DailyPost 2596
NORMALISING STRESS
India is a land of normalizing stress. Just take the example of running air crisis in Delhi these, it could have created a nature of stress in any country will self-esteem and any government with self-dignity, but here life is normal. Even beyond normal, all sundry work is being attended to by the powers that be as if there is no emergency at hand. It has been happening for years together, still governments cannot come together. Crisis pertaining to their area of responsibility does not cause any stress nor does the plight of the citizens. If you get into the medical history of the people who handle such situations, gives a clear indication of ill health.
Handling for name’s sake and not delivering in reality undeniably causes stress. This stress when internalized as normality, gets reflected in bad health. Good health is a sum total of a variety of factors and one of the main ones in conspicuously missing – satisfaction out of work. Jugaad creates friction and stress, because it is wrong way of doing things, rather than in a frugal manner with immense application of mind and some component of risk. How much stress can a known health hazard is by now known to all of us, courtesy our horrid experience with Covid-19. Still if we believe to the contrary God only can save us. That stress seems to have been normalizing stress.
What does normalizing stress mean? It means for lack of choice; you learn to live with it. That does not mean that it does not eat into vitals of your health. Normalizing stress in not managing stress with your expertise, way of life, workouts etc. It is like occupational therapy; you learn to live with it. The situation can keep on deteriorating too, but we have to put a brave front that nothing detrimental is happening and that you are in complete control of your health. Very rarely we hear of issues related to mental health, which is pretty common in the west and here patients and doctors are fine with it, in the current scenario. Bad mental health emanating of prevalent stress at workplace or otherwise, is not treated as stress at all.
If you declare your stress status, you are supposed to the weak. Strong men and women can handle all of this, is the general presumption in this country. While we keep literally battling all diseases emanating out of stress in huge numbers, we are not ready to accept the fact that stress is the real disease. Even if some of us do, we don’t connect it to mental health, it has to be sorted out only the physical way. What results would it yield if for all of us see. Normalizing stress is a smokescreen while the damage keeps on happening, leading to it becoming fatal at worst or bringing down the quality of life, in a considerable manner. Is this our destiny?
STRESS CANNOT BE NORMALISED. IT HAS BE TO TREATED.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.