Stress, Depression and Anxiety — Fighting the Demon within you!

Imagine it is your result day. Chances are high that you won’t be finding yourself at peace. Your entire cerebral region would be blocked by the word, “RESULT”. You’ll feel the adrenaline rush especially the moment you enter your register number and wait anxiously for the result to get displayed. Over this brief period, time dilates, pupils dilate, a horrible silence develops within you only to haunt you instantly with the sound of intense heartbeats. All these diagnosed abnormal symptoms has a 4-letter golden remedy word -“PASS”. You are said to be undergoing stress whenever this alarm echoes inside your mind. Literally, stress is our body’s response to challenge or demand. It is a normal feeling and has a positive effect as it generally helps in avoiding danger or meeting a deadline. In such situations, the stress we experience is temporary and vanishes quickly. However, it is not normal to undergo stress countless number of times in a day. Such chronic stress opens the doorway to anxiety and depression, which in turn camp within you, driving out even small patches of happiness from life. Mental illness is such a serious problem that can potentially collapse the whole you.

Normally, our body reacts to stress by secreting hormones. These hormones make the brain more alert and cause the muscles to tense, and gradually increase the pulse rate. Once we get past the tense situations, the rate of secretion of hormones drop, eventually bringing our body back to normal. Thus, the hormones help us in handling stress. On the other hand, during chronic stress, the body tends to stay alert even when not required. It puts us in risk of health problems including heart diseases, obesity, skin problems such as acne and menstrual problems. Most of the time, we fail to realise that these symptoms are in fact caused by stress and therefore, instead of addressing the issue of stress, we take medications for reducing the external symptoms. However, there will be a furious battle going on in our mind and body when we are stressed while we keep our heads in the cloud without paying attention to it.

In India, every person is put under a cycle of pressure throughout life. The cycle begins once we step into academic life, continues in your career and relationships and finally passes on to your off springs. Your happy days on earth ends the day you’re put into a school. The very structure of education at school is such that, it stuffs the syllabus into the brain every passing year. In this rigorous process, those with capacious memory space manage to overcome all the odds and get into premier institutes. It is only after joining these institutes, you realise you’re not following what you wanted to and that you are not becoming what you intend to be. When this realisation pricks you hard, the long-term stress you’ve been put through turns into mental depression. Young people find it difficult to cope with failure in examinations and careers. According to a 2015 data from NCRB, every hour, a student ends his life in India. India has one of the world’s highest suicide rates for youth aged 15 to 29, according to a 2012 Lancet report. Sadly, neither the families nor the social institutions tend to offer the adequate support or solace the affected individuals seek. Seeking professional help is an equally tedious task as India severely lacks in the number of mental health professionals needed to serve our gigantic population.

When these cases are probed deeply, students from happier families are found to be at peace on a relative note when compared to those who were brought up in a strict environment. The major reasons for deliberate suicide are found to be resulting from poor relationships with parents, excessive expectations, the feeling of being unwanted and poor understanding in romantic relationships. Moreover, Indians don’t care much about mental health. Currently, India spends 0.06% of its health budget on mental health whereas most of the developed nations spent about 4% of their budgets for mental health development. When it is understandable that we have got other problems to focus on, allocation of a mere 0.06% seems very less even to generate awareness among people.

One of the best and the most difficult jobs in this world is parenting. The environment the child grows and lives in greatly shapes his/her behaviour and character which later reflects in this society. Hence, it has always been a great challenge to parents of all time to bring up a physically and mentally healthy child. Some parents believe that bringing up a child in a stricter environment prepares him/her for facing the society. Contrarily, children brought up by strict parents experience more stress and depression. As a result, they tend to possess lower self-esteem and become more rebellious and excellent liars. It is the programming period of their minds in which the things they learn, see and experience create a strong impact in providing an optimistic or pessimistic perception towards this world. In recent years, child abuse has become a common term. Childhood depression resulting from physical, emotional and sexual abuse is a life-scarring experience for a child. Such abused children suffer from irrecoverable depression. These victims show behavioural symptoms, described as masked depression. They are in need of frequent psychological treatment to lead a normal life.

Another common form of stress existent worldwide is when we deliberately dedicate ourselves to jump into a trap called relationship. Improper understanding of the partners results in break-ups which worsens the person’s state of mind. Researchers have found that same areas of brain are activated during physical pain and in break up. Also, some studies have shown that love is like an addiction and losing it can be like going through withdrawal. It has serious impact on our body, in fact, broken heart syndrome is a real condition, with serious and painful symptoms. However, socialising with friends, engaging in productive activities, distracting oneself from memories and medical counselling can help in overcoming the depression resulting from break-up.

Every problem must be having a solution. The task of finding it without panicking lies with us. We may not be able to control what happens in our lives, but we can always control how we react to it. Time management and maintaining a proper schedule can avoid doing hurry-scurry works. Indulging in physical activities, yoga, meditation can help in reducing stress to a greater extent. Lack of sleep is another important cause of stress. Soothing the body and soul before going to bed helps in getting good night sleep thereby enabling us to begin the day with a fresh feel. Always make sure you are not overburdening yourself. Learn to master the art of saying ‘No’ as it can come handy more often.

Sometimes just talking to someone how you feel can help you. Studies have found that, a mere 20-minute interaction with nature will lower the levels of stress hormone. Nature nurtures our mind, body and soul. Whatever situation you are in, ask yourself whether you are feeling happy and satisfied with the thing you are going through. Always keep the spark within you alive. Explore the things that ignite you. Make your lives worth living for!