Stress Awareness Day calls for action towards helping stressed young people

As we mark the international Stress Awareness Day this year on November 6, it is essential to highlight the significant impact of stress on our population, and in a special way, the youth.

The goal of this day is undermined if there are no meaningful conversations on how to better address the problem of stress, which increases each day with significant effects on those affected. The theme for 2024 conversations is “Campaigning to reduce stress and improve wellbeing.”

In Africa, stress is increasingly becoming an issue of concern, especially among young people. Though, unlike the rest of the world, most African countries do not yet have stress management and mental health services incorporated fully and reliably into the mainstream health systems. In many African countries, only a small portion of the health budget is allocated to mental healthcare.

There is also poor public awareness regarding stress as an important health concern, which often leads to extreme developments of what could have been perfectly treated if attended to on time. The results are widespread cases of suicide, violent behaviours, cases of sexual and physical abuse, etc.

Researchers have established that better mental health awareness among the population has resulted in reasonable improvements in general mental health. This is because a problem is not denied or suppressed but taken for what it really is [cf. Maria de Carvalho, M., and Vale-Dias, M. (2021)].

A Kenyan-based 2023 peer-reviewed research by Lilian Ayiro, Bernard Misigo, and Rodgers Dingili, published by Frontiers, found that 66 percent of the 400 sampled secondary school students in Eldoret were moderately stressed, 31 percent were highly stressed, and only 3 percent reported low stress levels.

These students also, according to researchers, believed that seeking emotional, social, and psychological support was the best thing to do to cope with stress, but they feared seeking such from teachers and peers. This should be concerning!

A 2023 doctoral thesis by Leah Prencipe of the Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands, which examined youth mental health in Tanzania and social determinants established that there are multiple domains contributing to poor mental health among young people in Tanzania, including biological and social determinants and environmental shocks related to climate change.

She points out that poor mental health causes the highest disease burden for the youth, as depression has particularly led to diminished educational achievement, substance use, delinquency, and suicide.

The most vulnerable are the youth from poor backgrounds and girls due to perpetuated gender roles and expectations in some places. Many young people find themselves in conflicts of expectations, unemployment, complexities of relationships, single-parenting, inapplicability of their learning in real life, and societal and cultural expectations, especially regarding independence, self-sufficiency, marriage, and the support of their families.

When stress is not well managed, it becomes overwhelming and can have devastating effects on mental and physical health, like anxiety disorders, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. It also manifests in physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, ulcers, and digestive issues.

Prolonged stress, according to experts, can contribute to serious conditions like hypertension and heart disease. This should tell us how urgent stress awareness is in order to help our young people now.

One promising solution is to convince young people to open up about their mental health and issues that bother them. The stigma surrounding mental health is a huge barrier that makes people cover up and pretend they are fine. Many feel ashamed to talk about it, especially men, as it would appear as a sign of weakness on their part.

The government needs to organise more and more counselling platforms from the primary school level so that children can learn to open up from an early age. This will support early intervention in abusive homes and other dangerous, high-stress situations, enabling children to be rescued when necessary.

From the national health policy of 2003, 2007, and others going forward, the perspective of mental health care has been broadened and plans more articulated, especially in collaboration with other private mental health care interested institutions and organisations. This is a huge step forward. In 2022, Tanzania held the very first National Mental Health Dialogue, recognising the need to address the problem.

As a people, it is high time we dismantle the stigma about mental health and create a safe space in our culture and conversations in order to hear, recognise, and help those in need of help. It is crucial also to motivate our young people to seek help and discuss their struggles with the assurance that they are not being judged or made fun of. This will save lives!

We should also remember that stress and other mental health problems are like submarines; all we see might be a tower, yet there are a tonne of problems hidden underneath the smiles we see before us. Sometimes all that people need is someone who will genuinely listen to them. This skill can be learnt and developed through practice.