Sunday, October 29, 2006

STRESS

Stress is body responce to stressful situations in life.These
situations can be serious like loss of job,marietal problems,
failure in exams,financial problems or can be daily problems
like work pressure.
Types
1. acute stress
2. chronic stress
3. panic disorder
4. burnt out syndrome
SYMPTOMS
-Headache
-back and neck pain
-irritability
-poor concentration
-insomnia
-impotence
-irritable bowel syndrome
-increase use of cigarettes
-alcohol dependence
-frequent sickness or absenteeism
-marital discord

SYMPTOMS OF BURNT OUT SYNDROME
As the name suggest it looks as patient all physical and
mental energy is drained out and he has no energy left to
do any job and even routine works are difficult for him to do
Here patient is constantly moody, irritable, coming late at
work, neglect his job, depression and thoughts like he is struck
in wrong proffesion.
HOW STRESS HARMS THE BODY
Apart from the bad effects of stress on mind body also bears
the burnt of stress .Stress leads to secretion of adrenaline causing
repeated flight or fight responce .High release of glucocorticoids
leads to high catabolic state like breakdown of energy
stores in liver,breakdown of protiens,weakening of muscles
and bones and ultimately leading to premature ageing.
DISEASES RELATED TO STRESS
1.systemic hrpertention
2.Impaired digestion
3.Peptic ulceration
4.Diabetes
5.Supressed growth
6.Impotence
7.Irregular menses
8.Chronic fatigue
9.neuronal damage
10.Increased accidents and untimely death
PANIC DISORDER
As the name suggests when anxiety start person try to
control it by his mental strength and will and try hard that people
around him should not know about it.As the tension levels go up
it start showing as he develops tremors,he is sweating,there are
muscle twitch esp. around eyes, tics develop and other signs of mental
unrest like loss of concentration. When tension levels rise further
his voluntary control over body slowly goes and he becomes panicky.
In panic disorder patient is in panic and he has little control over his
thoughts or actions.
MANAGEMENT
At the start I would like to clarify that tension or stress is
not a dirty world.There was time in 70s when if you say to a
person you are tense or you have tension it was taken as abuse
but no more .Now we realise that anybody and everybody can
have stress at some point of time in his lifetime.The gorilla war
of USA with Vietcong in 60s proved beyond doubt that everybody
can be broken if stress is severe.When soldiers came back from
war there were lot of stress related disorders and even the tough
ones were broken and not the same person any more and took
lot of time and treatment to heal.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT
1.TO realise that nothing is perfect in this imperfect world.To
expect perfection leads to misery.While doing a job mistakes are
made and should be taken as aid to learning and not a thing leading
to guilt complex.
2.react lightly to a problem and at the same time seeking solution
to it.There should not be any negative thinking that one cant do anything
about a problem.Worrying is a waste of nervous energy and waste of
time.
3.A sense of Humour and a ability to laugh on oneself and on
difficult situations is a good way of keeping tensions away.To remain
happy today is more important than just planning for happy future and
making life miserable at present.If you are happy it boosts self
confidence and make you more successful.
4.Managing time efficiently also reduces tensions.
5.defining your goals long term,midterm,short term and goals for today and
try achieving them or adjusting them realistically goes a long way
to reduce tensions.
6.Do not imagine problems.Often in stress there are thought that every situation will turn difficult and nobody will come to help me or nobody can
help me.
7.Share your problems with friends well-wishers .This may solve the
problems or can reduce tensions that is why it is important to have
good friends and to develop friendships.
8.Develop hobbies or sport interest away from your main work.
This is important because hobbies can take your mind away from
problems and can relax you.
9.One must try to spoil oneself once a while .A stage in life comes
when you have to reward yourself or let yourself indulge in fun and
enjoyment once a while.
10.Counseling or group therapy.

DRUG S
Very good tranqulisers and antidepressants are available but

Thursday, October 12, 2006

RELAXING YOUR MIND

RELAXING YOUR MIND

If you want to lead a successful and peaceful life you have to
learn relaxation techniques for your mind and body. We often forget that
mind or brain is a machine consisting of neurones connected to each
other and to body parts.It gets tired,run out of neurotransmitters
,gets overloaded and gets influenced by various things like mood
and physical health. One has to learn to keep brain in working order
to get best work from it.
There may be various ways to achieve relaxation and some methods
may be more effective in one than others.So one will have to find
out various methods of relaxation by experimenting.
Now I will discuss some of the methods.The list is not complete and there may be many more ways of relaxation also list is not in any order
of importance or otherwise.
1.Religion-
Religion is mass tranquilliser and is great in relaxing
the tense and tired mind. It works by various beliefs which are
already in our mind . for example the belief that what ever is happening
is by will of GOD and is for our own good.If anything goes wrong
one can always think that GOD was not willing or I must have
done something wrong in last birth to deserve this.Or the belief that we
have control on work only and fruits are given by God.
It is also universal policeman.It stops one to do anything wrong
even if no body is looking at you because of belief that GOD is always watching you.
One should use religion to relax when ever there is some
personal crisis or one can have a daily routine of some prayers.
2.YOGA-
Yoga is method to concentrate your mind on something like GOD.This is achieved by some exercises and teachings.
We know that there are two types of nervous systems in our body
voluntary and involuntary.Voluntary nervous system controls the
functions which we have our control like moving arm or leg.
Involuntary system controls the functions which are not directly in
our control like heart,mov of intestines,urine formation etc. there is
only one function, respiration which have dual control and both
systems have control over it . so by controling breathing and taking

