HEALTH FARMING

( By Dr. Krishna Murari Modi )

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2-The Need to Relax

Rest and sleep help overcome fatigue and restore energy to the body. Everyone needs rest and sleep but the amount required differs for each individual. Most adults require about 7 to 81/2 hours at night. Young children may need more sleep at night besides a daytime nap. Everyone often has trouble getting sleep. Insomnia indicates physical or emotional disorders. Rest and relaxation are as important as sleep. After strenuous work, a person may need a period of rest and at others he may require just relaxation or a change of place. Pleasurable and relaxing activities helps the body to shed tension and remain robust. If rest and relaxation do not relieve fatigue and tension, the individual may have a physical or emotional problem. Exercise helps to keep the body healthy and fit. Vigorous exercise strengthens muscles and improves the function of the circulatory and respiratory systems. To achieve fitness, a person should start an exercise programme slowly and build it up gradually to a level that maintains a healthy heart and strong muscles. Daily exercise provides the greatest benefits. Health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being. It involves more than just the absence of disease. A person who is in good physical condition has the strength and energy to enjoy an active life and withstand the stresses of daily life. Proper nutrition, exercise, rest and sleep, cleanliness and medical and dental care are essential parts of hygiene. Handling stress is essential for avoiding both mental and physical illness. No one can avoid stress but a person can do a few things to helps lessen the danger of becoming ill due to stress. Regular exercise and sufficient sleep strengthen the body’s resistance to stress. Everyone should learn to relax by resting, taking a walk, meditating, working with a hobby or by another method that is found successful. Discussing a problem with a friend, relative or other person sometimes helps relieve stress.

Relaxation

Stress is the spice of life Without stress, life would be dull and boring. When you are tense your speed increases, your reaction time becomes shorter, you are able to finish your work with a timebound precision. Your job will be a challenging one. It is when you fix goals. To reach them in time strive hard. With every goal achieved you become stronger and are able to reach higher targets.

A nagging wife is a good wife because she keeps you tense and compels you to finish important work in time. Tension is good for students to keep themselves on their toes. They strive to do their homework and study properly and secure good marks. A little tension slowly becomes bigger tension, a temporary tension becomes a permanent affair. When a nagging wife starts nagging for little things, all the time, and lets you not to live in peace in your own house, when a student is goaded by his parents to higher ambition or to get distinction marks, that is the time of tension. This is more so in the case of a student who is not very bright and in fact not capable of achieving much in studies. If you set high targets, which are not within your ability or something that may take a lifetime to complete and you are still not sure whether you will be able to cope with them, your tension increases.

Tension keeps building up. It is like your bank account, if you are lucky, you keep on depositing money. Slowly, steadily and gradually it swells into a big account, when you will be able to buy a car, a scooter, a fridge or TV or build a house. Tension keeps on mounting in the same way gradually and steadily if you are not able to find a solution to your problems. It gets deposited slowly and gradually in your account. You are aware of your bank account building up, but may not be conscious about your tension building up in the body. There is no accurate measuring scale to know how much exactly your tension account is and how much has been deposited in your body bank. A small tension is spice, but too much tension becomes poison for your existence. An elderly well-wisher advised me at an important juncture of a prolonged stress, I was passing through : "Dreaming is good as long as you can fulfill your dreams, but if your dreams are big and you cannot reach them in spite of your best effort and resources they will fill you up with frustration".

Some stress for a small duration does not harm the body, the changes which comes in the body during stress, return to normal when it is over. In other words ambitious persons who have no perspective of their own limitations, believe they can do it all. If they fail to achieve their desired goal, they refuse to settle for the second best.

We call this nervous tension. It can create a havoc in the body. A saying in Hindustani goes : "Chinta jwal sharir me Dawanal Lagi Jaye" (when you are dead your body is kept on a pyre to be burnt, but in life, tension burns you while you are still alive.)

Tension is part of our modern living. It is a product of industrialisation and materialism. This has already come in a big way in Western countries. As the speed of life increases, it builds tension with equal speed. As the struggle for existence increases so does tension. When you find it difficult to get a job, or set up a business, when there is difficulty in getting a house, or admission for your children in a school, there is cause to become tense. You exhaust yourself in collecting the basic necessities of life. This plight goes on all the time even during an emotional adjustment with your family members, how far can you come up to their expectation. This comes about also in competition with your relatives, friends, your neighbours. Trying to keep up with the Joneses, you tend to show off what you are not and crave for appreciation and prove yourself bigger than you actually are. All this is capable of generating unhealthy tension.

