Coping with Stress – A Muslim Medical Student’s Guide
Life has taken a new
turn. We now move from protracted rounds to evening calls. The hustle for accident
and emergency procedure is real. Whether you’re attending SOP or MOP, it may
start to feel like a vicious cycle. All these still have to be combined with
study. Then there’s Rona, usually lurking in the shadow, only showing her face
sometimes. Well, dear brethren, our journey has only begun and I hope we have our
seatbelts on. If you’re going through all these there’s a high chance of stress
already being your major and trust me you want to beat stress. Because when life
seems to be all stress you could as well feel like you’re actually studying
stress. If you’re not careful and go on like this you could end up graduating
with a major in stress and that’s not going to be good.
Stress is the normal
physical response we have when faced with a challenge. It is what we feel when
we have to handle more than we used to causing our body to respond as though
we’re in danger. Basically any significant change causes stress whether good or
bad. Our body makes hormones that speed up our heart, make us breathe faster
and give us a bust of energy; the fight-or-flight stress response. Some stress
is normal and even useful and can help us if we need to work hard or react
quickly. In little doses it can give us the motivation to do our best and
perform under pressure. It could be this paper deadline looming, a tutorial
presentation or end of posting test. Feelings of stress often dissipate with
the end of the experience or challenge.
If stress happens too
often or lasts too long it can have bad effects that could even be linked to
headaches, an upset stomach, back pain, trouble sleeping as well as a weakened
immune system making it harder to fight off disease. It can make us depressed,
tense and moody causing our relationship with others to suffer as well as our
performance.
What
can you do about stress?
You can learn to
manage stress by finding out the cause of stress, ways to reduce the amount and healthy ways to relieve it and reduce its harmful effects.
How
can you measure your stress level?
It is sometimes clear
where stress is coming from especially during a major life change such as
losing a loved one, getting married or having a baby. Other times the reason
for being stressed may not be clear. It’s important to find one’s cause of
stress since everyone feels and responds to stress differently. Tracking stress
by taking note of things that makes one feel stressed can be very helpful,
noting our reaction and what we did to deal with the stress. This can help us
reduce the stress or handle it better. Allah says;
And
certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth,
lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.)(Q 2 v 155)
How
do you avoid stress?
For most people, like
medical students stress is a fact of life. You may not be able to get rid of it
but you can seek ways to lower it. Some of the things that you can try are:
1)
Work with better time management
techniques. More can be done with less stress when working with a schedule.
Prioritise tasks and do the most important first.
2)
Find better ways to cope with day to day
demands and identify what works and what doesn’t.
3)
Take proper care of yourself by getting
plenty of rest, eat well and avoid smoking or drinking.
4)
Have a positive approach/attitude
towards life and identify occurrences you have control over and avoid worrying
too much about those which you have no control over.
5)
Speak up about needs and concerns. This
can remove negative feelings thereby reducing stress.
6)
Ask for help. People with strong network
of family and friends are able to deal with stress better.
How
do you relieve stress?
There are various ways
to de-stress the body system. This however differs with among persons:
1 )Exercise, from as
simple as taking a walk to working out in the gym.
2) Write especially
about what’s bothering you such as by keeping a diary or journal.
3) Express your
feelings to others as opposed to masking or bottling them.
4) Do things you enjoy from
a hobby to volunteer work.
5) Learn ways to relax
the body from breathing, muscle relaxation, massage and aromatherapy.
6) Focus on the present
as opposed to worrying about the future by meditation and imagery. Look for the
humor in life.
Religious belief has
been shown to have important bearing on personality and outlook in life. By
putting our trust in Allah, a believer minimizes the stress on him reducing his
responsibility and power to control his failures while putting his/her best.
Allah
(Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us). (Q
3 v 173)
Research suggests that
people who regularly wake up an hour earlier than usual, without sleeping less,
may be able to reduce their risk of major depression, one of the effect of
accumulated stress. (JAMA Psychiatry May 26, 2021) As the saying goes, “Early
to bed, early to rise.” So people who sleep earlier have a higher chance of
waking earlier. While it may be difficult as medical students to be early
sleepers and risers I think it is worthy to first have it at the back of mind
that it is the best of practice though circumstances may not make it feasible
at times. But if one gets the opportunity to sleep as early as 9pm one should
take advantage of it. One may then decide to wake as early as possible to cover
important things left to do. This was one of the practices of the Prophet (SAW)ﷺ and is
worthy of emulation in the relieving of stress. Heﷺwas
known to avoid conversations after the last obligatory prayer of the night and
retires to his bed as early as possible. One of the ways we can make this
easier is by avoiding the use of our devices while we prepare to sleep particularly
the use of social media.
As a Muslim, it is highly
encouraged to make waking up earlier a habit. It encompasses the practice of Qiyaamu Layl (standing up for voluntary
night solat (prayers)) even if it is only two rak’at along with the witr
(one rak’at) up to as late as some
minutes before fajr (dawn). It is
undisputedly one of the best ways to relieve oneself of stress as it shows
complete surrender to our creator, Al-Wakeel,
the disposer of our affairs. Great and wonderful things have been known to
begin in the sujuud (prostration) of QiyaamuLayl.
Upon you is taking care
of your five daily obligatory prayers which take precedence over the voluntary
ones.
O
you who believe! Seek help in patience and As-salaat (the prayer) Truly! Allah
is with As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc) (Q 2 v 153)
The recitation of the
noble Quran as well as listening to it has been shown to contribute to release
of endorphins by stimulating alpha brain waves thus enhancing stress threshold,
removing negative emotions and creating a sense of relaxation.
O mankind! There has come to you a direction from your Lord,
and a healing for (the disease in your) heart, and for those who believe a
guidance, and mercy. (Q 10 v57)
You
should also make a habit consistency in your authentic adhkaars (supplications)
from the sunnah (the practice of the {Prophet peace and blessings be upon him}
especially those after the solaat (prayers) and the morning and evening
supplications.
Verily in the
remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.(Q 13 v 28)
Anxiety,
unlike stress, is similar to constant fear usually occurring for no
identifiable reason. This worrying accompanied with anxiety can overwhelm one
disrupting the quality of life.
The
(post) Covid-19 era has surely exposed many to unprecedented increase in stress
levels. Whether it’s indirectly due to the restrictions or directly by being
infected by the virus. This has exposed us to high levels of stress that have
not been experienced before increasing the need for awareness of mental health.One
extreme of it all is the increasing reports of people committing suicide. This
makes a case for ensuring a healthy dose of stress.
Wishing
you optimum stress levels enough for you to show the world all the great things
you’re capable of.
Saka Muhammad
Oluwatimilehin.
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