers should learn to delegate duties to their subordinates. This of course means one have to have trained the subordinates very well so that the pressure will not be so much on the boss. Another major way to manage stress is to live a peaceful life, wether in the office or at home. Your spouse should be able to know what comes into your account and how you spend, so that finance will not be a source of stress in the home. Also, life is not as serious as we think, we should learn to unwind and entertain ourselves. Do what ever makes you happy so far it is within the ambits of morality. Thank God for Nollywood, a lot of our women relax with Nigerian movies these days.

Apart from these solutions you have shared, does sleep play any role?

Yes, sleep is a natural remedy to stress. Sleep calms down the brain and relaxes the nerves. Its very advisable to take time out of busy schedules to enjoy good and quality sleep.

Are there drugs that can relieve stress? 

There are drugs to relieve stress. There are times we prescribe tranquilizers and other drugs to calm down the nerves but these are not drugs medical experts encourage people to be taking because of their side effects and addictive characters. But natural remedies like the ones we discussed above are the best ways to relieve stress. Fruits and certain types of fruits can also be taken.

What is your message to people who over work their house helps and their staff.

In as much as many of these house helps are paid to do their job, there should be terms of agreement. It should be spelt out what their job responsibilities should be and how many hours they should work. But the problem is that, most of these house owners take advantage of the fact that these house helps are uneducated and have very small financial resources, hence they use them for cheap labour and exploit them. These people should understand that when one over stress his house maid, it will get to a point where the house help will make mistakes that could also affect the employer of such house help. A situation where one over stretches their house help to the point the house help forgets to lock up the gas, what then happens? The house will obviously be in flame. People should understand that when you continually stress an employee, you will never get the best out of that employer, rather, diminishing return begins to set in. Hence, s/he will become less productive.

Recently, Lagos state penned down a law that all commercial drivers should not work more that eight hours a day in order to get optimal productivity. But so far, it hasn’t worked. What do you think is the way forward on this?

You see, in a country where government hardly supports private business, it becomes difficult for the government to initiate and implement their policies especially when these private businesses are the ones affected. Because of this, it will be difficult for government to determine how and when drivers can work when they do not have any role to play in terms of supporting their business. If Nigeria is developed enough, it will be easy for the government to implement these laws. Truth be told, it is a very good step, at least a driver shouldn’t work for more than eight hours a day, because when such driver is over stressed, it could negatively affect his pattern of driving and may be costly to human lives. But government should do the needful first before implementing this type of laws.