Let us go back 30,000 yours to the times of our ancestors. They lived and struggled for food and shelter. Imagine their existence. What is the setting? Entering a forest clearing, if a hunter suddenly comes face to face upon a ferocious and hungry tiger looking for his prey, confrontation takes place, their eyes meet. The body becomes tense the man feels the accelerated pounding of his heart, blood pressure rises, the mouth becomes dry, sweat appears on his brow. Breathing hard and thinking fast, man has to make a decision. Stand and face the animal and fight to death, or turn around and run into the thickets. Evolution has equipped us to react to a stressful situation physically.

As the body receives stress signals, the concerned nerves begin their work to stimulate the pituitary gland. This is the master key gland which in turn stimulates other glands to secrete a hormone called adrenaline. This is a substance which excites all the body systems. With a racing heart and fast breathing, more oxygen is pumped into the blood raising blood pressure and pulse pressure. With a shaky stomach man is in readiness to fight or run. If the stress subsides, these response die away. The body is released from tension and returns to a state of equilibrium. Thus an athlete after his event comes back to a normal state. His body reaction subsides and no harm is done to the body. Same thing happens to a student who has to undergo an examination. Or a job seeker who goes for an interview.

What happens if a person is all the time in a condition of high stress. It is then that the body does not come back to the post-stress normal physiological state. This is the time which is fraught with danger. Now when we are not obliged to fight or flee we may get a palpitation sitting at our desk. A constant panic turns itself into a situation which gives rise to clammy hands, a racing pulse, high blood pressure, stomach hypersecretion, a nervous system that goes hay-wire. Instead of improving the performance under stress, we reach a point where greater pressure is actually counterproductive and can result in physical breakdown. We may then feel restless, tense, irritable or depressed. We may suffer from loss of appetite, insomnia, extensive fatigue and a loss of sexual potency.

During the 1970s there was considerable research into the relationship between stress and disease particularly regarding stress and cancer, heart disease, diabetes, peptic ulcer, tuberculosis, eczema and asthma. Headaches caused by tension affect an estimated 15 million Americans, while high blood pressure affects 20 million.

A lady was suffering from diarrhoea, but neither medicine nor a change in the diet could help her. Ultimately, she was put right by a psychoanalyst. A problem so obscure, so remote, so different can be due to tension. The modern medical world is agreed that the mind or in-built tension can play a dominant role in all diseases and a major role in 60 percent of all diseases. To live in this world facing all challenges, hearing all misfortunes, and to overcome the prevalent greed and jealousy you need to be relaxed and have a clear mind. Greed and jealousy are the root causes of all mental and physical diseases. See that they do not enter your mind. Forty years ago people were dying of cholera, small pox and plague. The scene has now changed. More people are dying of heart attack, blood pressure, cancer, and diabetes. It is the reward we pay for the so-called progress, industrialisation and for getting more affluent.

The Atherosclerosis Research Centre in the U.S.A. tried an experiment to find out how stress could induce heart attacks. They took two groups of animals and fed them on low fat and low cholesterol diet and matched them for their body weight and blood pressure reading. For one group they made living very stressful by putting them in cages to break up their normal sort of way. At the end of the experiment, 21 months later, it was found that the stressful group was suffering from serious signs of fatty deposits in their arteries. This happened when both the groups were kept on a healthy diet and at a normal weight. This experiment has proved that there is definite evidence that heart disease is induced by stress. If this is true of monkeys, our pre-historic ancestors, it must be true of us.

Following an earthquake in 1981, in Athens, the incidence of fatal heart attacks rose sharply. The heart stress connection is too powerful to be ignored. Who does not remember the awesome Bhopal tragedy when over 2,500 people died due to gas leak! A survey conducted by the Indian Council for Medical Research and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience showed that 22 percent of the screened population were suffering from mental disorder. The severe emotional crisis in the people was due to conflict and guilt and not due to the nature of the disaster. In the panic situation, many adults are known to have run away without ensuring the safety of their family members, women, children and elderly people. Later this caused a feeling of guilt in them being those who were left behind they died. Many found difficult to adjust to bereavements, material loss and disability.

