Stress and Worry

Today, stress is recognised as one of the leading causes of many serious diseases like heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, acidity and ulcers, migraine, depression and even cancer. Stress acts on your body and mind, and can affect basic functions like eating, sleeping and even sex.

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A highly stressed individual becomes less productive. This is because stress prevents you from functioning to your full capacity, often making you sick and incompetent. In fact, stress today is recognised as a foremost cause for premature deaths and disabilities.

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Combating Stress

The first step to combat stress is to recognise and accept that you are stressed. Remember, if you don't, you will not find any solution.

Having accepted that you are stressed, you must try and avoid cluttering your life with work, so that there is some time for relaxation. Try out this 5-step plan to help you combat stress:

• Manage your time wisely
• Do not focus on what you don't have
• Focus on what you have
• Reduce jealously towards those more fortunate than you
• Have pity and sympathy for those less fortunate than you.

This will help you feel grounded, confident and help you deal with stress.

Be Accepting

All of us, at some level, are control freaks, and want things to go according to our wishes and desires. However, the fact of the matter is that we cannot control life. This lack of control, whether it is over situations, our emotions, the weather, children, spouse, or colleagues is often responsible for making us irritable and stressed out.

If you were ready to let people be as they are, and if we could go with the flow of life, accepting situations easily, then it is indeed possible to reduce stress levels, and to live happily and peacefully.

And once you stop playing the blame game and downsize your ego, it becomes possible to find some viable solutions, to reduce stress.

Author: Dr. P.V. Vaidyanathan

(The author is a Mumbai-based Paediatrician)