deep and slow breath one can start controling involuntary nervous
system which is first step to yoga. There are other yogic exercise which are helpful in achieving relaxation . details about various exercises and
asans are out of scope of present article and can be found in books of
yoga.
3.EXERCISE-
Exercise relaxes the mind and make the body healthy.It
leads to release of certain chemicals in brain called endorphins
which are happy hormones of body and create a feeling of happiness
and wellbeing.These hormones are opiates of brain.
I will be talking more on exercise as to what exercise to do,
how many times a week,how much time a day and so on.
4.SPORTS AND GAMES-
As you can see that sports has a element of physical exercise
Apart from this there is a feeling of meeting with people,team sprit,
communication,thrill of winning and competitiveness. It also releases
your tensions and relaxes you.
Games which have no element of physical exercise like chess,cards
etc. but need mental acuty are good for relaxing mind but falls short
of total relaxation so better be played occasionaly.
Games involving some skill but not physical activity like carom,
billiards etc. are still better as they help in forming better co-ordination
between your mind and body apart from relaxation and other benefits.
Sports with less physical activity like golf or cricket are good as can
cause relaxation of mind and feeling of well-being apart from benefits
of physical exercise.
Sports with intense physical activity like Hockey,Football,Basketball
etc. need peak physical fitness and are better played upto certain age
(<30 years).
Table tennis is a game of moderate physical activity and played indoors
is a good game for families and can be played upto 50 years of age or more
if physical condition permits.
HOW MUCH TO PLAY
HOW MANY TIMES A WEEK
PHYSICAL FITNESS
CHECKUP WITH DOCTOR
DIET
AVOIDING INJURY

5.HOBBIES-One is always advised to cultivate hobbies as it being
ones area of interest is able to relax ones minds hobbies are away
from the profession there is no competition in it therefore has little
tention.One is advised to cultivate hobbies away from the routine work.
Painting, carving terracotta, reading, coin collection, stamp collection etc.
are good hobbies.As mind has something different to do and with no
time to be met it becomes relaxing and drain away ones tensions.

6.READING Though reading is a hobby I have taken it separately
as it is also essential for proper working of mind and to keep up with the recent.Reading can be either of professional books,journals etc.
or newspapers and magazines . Then there is reading of novels,litrature
,poems etc. which are very relaxing if one can cultivate the habit.

7.TV and MOVIES TV and Movies relaxes you by distracting your mind from present situation and take your thoughts to makebelive world of movies and drama.

8.TRAVEL AND HOLIDAYS Holiday relaxes you by braking the routine and travel by apart from breaking the routine also takes you away from the present situations and thrill of seeing new things and meeting new people keeps your mind diverted which relaxes it.

9-MEDITATION Meditation means focusing one’s mind on some thing like GOD ,a picture ,front of your nose etc and keep it there for some time . This helps by emptying yor mind of worrying thoughts and relaxes you.

10-FRIENDS- Friends can greatly relaxing. Cultivate people who brightens your mood and keep there company . At least there must be somebody who times of stress can lift your mood and put your thoughts on right tract.
11-VACATIONS AND TRAVEL

There might be many more methods to relaxing and the list is not complete but the concept is important to understand and everyone must learn the trick to relax himself or herself.

DR M

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

CONTROLING MIND THE EASY WAY

CONTROLING YOUR MIND THE EASY WAY
Once we understand the importance of controling your own thoughts and your line
of thinking the next question arise is how to achieve it .
1.CONCENTRATE
2.IDENTIFY IRRITANTS
3.SWITCHING THOUGHTS
4.RELAXING MIND
5.MAKE GOALS
6.KEEP YOUR DREAMS ALIVE
7.DEFLECT THE INSULT
8.COMPARTMENTALISE YOUR MIND
9.PHYSICAL HEALTH
10.COMPANY



STEP ONE-CONCENTRATE-Learn to concentrate at work at hand.It is not difficult and can be achieved with practice. For example you are studying and your mind wanders you should try to bring it back.The span of concentration differs from person to person and usually is about 30-40 min.There are people who can concentrate for hours but is difficult to achieve. You should know your span of concentration and should have a break near around that time.
If your concentration breaks before your span of concentration, for example after only 5 minutes of study than you have to learn to bring your concentration back.If you cant concentrate at work at hand because your mind is disturbed by some thing you need diversion techniques. More of these later on .
STEP TWO-IDENTIFY THE IRRITANTS
There may be things that irritate your mind .One must learn to avoid the irritants to remain in ideal state of psyche.When you are on streets or on highway you dont pick a fight with person of better physique than yourself because you are afraid he will beat you up.But in everyday life we forget not to pick fight with bigger pahalwans(goons) ,Pahalwans in psyche .One should avoid picking a brawl with a person of stronger psyche otherwise a few minute argument might leave you psyche hurt for days and make you useless for work for hours.One is not able to concentrate for hours after getting hurt. So identify these psyche pahalwans around you ,avoid them and keep your psyche healthy.