In a survey among 205 children of a school, 68 percent had difficulty in keeping up with the studies after the tragedy, 48 percent of them had been rendered unconscious by inhaling leaked methyl isocyanate gas. An elderly woman from a colony adjacent to the Union Carbide factory could not speak or hear after the accident. Yet physically there was nothing wrong with her. Only after psychiatric help both her hearing and voice came back to normal.

Sometimes in stress, the morale of people rises high, their cohesion and unity helps them to rise above their fears and overcome the extreme periods of distress most successfully. During the second world war, the people of Britain showed extreme sense of cohesiveness, according to psychologist Irving Janis. The fear reaction subsided within 15 minutes after the end of the air raids. The people paid less attention to the sirens. They were apprehensive actually only when they heard the noise of bombs and aircraft. Business would resume in a short time after the raid.

The citizens of Hiroshima also showed tremendous resilience, though the destruction, death injuries, illness caused by this tragedy were unprecedented. The extent of the adverse effects was astonishingly small in intensity. Within 3 months of the attack 140,000 people returned to the city. Israeli sociologist Aaron Anthonovsky claims that 25 percent of those who survived the tortures of the concentration camp did so without succumbing to psychiatric disorders despite their long years physical suffering under constant fear of death and terrible atrocities.

The unity, the moral support to each other, the great social admiration turned them into heroes. They could all join together to fight their common fear and the enemy. Who does not remember the great tales of the morale rising high, and instances of bravery and strength displayed during the days of India-Pakistan War? A weak politician in the face of scarcity, of general grievances, upheaval and fears of disintegration is known to exercise control over everything by waging war against the enemy.

In the medical college in 1959, in Kanpur, one day in the early hours of the morning, we were taken to Central Jail, to witness a hanging. Three brothers had wiped out a whole family in a land dispute. One was given imprisonment for life and the other two were to be hanged that morning. It was dawn and we were standing at some distance from the hanging area. We saw the two condemned brothers coming with policemen. One of them was walking straight and looked fearless. The other was not able to walk. His legs were trembling and he was full of fear. He was being supported by two policemen. They were brought to the hanging platform. The first person stood in the spot where he was told to. The second accused was begging to be pardoned. The first one uttering Ram Ram Ram placed himself firmly on the platform called the hangman and asked him to inform him as he pulled the handle to make the platform fall so that he will be able to say Ram for the last time. Hindus believe that if you call God’s name just before death, you go to heaven. Black covers were put on their heads and the loop, put round their necks. Moments later, the hangman pulled the handle and both the brothers were swinging by their necks over the ditch below. There was not even a tremor in their bodies. Both were dead. Of course, the hangman did not warn them before he pulled the handle. It is believed that this is the most painless methods of execution than the electric chair or a firing squad.

Both brothers had committed the same crime and had the same punishment. But one remained strong and ready to face the end, the other got weak in the face of death. One’s own temperament is important in the face of severe stress. A few can take big stress easily. Others may crumble under much smaller stress. A number of interviews were conducted with the survivors of Nazi concentration camps to determine how they had been able to survive and cope with stress.

A few of them told an investigator that they survived for a purpose : to help a relative, to bear witness and show the world that happened to them or seek revenge. A lady developed the delusion that the soldiers who were raping and abusing her were devils incarnate and that one was above their assault. Some inmates focussed their attention to small gratifications such as getting through the food line.

Humour also plays a great role in the survival process and there are a few who can keep up humour in the most difficult circumstances. A man in front of a firing squad was asked, if he would like a last cigarette, he refused saying, "No thanks, I am trying to give up smoking". Both laughter and tears seem to release stress. Bulman and Camille interviewed 29 people suffering from paralysis caused by different types of automobile accidents, or a fall or by injury in the football field.

A few were coping better than others. The fellows who were doing well were those who accepted reality and tried to deal with it positively. Others were coping poorly, particularly those who denied to themselves the knowledge, the extent of the injury and expected to get well miraculously. Some thought it was in their fate, felt helpless and were unable to develop control over the future. Patients who felt responsible for their injury also felt responsible for their recovery and were coping better.

In one study some 30 percent of the women who had undergone mastectomy (removal of the breast after cancer) were in an upset mind even five years after the operation. Some 26 percent of the rape victims did not feel that they had recovered from assault even four to six years after. Studies of widows revealed that 25 per cent of them felt sufficiently distressed in the first two years after the death of their husbands. In another study 40 percent of the bereaved continued to experience anxiety even two to four years after the loss of their loved ones. Vietnam combat veterans had a high rate of mild to severe depression and anxiety.

