Who has not feltthe sting of sorrow, insult, betrayal, or hurt? Many choose to hold on to theresulting negative emotions and feelings. There are also those who suffer fromstress-related disorders; taking stress has become a habit for many.
“When a cat anddog fight, they fight vehemently. However, once they have finished, they do notbrood over what happened. Living beings with the exception of humans do notsuffer from psychosomatic disorders. More than 80 percent of our ailments arepsychosomatic,” says Dr John Carmo Rodrigues, a graduate of Microbiology and aPhD in alternate medicine. This is because humans, instead of letting go, keepreplaying and recreating the negative situations and experiences of the past intheir mind. “All disorders and diseases begin with a thought. That thoughtleads to the secretion of body humours through the endocrine glands. These inturn change the body chemistry which compromises the immune system,” continuesDr Rodrigues.
“Psychosomaticdisorders are psychological, but it gets manifested through somatic (body)symptoms such as headaches, breathlessness, palpitations and unspecific jointpains,” says Dr Ajoy Estebeiro, MD in Psychiatry. “Treating psychosomaticdisorders involves treating the underlying disorder. If it is depression, wefind the stressors and teach the person strategies to handle the stressors,” headds. Disorders caused due to high levels of stress can be dealt with stressmanagement and counselling.
“You can donothing about the past or the future. So why worry about it? You can only dealwith the present. Yoga “ Raja Yoga “ is the key to training your mind to livein the present,” says Dr Rodrigues. If you are ruminating over the past, beginby forgiving yourself, the people who have hurt you and the situation itself;this would lead the way to peace and subsequently obliterating the disorderthat results from negative emotions. “When you close your eyes, watch yourbreath and do breathing exercises, you are in the present,” he adds. Meditationtoo would help you distance yourself from the problem-causing thoughts.
