Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
Everyone gets stressed sometimes, and many people ignore these feelings in hopes that they will simply go away. But stress does not just disappear.
Avis Ngan, who started a Hong Kong mental health clinic called Mindsight, warned that problems can get worse if left alone.
This is called the stress cycle. It is used to describe how the body adapts to stress in three steps: alarm, resistance and exhaustion.
Three stages of stress
“Like our phone’s ‘low battery’ alert, our body’s alarm is triggered when it realises there’s a challenge and gets ready to respond,” Ngan explained.
The response is also known as “fight or flight”. Our bodies react with an increased heart rate, heightened senses and rapid breathing.
Ngan said that school pressure was a typical cause of the “alarm” stage for Hong Kong students. “This feeling … can make our body and mind react as if there is danger,” he said.
“Resistance” is like a phone’s power-saving mode.
“Our body is working hard to deal with stress and stay balanced,” Ngan said.
But just like power-saving mode is not for all-day use, the body cannot stay in this high-alert state for too long without a good rest. In this stage, we may build up feelings of frustration and have difficulty concentrating.
The final stage, “exhaustion”, sets in when our body is tired.
Symptoms include tiredness, mood swings, a loss of interest in your favourite activities and health problems or allergies.
“It’s like when your phone battery dies completely. This makes us feel completely burnt out,” Ngan explained. “When exhaustion hits, everything starts falling apart in ways that really matter … Your brain feels foggy during class, making it impossible to focus even when you try.”
Stuck in resistance
Ngan noted that many students get stuck in the “resistance” stage. “They might think they are doing OK because they have not completely crashed, but their body is actually in overdrive,” he said.
These students keep telling themselves they will take a rest after revising, but there is always another test. In this case, they will begin to get irritated easily, have difficulty focusing, and see changes in their sleep and appetite.
They might also struggle to get tasks done.
“When you notice these signs, stop what you are doing and do some deep breathing, a five-minute meditation,” he said. A quick walk can also calm you down.
Ngan suggested keeping track of your emotions by writing your thoughts out on paper. Ngan said this could help create a connection that made it easier to accept your emotions.