In "Death and Dying" that an individual must face up to death by going through a sequence of reactions like denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. When there is a constant fear of terrorist attacks or war or uncertainty of political and social upheaval, there may be need for denial in order to feel better and maintain hope and sense of self-worth. Denial dampens the idea and feeling and allows an individual to adjust gradually to unpleasant circumstances. A weak and helpless victim of polio, burns, or spinal cord injury often uses denial at first in order to cope with stress in the early stage. Later they begin to rehabilitate and shift to move direct means of coping with stress. It can be destructive at times, when women deny the significance of lumps on their breast, or men experiencing heart attack deny the significance of pain.

Coping With Stress

When we want to release tension, we prefer to go to a serene, calm and secluded place, a sleepy atmosphere where there is no rush. Noise, high living, the rush on the roads and pollution add to tension. This is what happened to an isolated village, in the Swiss Alps, called Saas, which was a sleepy, calm region. A road was opened and overnight it became a tourist resort, in 1957. By 1970 over 250,000 winter tourists and 500,000 summer tourists were invading this once secluded area. Now it has a 10-months long tourist season. The local people worked long hours each day, seven days a week. As the economy developed, major changes started taking place in this remote village. In the last 20 years of boom, the family ties have weakened. Parental involvement in raising children has become less and less. Some of the pernicious habits of the visitors have been adopted. The use of alcohol and drugs has increased. The gap between older and younger generation is widening. This rapid social change has taken its toll among adults, leading to cases of chronic fatigue, irritability, insomnia, ulcers and high blood pressure. Alcoholism is increasing among the young and women. Divorces and mental illness are the rule of the day.

The affluent countries of the West are the greatest sufferers of tension. Westerners who were learning yoga invariably said that yoga gave them peace of mind. Why is it that U.S. Presidents tend to live longer than Vice Presidents? The most powerful man of a most powerful country of the world whose finger controls the nuclear button fares better than his deputy. The answer is simple. The President has the final decisive power, he is master of the situation and can overrule, anybody but cannot be overruled. He is a more successful man. Success Promotes longevity, gives you something to live for. Middle managers are more stressful, they are the persons who are trying hard but still do not reach the executive summit.

William Sargent, a celebrated U.K. psychiatrist, recognised that the ability to cope with various stressful situations varied from person to person according to their temperament. He found that persons who were well adjusted and had a settled, happy outlook on life were likely to hold out longer than those who did not possess this asset. You cannot avoid stress. Like food, exercise or love you have to have it. But you must also be able to know the optimum stress level that you can bear.

Of course knowing this will help you to know when you are in the danger zone of stress-related diseased. You must be firm to make adjustments to lessen your personal susceptibility. Avoid getting overtired. Ensure enough good quality sleep and develop the ability to say no and admit your limitations. Women live longer than men. Japanese women are supposed to live the longest, their average life expectancy of 79.1 years, compared with 73.8 years for Japanese men.

Do women respond to stress differently? Researches have found out that they manifest less biochemical activity than men in response to stressful and challenging situations and also tend to unwind more quickly. There is the case of a woman who worked until her 100th birthday and could see well enough to be able to read and watch television without glasses till her death at the age of 113. Her simple rule for longevity was " Attend to your business".

What happens when a woman takes upon herself the role which was normally or traditionally associated with men? Women students doing engineering have displayed hormonal stress reactions more similar to those of men than of those of women who followed a more traditional women’s academic path. Whether the new found liberation will prove detrimental and make them more prone to coronary heart diseases and ulcer is something that is being looked into.

When you have a very high ambition which you know you are incapable to achieve in your lifetime you are likely to be tense. It will be a taxing period for you and the slow pace of your attempts of achieving your end will fill you up with frustration. Divide your goals, keep targets which you can fulfil at shorter periods. Every target you achieve will increase your strength and make you more confident. A person who has confidence in himself is a relaxed person.

