Exercise has been identified as one of the ways of managing and reducing stress, as it helps in taking charge of thoughts, emotions, schedules and the way problems are dealt with.
Pharmacist Amid Lanre Alege of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), while delivering a lecture as part of the monthly keep fit exercise for members of staff of Michael Inmuodu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) today also identified other ways to include talking, relaxation, meditation and holiday.
Pharmacist Alege defines stress as the ‘wear and tear’ our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment, adding also, that it has both physical and emotional effects on the body as it can create positive and negative feelings.
“As a positive influence, stress can compel us to action, results in a new awareness and create an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, stress can result in feelings of desrust, rejection, anger and depression, which could lead to some health problems such as headache, stomach upset, rashes, insomnia, ulcer, high blood pressure, heart diseases, stroke and death”, he stressed.
“Life can be hectic and at times full of stress and tension. Stress majorly can occur at home, on the road, offices, schools, playground, motorparks and etc. In the West African sub region, particularly in Nigeria, there are many and varied causes of stress”
“At work, it can be due to promotion (due or thought to be due), salary (poor or none/delayed), harassment from boss, especially the female folks, loss of job, sickness or death of family member, insecurity at home or on the road, inability to feed family, inability to meet societal expectations, epileptic power supply, lack of water supply and erratic telephone services, among others”
He highlighted the signs and symptoms of being stressed to include change in sleep pattern, loss of appetite or feeling sick without reason, inability to take decisions and to function, frustration and complaining all the time, and inability to concentrate or complete tasks quickly.
“Some of these may be signs of depression particularly when they seems to persist, and may be coupled with tiredness, loss of concentration or memory, loss of confidence and suicidal thoughts, and all these are detrimental to health, as we must make efforts to reduce or prevent these destructive effects”, he concluded.
The session started with walk race and flexibility exercises, which was thoroughly supervised by Coach Niyi of the Athletics Association of the Kwara State Sports Commission, Ilorin.
The monthly keep fit exercise was introduced by the Director General of the Institute, Comrade Issa Aremu, as a way of keeping members of staff alive to the challenges at the office.
