A book: “Overcoming Stress”, a handbook for resilience building, has been launched to help humanity to surmount one of the deadly enemies and to provide qualitative health and high productivity at all levels in society.
The author, Rev I.K. Erzoah Amihere, is a Senior Minister of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, Counselling Psychologist, the Chaplain General and a Senior Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service.
Speaking at the launch, he said, “In my counselling and pastoral practice, I often observe with disappointment how on daily basis individuals are busily choosing thoughts and behaviours that instruct the only body they have to destroy itself.
“Besides, the human race on constant basis is being traumatized with sudden deaths here and there, and as I juxtapose what is happening in our time with the thoughts and behaviours of people, I am firmly convinced that we would do ourselves a lot of good if we critically consider our thoughts and behaviours.”
He said things, events and situations that were cutting the lives of humankind short kept multiplying and changing its nature day-in-day-out and ‘Stress’ was responsible for causing, aggravating and sustaining most ailments.
Rev Erzoah Amihere said it was possible for an individual to be hemmed in by multiple stressors at a time, “That is, an individual can suffer the following; daily hassle, toxic marriage arrangement, financial difficulties, and management of non-communicable diseases; and sadly enough an individual may be bombarded by multiple stressors yet may be blaming some imaginary external forces.”
The book is solely designed to provide time tested knowledge needed to understand the science behind the effects of ‘stress’ on the entire human body while equipping all manner of people with wisdom to achieve mastery over deadly impacts of the modern ‘killer – stress’.
He said: “The remedy for qualitative health and high productivity at all levels, in our contemporary times, hinges on sound understanding of mind-body relationship, personality inclinations, creation of conducive environment (in the place of work, in families and in societies), effective functional social support system, sound spirituality and cultivation of resilience.”
“Years ago, others thought when time is properly managed an individual would be free from being stressed up. In reality the monster that causes diseases (discomfort) of all kinds and sudden deaths is within the individual and the environment,” he stated.
Rev Erzoah Amihere said the public would get the best out of the book by understanding what stress was, what it was capable of doing and identify the sources of the stressors, while intentionally and purposefully working at eliminating its roots.
“In short, an individual who wants to get the best out of this book, need to study it chapter by chapter, assimilate the context and endeavour to put into practice. You are on the way to enjoying victorious healthy long life,” he concluded.