Stress:The Silent Assassin

Ever heard of the term "Supari"?Well it means "Areca Nut" in the Hindi language,used in betel leaves for chewing,but it also means giving a contract to a hired Killer for bumping someone off.The term is used a lot in Hindi movies.I hate to refer to it as Bollywood,sounds like a cheap version of Hollywood.Anyway,what I'm coming to is that,when we ignore tell tale signs that our body gives us about the stress we may be going through,it's like giving a supari(contract) for our own death.Didn't understand?I will explain in lucid words.

When I was a kid,which was a while ago,the word stress never existed. The word "Tension" was the in thing in those days,and everyone had tension.But Kids were not supposed to have any tension,as they were kids.Simply do homework,play,eat,do well in school and be "Bindaas"(cool).So, even if I had any stress,oops..tension,then I couldn't say so.Only adults had tensions as they were grown up and had more tensions than kids,along with the tension of putting up with kids.I had a very forward and maverick Principal in school who's name was Joseph Purayidam.He was different from most Principals.He was a darker version of Rajiv Gandhi(baldness heightened resemblance),was about 6' tall with a booming voice that would send Amitabh Bachchan gargling.The only thing uncool about him was that even in the 80's he still wore bell-bottoms.Anyway,maybe his tailor died and couldn't find a better one,I don't know.But he was a Principal who could play basket ball and base ball with the students.He also spoke about stress and the need to destress.There were no computers connected to Internets to run to those days,to check out what stress meant.I didn't have the guts to approach him with a query as me and him were always locking horns,as I always challenged every rule he made.Whether it was about not speaking in any other language other than English or smaller kids being given preference to sit in school buses.I even had the audacity to lecture him on safety of older students being equally important.Anyway,the point is that he was the first one who I remember having used the word stress and I'm sure I gave him his share of STRESS.

Now Stress aka Tension can wreak havoc in our lives and it can lead to many a life threatening conditions like cardiac arrests and even cancer.Hard to believe eh,but believe me it has been proven that stress can be a killer.It doesn't have to be this way as Stress can well be controlled.It's all in our hands.After all we are God's supreme creation and we are highest in terms of intelligence.He won't be happy the way humans have turned out but we can definitely try and live a healthy one.

What is Stress? Stress is a feeling that's created when you react to certain events,or the way you react to a situation. It's our body's way of preparing to face an event and preparing to meet a tough situation,the best it can.Stress becomes a problem when we become over-stressed and it affects how we cope with day to day stuff.The human body responds to events that provoke stress (stressors) by activating the nervous system and specific hormones.The hormones speed up heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and metabolism. The physical changes prepare you to react quickly and effectively to handle the pressure of the moment.
This natural reaction is known as the stress response. If done properly,the body's stress response improves our ability to perform well under pressure.

Stress can be caused for different reasons.Stress can be caused due to under performing at school,peer pressure,friction with boss/colleagues at work,unsatisfactory marital/sex life,or any other issue.We all have our stress points and our own breaking points.No other person should judge what is and what isn't stressful for you.The stupidest thing I've heard when I was growing up was that 'young kids don't have stress'.Most misleading bull shit.Pardon my language but I couldn't find a better word.A lot of kids end up into mental cases because no one took them seriously.Recently there was a movie guest Starring yester-years movie actor Mithun Chakraborthy,in which he pleads the cases of students who are driven to point of committing suicide due to parental pressure for peak performances.In that he gives an example of individual strength by asking a court clerk to try bending a foot ruler made of plastic and of steel.The steel ruler bends but the plastic one breaks.So,the point is that we all have different levels of bearing stress.

These are some of the symptoms of being stressed:feeling irritable,feeling anxious,avoiding other people,crying,moodiness,feeling frustrated,low self-esteem,depression.On physical level one can feel headaches,tummy upsets followed by constipation as a cycle,fever,eating too much and beginning to smoke and drink.
To help manage the stress, it may be helpful to talk to someone about what is upsetting you. Talking to someone you trust may help you to work out why you are stressed out and what you can do about it.Maybe you can't get rid of the stress from your life, however managing your stress could help you get things going.

Some ways of dealing with stress:

Talking with someone might help get it off your chest,doing some exercise,Yoga/meditation,counselling,hanging out with friends,archery/sport.Different things work for different people,so we need to figure out what works best for us to de-stress.Worrying about it definitely doesn't help.

I get stressed out a lot and have tried out many things.Deep breathing definitely helps de-stress and so does doing some hatha yoga.The stretching and the postures definitely help.If we can control our breathing,we can control our mind and our body.

Of course auto suggestion,which my dad mentioned a long time back does help.

The key is to identify the enemy,and stress is something we can befriend and turn into our own advantage.Like someone aptly put it,a little bit of stress is a positive thing as it keeps us alert and keep us from being complacent.

So,try and keep stress positive and life will become better.Jai Ho