Noise pollution and population explosion tell on the nerves. Jostling in crowded trains and buses, to and from your place of work, wheeling through frustrating traffic jams and imbibing exhaust fumes are a daily occurrence for millions of commuters. According to an earlier research study in Bombay for the improvement of living and working conditions, it was found that 71 percent workers lived within 10 km. of their work place. About 22 percent travelled ten to 25 kms, seven percent had to travel more than 25 kms. Some 75 percent workers took less than half an hour to get to work and 20 per cent over an hour. In present day Bombay, because of the influx of migrant labour and a big increase in population, at least 30% of the workers have to waste two hours each way travelling by train and bus to reach their working place.

Commuters at the end of the day complain of a far higher incidence of tiredness, irritability, lack of concentration, sleeplessness, headaches, digestive disorders, backaches, motion sickness and general discomfort. A man weighing 70 kg. uses more than 25 kg. of air while breathing. He requires one kg. of food and 1.5 kg. of water. Air pollution is silent killer. Mr. S. Hanumamtha Rao, Chairman of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, estimated that it reduces one’s life span by at least 20 years.

Prof. J.M. Dave, Dean of the School of Environmental Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University admitted that cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Ahmedabad showed respectively 350,560 300 and 250 miligrams of particles per metre cube in the air. This was caused by vehicles, smoke and coal consuming industries. Big towns breed tension in their environment. If you breath in heavily polluted air in a big and crowded township you will feel tensed up.

If the pace of life is fast, and if we are running faster, tension will also go on mounting faster. Tension keeps on filling the body. Some day it may get filled to the brim. Due to anxiety, our mind may work overtime in a state of violent tenseness and then it will target to stop thinking. We go to bed, we feel tired, we feel drowsy but the mind goes on ticking. We are not able to sleep. We get up in the morning still tired, the mind does not seem to work properly. This in turn builds up more tension. The body is tense, muscles becomes tense. Neck muscles, shoulder muscles and the upper back get all tensed up. If we put fingers on these muscles and try to probe them by pushing harder, we can feel that they are tense and tender. This in turn shrinks the muscles. Less blood flows through them. Less blood reaches the neck and brain. Thinking power begins to dwindle, we feel heavy in the head, we feel tired after working for a little while, we feel miserable. Our heart is filled up with grief. There is no inclination to smile even if we try hard.

Then other problems crop up as the effect of tension spreads to several parts of the body. Digestion suffers, the secretion of gastric juices appears to increase and the stomach may pain. The heart seems to be jumping a lot, the pulse rate goes high, we become irritable. There is loss of interest in the surroundings and there is loss of libido. We must learn to relax in order to be able to reverse this negative process in the body. We must try to tension and relax the muscles.

Dr. Steven J.Schleiter of Mount Sinai School of Medicine U.S.A. says that the loss of the life partner is linked with increased illness and death, notably among the widowers. His team of researchers found that there was a significant decline in the activity of the white blood cells which are responsible for the defence of the body in diseases. Weakened resistance was aggravated by hormonal changes in the blood chemistry due to depression and anxiety which were common emotions among widowers.

Dr. Robert Ader, a British immunologist, showed through an experiment a clear and direct link between brain and the immune system. He established that hypnosis can suppress allergic reactions. These findings should alter a physician’s approach to disease and also his attitude towards the patients. If the physician talks to the patient trying to understand his problem, giving him a constructive suggestion, this may work far better than prescribing a tranquilliser.

A split second prescription adversely affects doctor-patient interaction and hinder "meaningful" communication between the patient and his physician according to some experimenters. The patient seems to be most satisfied when the physician gives detailed information about the disease affecting him, rather than the one who got a mere prescription from his physician.

Leisure is Pleasure

Leisure is not for all, it is meant for those who are busy mentally or physically. Take a holiday at least once a year. If there is no money, never mind, borrow, enjoy the holiday and pay later. This is most prevalent in the west among the affluent or economically independent. They do not have to collect huge sums for their house, marriage of their daughters and old age. Children leave their homes early in life as they grow up. They can buy a house or a car immediately as soon as they get a job and pay for it by instalments.

Our tradition of leisure is much older than that of the west, our religious and social set up is such that we are geared to taking several holidays. Poets have written abundantly about pleasure to be derived from leisure. They have written about the changing life during the 12 months of the year and have studied deeply the changes taking place in the nature during all the seasons. Singers have developed ragas which are sung in different seasons. They have also evolved ragas which are sung at different hours of the day. Indian princes and noblemen have spent hours in the garden of their palaces watching dances and listening to music. They woke up to the grandeur of the music of sahnai in the morning. The kirtan and ajan of the mulla in sonorous Arabic words was meant to renew the body-soul. Village folks walked around the well every morning singing while collecting the water. Mothers have been singing to their babies throughout the ages putting them to sleep. Women folk sings while walking, to the river to take their bath.

