Understanding Stress: Causes, Effects and Stress Management

You wake up and immediately reach for your phone. WhatsApp messages. Emails. One missed call. Your brain is already buzzing, and you haven’t even brushed your teeth.
You’re trying to get to work, but traffic is mad. A motorbike almost hits your mirror. You’re late. Your boss wants updates. You haven’t finished that report. Your child’s school just texted.
Now, you’re feeling irritated. Maybe you snap at someone, or you feel like crying. Maybe you just want to disappear for a bit.
That, my friend, is stress. Not the dramatic kind from movies, but the everyday kind that builds up in the background like a badly loaded phone app draining your battery.

Our Perceptions = How Stressed We Feel

The thing about stress is, it starts in the mind.
Two people can face the same challenge; one shrugs it off, the other feels like they’re drowning. It’s not a weakness. It’s perception.
If you’re constantly telling yourself “I have to fix everything” or “If I don’t do it, no one will,” you’re carrying a weight that’s heavier than it looks.

Stress shows up in different ways:
Society: We can experience multiple stressors arising from the demands of the different social roles we occupy like a caregiver, parent or a spouse. Other social stressors include - loss of a loved one, divorce or parenting.
Environment: The environment can bombard individuals with very intense and competing demands. Examples include noise, bad weather, crowding, pollution, traffic etc.
Thoughts: This includes our perceptions of environmental stimuli. For example, Anxious thoughts about future and underestimations of one’s ability to cope with issues
Physiological: Situations and circumstances affecting our body can be experienced as physiological stressors. – Examples include Illness, aging, giving birth, menopause, poor nutrition

Helpful Tips to Stress Management

• Set goals that are both personal and professional—but make sure they're realistic and achievable.
• Reframe how you see challenges. Sometimes, changing your perspective reduces the pressure.
• Tackle big tasks by dividing them into smaller, more manageable steps

• Take breaks, give yourself "me time." Learn that taking time to yourself and maintaining a work life balance for rejuvenation helps in reducing stress.

Here’s the Truth We Forget

A little stress sharpens you. Too much dulls you. It steals your joy, your energy, your peace. And here’s the thing—you don’t have to wait until you break down to take care of yourself.
You deserve to feel whole, not just “functional.”

That’s where Afya Daily comes in. A daily stream of expert-backed health tips designed to help you take control of your wellbeing, one small step at a time and manage daily stress.

Your mind and body deserve daily care. Start today with Afya Daily.

Author: Sylvia Okwarah

Edited by: Stacy Anindo