2023-09-06 08:46:30
According to him psychiatrist at the Miguel Servet University Hospital from Saragossa, Most people who suffer from stress spend their lives on the go. When running a daily marathon, we stop enjoying breaks and breaks, the demand skyrockets and tolerance towards ourselves decreases.
“The reality is that stress and rush make us put more and more tasks constantly in our journey, to run more and more and not give our minds a break to think and reflect on the life we lead”, laments Javier Garcia Campayo, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Zaragoza.
For the specialist, stress is a progressive process. In youth we begin to set goals and, for years, reaching them is the only thing that matters until there comes a time when “one can no longer stop”.
Therefore…How can we overcome the pressure of stress? What space does our happiness occupy in the long list of tasks that we have pending? How do we stop mental noise caused by stress?
Answers contained in his book “Stop to live better” (Harpercollins Publishing)where the expert and former president of the Spanish Society of Psychosomatic Medicinealso analyzes the repercussion of the stress and rush at our physical and mental health. Besides, proposes a guide with tips and recommendations to free yourself from anxiety and mental noise.
The origin of stress: running for the sake of running
“The main reason we run everywhere is that we all feel that we have a thousand things to do and that they are all very important,” explains the psychiatrist in an interview with EFEsalud.
Throughout the day, the week, the months… we set ourselves a series of objectives and tasks that we have to fulfill so that the day is truly worthwhile.
According to the expert, many of these objectives are not relevant but we perceive them as such.
“There comes a time when goals are no longer important. Haste and acceleration are part of our life and if we don’t have it we miss it”, laments García Campayo.
“In consultation, when we ask a person with anxiety and stress what they would do if the day had five more hours, most people answer that they would have to run to cover more things to do because they can’t just be doing nothing . They don’t enjoy standing still, but rather running,” says the expert.
“On the other hand, someone who doesn’t rush through life and who enjoys the moments, if they had the whole afternoon to do nothing would say: How wonderful, enjoy!”, he adds.
Video EFE/Miriam Felipe
Where is the happiness?
“Stress, one of the main problems of a society that tries to run and get everywhere. It has its origin in the completely widespread and erroneous idea that happiness is something external to us”, explains the psychiatrist.
From an early age, we learn that there is something foreign to us that provides us with the happiness when we got it.
Javier García Campayo explains: “When I was young, I thought that when I finished Medicine I would be happy. A little older, I thought that when I got a permanent job I would be happy. You are always looking abroad for something else to make you happy.
Another good example that the specialist highlights is the lottery.
“We always believe that if we win the lottery we will be happy, but twelve months after you win the lottery, people are exactly as happy as they were before they won it,” says the psychiatrist.
According to the expert, the search for happiness abroadmakes us always want a bigger house, a better job, a higher social position…
However, nothing external gives us stable happiness.
“People spend their lives looking for happiness abroad. However, happiness is inside us. I always tell my patients that they have to seek happiness here and now or they will not have it in a while, even if they reach all their goals or win the lottery ”, she points out.
Psychiatrist Javier García Campayo. Image courtesy of HarperCollins.
symptoms of stress
The psychiatrist Javier García Campayo highlights some actions such as possible warning symptoms of a person with stress in the day to day of his life.
get up tired and listlessly in the morning.
sleeping difficulties or to fall asleep: approximately between a third and a quarter of the adult population hardly sleep and the rest usually have problems sleeping.
Not enjoying things: make plans or live moments that we do not really enjoy intensely.
Eat quickly, standing up and anywhere: It is very common in stressed people or with many things to do and doing another activity at the same time.
Attend to several things at once and carry out different tasks at the same time.
Stress on physical health
Stress not only affects our mental health: “At the moment, the theory in Medicine is that of neuroinflammation, that is, that the main cause of almost all diseases, especially in the modern world, is stress”, affirms the psychiatrist.
The body can’t handle stress levels of a person who is dedicated to running everywhere or who always needs to be busy in some activity.
This occurs, according to the doctor, because stress produces cortisol in the bloodwhich can be beneficial in a timely manner, but not chronically why harms the organism.
“Chronically increased cortisol in the blood alters all internal mechanisms, which in general causes us to have an inflamed body, seriously damaging our organs,” says the specialist.
“It was already known that stress causes heart attacks, but now it is known that it also damages other organs such as the pancreas, causes diabetes, has effects on the digestive system and facilitates the appearance of tumors,” he adds.
The expert explains that Chronic stress lowers the entire defense system and facilitates the appearance of all kinds of cancers.
“In fact, because of all the problems it causes, the quality of life of a person suffering from chronic stress is very low,” he concludes.
the mind noise
And another of the manifestations of stress in our lives is mental noise, which is nothing more than “the chat we constantly have with ourselves,” explains García Campayo.
According to the expert, noise increases in the most stressed people or who try to attend to and cope with several things at the same time.
In addition to the sound that is produced when we have a conversation and the ambient sound that comes from outside or from outside, people maintain a conversation within.
For Javier García, that voice is the key to happiness or suffering.
“What we tell ourselves in that voice is what makes us happy or unhappy,” says the specialist.
When we speak to each other from demand and stress, then the voice becomes mind noise.
“What we psychiatrists and psychologists try to do is control or delete using different techniques that mental noise to avoid suffering”, says the doctor.
Book ‘Stop to live better’ by psychiatrist Javier García Campayo. EFE/Miriam Felipe
Techniques to win the battle against stress
“Meditation is the technique that is currently considered most effective for managing or reducing stress and mental noise, however there are other options such as relaxation, sports or spending time outdoors“, explains the expert.
However, the specialist points out that meditation, unlike other techniques, yes it stops the internal dialogueat least for a time.
Meditation or mindfulness
Mindfulness is a meditation technique It consists of concentrating on the present moment. It is very effective in reducing stress because stop the mind noise.
“What mindfulness tries is for the person to be progressively aware of that internal dialogue and to realize that it is only worth think about what is important and what is present“, he says.
Mindfulness techniques require 10 to 15 minutes of daily practice and they are very effective in keeping the mind focused on the present moment.
Daily stress can have physical consequences and be the cause of the development of inflammatory diseases and tumors. Photo: (Visit Finland)
The three minute practice
“It is a three-minute practice of mindfulness meditation, very short that can be included in the day to day,” he says. Javier Garcia Campayo.
With this exercise it is intended maintain a sense of peace, well-being and attention to what is important.
The specialist advises setting an alarm to do it at least a couple of times a day and explains that it can be practiced both at home and at work, in the gym…
The practice is done in three phases:
First minute: become aware of the environment, of the body and internal experience. To do this, you should adopt a relaxed posture and close your eyes. Then, you have to think about the place where you are and pay special attention to all its aspects such as smells, sounds, temperature, sensations…
Second minute: breathing. Notice your emotions and physical sensations and bring them to your breath. Concentrate on the abdomen area, on the thorax, on the nostrils.
Third minute: expansion of consciousness. It stays like that for a few seconds. Notice how your awareness expands little by little, until you feel as if you are breathing with your whole organism. Stay like this for a few seconds before returning to normal life. Finally, and gradually, bring your field of awareness to the body, to the posture and facial expression. Finally, slowly open your eyes.
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