Rock-a-Bye baby tapes that soothe restless infants and induce sleep may soon offer new hope to drug addicts. There tapes combine the relaxing music of Bach and Laurie Anderson with nature’s own special sounds, the sort herd by unborn babies in the womb. This music is being developed for restless babies by a research organisation. It has been noticed that adults also become much more calm and relaxed when the baby tapes are played. The field of therapeutic sound is immense and offers exciting possibilities. "So we decided to develop tapes for adults," said psychologist Clifford Olds. Mr. Olds of Runwell Hospital, Wickford, Essex, says that sound we hear in our sub-conscious has potentially a huge therapeutic effect. Hear some soothing music for half an hour before you go to bed, you will sleep better.

Go back to nature see how much it can make you feel relaxed. Listen to your body when you are tensed up from long months of a routine existence. When the body seems not to be obeying the mind, you feel tired and irritable. This is the time for a holiday. Come out of the rut of the daily routine. Force yourself out of a dull environment. When you come back from a week’s holiday you will be rejuvenated. The body mind will be more alert. The spirit will be more alive and the speed of work much enhanced. The ethos of the life philosophy, since ages, had been that our existence is not been given to us merely to earn money, to survive, on a physical plane. Life is to live and to search for happiness for body and soul.

Walking Pleasure

When I am tensed, I go for a long morning walk. It is good to walk and walk till the body aches. The mind gets busy with the aching muscles and it forgets its many worries. Many people say that the benefit that they get after exercising is their improved psychological status. They report less anxiety and depression. There is more self confidence and ability to cope with at-home and job related stress. It has been explained on a biological level during exercise there is a decrease in circulating catecholamines and increase in beta endorphines that occur during and following an exercise. Even if we do not consider the change in blood chemistry it would be a good idea getting sedentary people up and away from chronic distress producing environment and help them to do their choicest exercise.

Budha, Christ and Gandhi wandered the year round, because nirvana can be achieved by keeping oneself agile by constant exercise of body and mind. The garland of religious festivals which India wears, will always invite large masses in the organic culture. The pilgrimage to the mutts of Badrinath and Kedarnath in the Himalayas, Puri on the eastern sea, Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwaram by Kanya Kumari, Kumbh melas at the Sangam union of three rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati has allured millions to walk in their vanapratha (after the age of 50). The young also go on these pilgrimages.

Amarnath in Kashmir was opened by Lalitditya in the 5th Century AD Guru Nakano found solace and peace in his walk to mount Kailash. Emperor Akbar walked to the tomb of Saint Muin-ud-din in Ajmer. His son Jehangir journeyed every summer to Chasma Shahi. The third Mughal preferred to visit Shalimar garden in Kashmir every year. Recently even our well-known Sunil Dutt walked a thousand kilometres and more from Bombay to Delhi to Punjab hoping to spread peace and goodwill along the route. He was joined by hundreds of his admirers in this marathon.

Sikh Gurudwaras are spread all over India. The Sikhs have prescribed pilgrimages to these religious temples. The Jain often get away from their sedentary static posture in the bania shop to visit Gomateswara on Sravanbelagola hills and Girnar and Ranakhpur temples in Mount Abu.

Release Your Emotions

Do not allow your emotions to get built up. Do not hold grudges. Accuse, abuse or fight if need be. This is an outlet for your stored emotions. Many a time, it is not possible to shout or abuse or raise our voice as we supposedly live in a cultured society. For your own sake, solve your problem one way or another, do not keep it lingering on. Not long ago a patient came to me filled with mental distress. He had not been able to sleep well for years. He was irritable, had a bad tummy upset, and an irritation of the throat and chest. After going through his long history of illness and examining him, I concluded that his brothers, though he himself was quite well to do. The law suits were being fought in courts of law and there was no end in sight. With cordiality gone and hatred mounting, the effect of all this started descending from a mental to physical level. I advised him to go home, withdraw or lose but end all the pending court matters and then come back to me. To my surprise he did as advised. In a few weeks he bouncing with joy both physically and mentally. He had become a new man. He had zest for life.

