Hyderabad: International Stress Awareness Week is observed every year from 7th to 11th November to make efforts to address issues related to the workplace and other types of stress on different platforms globally. In the year 2022, this weekly event is being organized around the theme 'Working together to build resilience and reduce stress'.
In today's era, doctors consider stress as a silent killer. Many factors can lead to stress in a person such as family issues, occupational problems, illness, war, epidemics, disease and psychosis. But recognizing this issue and taking efforts for its treatment in time is a difficult task for a common person even in today's progressive times of advanced medicine. Stress has become a global problem nowadays, due to which a large number of people around the world either lose their lives every year or are forced to live unhappy or troubled life.
Many events are organized by health and social organizations with the aim of establishing stress as a disease around the world and making efforts for its prevention and upliftment and rehabilitation of its victims. Among these, International Stress Awareness Week is organized every year in November from 7th - 11th November.
Psychologist and counsellor Dr Renuka Joshi (PhD) explains that stress is a mental problem. Generally, every person has to face stress at some point of time in their life. It can occur due to any mental condition like sadness, worry, trouble, or nervousness. But when stress starts filling your thoughts with negativity, affecting the way you think and act in your normal life, then it comes under the category of a serious disease. Its prevention becomes extremely important, as it can affect your mental health as well as your physical health. She explains that the symptoms of stress can be seen at different levels i.e. more or less severe in every person. But in general, some of the symptoms which are counted among the most common symptoms are as follows:
- Feeling very sad or negative.
- Not feeling happy even in a happy environment.
- Constant thoughts of unhappiness in life.
- Feeling guilty for every wrongdoing.
- Loss of appetite and weight loss.
- Sleeplessness or excessive sleepiness.
- Loss of energy.
- Feeling tired early in the day.
- Difficulty in decision-making and concentration.
- Thoughts of death or suicide.
Apart from personal reasons, in the last few years, there has been an increase in the cases of stress due to many reasons including epidemics, war, fears about the future, fears related to economic situations, fear of death, and the effects of illness.
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Dr Renuka says that stress is a condition whose prevention is very important, otherwise it affects the quality of life, family, and the professional and social life of a person. Every year a large number of people take steps like suicide due to this problem. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 13,792 people committed suicide due to mental illness in 2021 in India, and it is considered to be the third largest known cause of suicide in the country. It is a matter of concern that in these cases, 6,134 cases were of youngsters within the age group of 18 to 45 years.
The World Health Organization estimates that 21.1 per cent of every 1 lakh citizens in India are committing suicide due to poor mental health. On average, out of the total life of 10,000, 2,443 people suffer from more than one mental health issue, they have to spend 2,443 years with some mental problem or more than one problem. The report of the National Mental Health Survey has considered that about 14% of Indians need medical intervention or help due to this type of problem.
In a 2021 Global Gallup Poll, four out of every 10 adults worldwide admitted that they experience a lot of anxiety or stress regularly. International Stress Awareness Week was started in the year 2018 to help people suffering from mental problems like stress. This initiative was taken by the International Stress Management Association to raise awareness about stress prevention. Stress Awareness Day is also organized on Wednesday during this week, which will be held on November 9th in the year 2022. An online Global Stress and Wellbeing Summit will also be organized on this occasion.
The main objective of International Stress Awareness Week is to encourage positive change in the context of stress at the global level. One of the objectives of this event is also to motivate people to make policies to reduce cases of stress, especially in the workplace. According to the World Health Organization, about 12 billion workdays are lost every year due to stress, depression and anxiety, i.e. the victims are either on leave or unable to do any work during this time. This causes the global economy about 1 trillion dollars worth of damage per year.
In the year 2022, the theme 'Working Together to Build Resilience and Reduce Stress' has been set for International Stress Awareness Week with the purpose to create flexibility in the workplace environment and creating policies motivating them to work together to reduce stress. 'How to help people facing mental health challenges?', 'How employers can respond to stress and mental health issues?', 'How can Stress Management Professionals help?', 'How do changes in workplace policies, such as hybrid working, affect the mental health of employees?' and 'How can people suffering from stress and mental health issues receive advice and support?', are the motives behind this year's theme, which will provide a platform for discussion and efforts on these issues.
