Stress on health

[Dr.Savitha Suri]

Stress on health
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2005/04/07/stories/2005040701500100.htm


THIRTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD RADHA is your typical middle-class working
mother. Mother of two children studying in the third and fifth
standards, her worst fear in life is the milkman or the maid not
showing up in the morning.

"I have so many things to do in the morning. Cook, clean, dress up the
kids, pack lunchboxes, put the kids in the school van, send my husband
to work and then myself go to work. I just lose it when something goes
wrong," she says. That is if the milkman or the maid fails to show up,
the utensils, the kids and the husband pay the price for it.

Twenty-two-year-old Richard passed out of college a year back. He now
works on night shift in a call centre. After a long night dealing with
irate credit card users, he longs to get some sleep in the morning.
But morning is the time when his house is buzzing with activity.

"I just can't get sleep in the morning. There is so much noise.
Everyone wants to do everything in the morning. So I end up sleeping
just five hours a day," he complains. His workload and lack of sleep
have ensured that his temper is always on a short fuse. But anger is
the least of his problems; he suffers from everything, indigestion to
anaemia.

Meanwhile, 28-year-old Amit, an art director with an advertising
agency, has problems of a different kind. Married for two years, his
wife was unable to conceive. Worried, Amit and his wife went to a
fertility clinic where doctors found that Amit had very low sperm
count, coupled with erectile dysfunction.

All three mentioned above -- Radha, Richard and Amit -- suffer from
excessive stress. And today on World Health Day, it is America's
number one and Bangalore's growing healthcare problem.

There are no reliable numbers available for people suffering from high
stress levels in the city, but it is believed that over 75 per cent
Americans have "great stress" once a week.

High stress levels lead to a range of health problems in addition to
accompanying psychological problems. And the number one source remains
job stress, though stress levels have increased in all sections of the
society. "We cannot live without stress. Our body is always stressed
but it is high levels of stress that lead to various problems. We are
stressed while running, but the stress is anticipated. When you have
emotional upsets or suppressed anger, then you start doing some real
damage to the heart because the strain lasts for a longer time and is
repeated over and over again. It hastens build-up of cholesterol in
the coronary arteries and weakens the heart muscles," warns K.S.S.
Bhat, Consultant Cardiologist, Manipal Hospital, and President of the
Indian College of Cardiology.

Though the heart is one of the first organs to be affected by
excessive stress, symptoms are first noticed when the behaviour of a
person changes. Classic symptoms include insomnia, low energy levels,
feeling of inadequacy, decreased concentration levels, social
withdrawal, excessive anger, self-pity and tearfulness. Marital
relations are often the first to be affected by this drastic change in
behaviour.

"Often people come back so tired from work they are reluctant to have
sex. But it is interpreted as not liking the partner. Also, as stress
levels increase, it leads to impotence. About one-third cases of
erectile dysfunction are due to stress. So sex takes a backseat and
the relationship suffers," says Vinod Chebbi, psychotherapist and sex
and marriage counsellor.

He also points out to another interesting source of stress that
prevents people from enjoying sex:

"In India, there is great stress to become pregnant after marriage.
The pressure from relatives often becomes so unbearable that sex
becomes an act for just having a child. If it fails, the couple go to
the extent of even seeking donor semen or fertility treatment," says
Dr. Chebbi.

Both Dr. Chebbi and Dr. Bhat prefer to relieve that extra stress
without medication. Exercise, regular food habits and good time
management is the mantra, they say.

"There is nothing like a brisk walk in the morning or evening," says
Dr. Bhat.

And to solve marital stress, Dr. Chebbi advises: "The couple must
spend time together. They must get used to each other and enjoy time
together. About 95 to 97 per cent of stress-related sex can be treated
with just non-drug therapy."


* * *
Fast lane to perdition

IF YOU'RE one of the lucky few who've coped well so far, here are some
wicked tips to help you join mainstream society:

Never exercise

Eat anything you want

Gain weight

Take plenty of stimul-ants (nicotine, caffeine and alcohol)

Get rid of your social support system (friends)

Personalise all criticism

Throw out your sense of humour

Males and females alike -- be macho

Become a workaholic

Discard good time-management skills

Procrastinate

Worry about things you can't control (tsunamis, earthquakes and Osama
Bin Laden)

Become not only a perfectionist but also set impossibly high standards
for yourself

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