The ability to let off steam or relieve tension now and again seems to help. We can express our feelings and unwind ourselves in many different ways, share our feelings and with those whom we know and trust. Having the capacity to laugh at ourselves now and then allows us to relax. Screaming and yelling will also help though it may not be socially acceptable.

The fear of a nuclear holocaust has been keeping Americans and Europeans tense. The collection of a nuclear arsenal enough to finish the world a hundred times is adding to people’s anxiety and their tension. A nuclear war in Europe, it is estimated will wipe out instantly some 150 million people. Half the survivors would have permanent injuries. A nuclear physicist, Mr. Joseph Hotblat, told a conference of world doctors and medical scientists from 30 countries, in Cambridge, that a nuclear holocaust will so contaminate the atmosphere that it will be totally dark even during the day. Survivors would die of starvation as farming would prove impossible. Some time ago the news of a wayward satellite which had left the moon orbit and was entering the earth atmosphere created panic. Scientists did not know where it would fell. For several days the world was tensed up. Mercifully, the wayward missile fell into the sea, a few miles away from the coast of Australia. Newspapers which daily carry their fare of news of murders, communal riots, suicides, terrorism, rape, bride burning make the readers tense. A psychologist suggested not to read newspapers or hear the radio or TV news if such news made you tense.

Love and compassion of your wife, your children, your relatives, your friends are important in that they can fill you up and relieve you from tension. In a study it was found that women who shared an intimate relationship with lover or husband were 90 percent less likely to become depressed than women who had no such relationship to turn to. Workers eased out of their jobs are less likely to become depressed or ill if they had supportive marital relationship. A proper relationship based on love and friendship can be a great outlet for easing pent-up feelings.

Children who are fed on mother’s milk grow in much more psychologically stable environment than children fed on bottle milk, several studies have emphasised. Most likely, this is due to the fact that apart from good quality milk, the love that a mother imparts to her child by holding him close to her breasts in an affectionate hug is something that makes all the difference. The special position that the child’s spine takes when held in the mother’s lap helps it to grow in a normal way.

Auto-suggestion can help relieve tension. A strong suggestion, or faith, or belief, in oneself can help you out of tension. If you can strongly suggest to a person and build his confidence it will help him to come out of his problem. I remember a person telling me that if he suggests strongly to a person that he will probably fall sick, his body temperature will rise and may even be bed ridden. If in the same way it can be suggested that a person will come out of his misfortune it has to and does work. Another person claimed that he had powers to make a person known to him to make him get up from deep sleep, come to the window, look out, and go back to bed, all from a distance. A strong mind can overpower a weak mind and help him to relax and give constructive help. Psychotherapy and hypnotism are based on this principle. Tabeej provided by faqirs, black threads offered by sadhus, metallic rings from tantrics and astrologers, are supposed to give help. Through suggestion the wearer feels secure and more confident that he can override misfortunes.

Once a person asked Gandhiji how to get rid tension. Gandhiji suggested to him to recite Ram nam (God’s name). Faith in God can help people to come out their misery. If you can recite God’s name with faith and confidence it will help you. If you strongly feel that he will protect you, you will feel his hand of protection. Faith plays a major role. We work for a reward. We help others with a hope to get help in our own needs. When it is not coming we get frustrated. The Bhagvad Gita has a lot of matter which is of therapeutic value in the Indian context, and can provide a book approach to positive mental health, according to a research study on this holy book.

The message of the Gita will greatly help people plunged in meaningless competition and frustration. The therapeutic package for problems and anxiety is based on the principle of "Nishkam-karma" (work without expecting rewards). This has helped people to function effectively in an achievement oriented world where reward might not always be certain.

There is also the other concept of immortality of the soul which is especially soothing for some one grieving for the loss and come over emotional disturbances of old age. The Budhists believe in rebirth. Recently a lama was believed to have been reincarnated in Osel, meaning clear in light. He was born to a Spanish couple, Maria and Paco, near Grenada in Southern Spain, on February 25, 1985, a little less than a year after the death of Yeshe, a lama of Kopam monastery in Nepal. Budhist emissaries travelled far and wide to find the boy in Spain. From Delhi young Osel was taken to Nepal. According to Maria and Paco, found by lama Tubtan Zopan the great disciple of Lama Yeshe. It was only after a series of tests that it was discovered to be the true reincarnation of his mentor.

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