STEP THREE-SWITCHING THOUGHTS
You must learn to switch your thoughts to subject of your choice easily.
It is as easy as switching channels of TV by your remote once you learn the trick.
One must practice switching thoughts regularly every day.One can start by making
a timetable for the same.For example
7.00am-7.15am-meditation
7.15am-7.30am-working with any subject of your choice
7.30am-7.45am-thinking about a pleasant experience you have had
7.45am-8.00am-writing about work or writing diary
and so on
It is just like making a time table with a difference that here you are switching your
thoughts faster in many areas.Later on one can decrease the time for each switch to
10 min and then to 5 minutes.
STEP FOUR-RELAXING YOU MIND
When you keep on working then your mind get tired and one is not able to
get optimal output from your mind.One must learn to have his mind working in perfect condition all the time .For this one has to learn relaxation techniques.
STEP FIVE-KEEP YOUR DREAMS ALIVE
To have healthy psyche it is important to dream.You must dare to dream
and should try to do something to realise the dreams. It is healthy to have dreams
for future. This helps a person to tide over the difficult times and keep your hopes alive for better future.
STEP SIX-MAKE GOALS
One should have goals for future. Goals can be divided in short term,mid
term and long term goals. A person having certain goals in mind doesn’t bother
about small problems of life because he set his sight higher.Suppose you are going
long distance on a highway in your car and somebody abuses you or there is minor
accident causing scratch on car you would not like to stop because you to have to travel far and you are away from your target.If you are roaming aimlessly than you are annoyed by small things on road.It is known world over that a person who has set his sight higher does,t bother about pot holes on road.
Step seven-DEFLECT THE INSULT
Many a times insult flung toward you may not be targeted toward you and
your psyche may be hurt unnecessarily in crossfire.So you have to learn to deflect
the insult.When somebody says a unpleasant thing think of following
-he may not mean it
-he may mean it for somebody else
-he is just in bad mood and is saying bad things generally
-there is some misunderstanding in his mind about the incidence
-he has not understood you perfectly
and if these things dont work try not to listen or forget things fast.In short become
chikna ghara and dont let mud stick to your mind.




STEP EIGHT-PHYSICAL HEALTH
Healthy mind live in healthy body,so keep yourself fit and healthy.

STEP NINE -COMPARTMENTALISE YOUR MIND
Create virtual compartment in your mind like on your disc drive.One should
be able to close one compartment with ease and open other.For example you are
leaving office then close this compartment and open home compartment so that
tensions and worries of office are left behind.This is specifically useful when you are
faced with tense situations and abuses.One should be able to compartmentalise the abuse .It is like stoping the fire to spread in other areas of psyche.So keep the hurt in that area only and then close the compartment to open it at time of your choice.

STEP TEN-COMPANY
Cultivate people who brightens your mood and keep there company.Atleast there must be somebody who times of stress canlift your mood and put your thoughts on right tract.

DR M

Monday, October 09, 2006

CONTROLLING YOUR THOUGHTS

CONTROLING THOUGHT
FIRST STEP FOR SUCCESS
You want to succesed and you want to win the world then first you
have to win your mind ,your thought.
By this I mean that you have to control your thought.I will tell you
the problems of not controling thoughts.You are in class room and
a teacher is teaching you and your mind keep drifting to some where
else then you cant learn what is being taught.
It is a great advantage to be able to focus on a subject you want
at any time of day,for any length of time and to switch to any other
subject of your choice.If one is able to achieve fast switching between
various subjects than it is even better.For a person in high position
to be successful it is a must condition.It is like opening new files
swiftly If one is able to deal with many subjects of diversity at one time
it is indeed great.It is like you have many aplications going in your
computer and working with many of them simultaneously.This may
look difficult but we all do these things many a time.One who is able to
do it better is at a advantageous position in life and can achieve greater
successes.
Controling your thoughts and change your thoughts to any direction
becomes even more important at times of stress,danger or anger.
For example you are sad or you are hurt and you have to do lot of
routine work or you have to study than it becomes important that
you are able to switch to work at hand and your mind is not drifting
back to your hurt feelings otherwise your performance is going to
to be below standerd.Anger is harmful to body and mind and to
switch from angry thoughts as soon as possible is important.Even at
times of excitement or some things have effected your mind and your
thoughts keep going back and you are not able to concentrate on work
at hand is also a common occurrence.It can occur after a good movie or
TV programme.
When you are watching TV you want the
remote in your hand and want to be able to switch channels at will.
Well then have remote of your mind with you and dont leave it to
chance or in any other hand by any chance.Think of advantage of

religious channel in morning,buisness channel in afternoon and sex
channel in night.Think of problems when you cant switch to sex
channel in bed with your wife.So hold onto your remote.