Reports from credible sources such as the American Institute of Stress, Health Safety Executive, Nature, New Scientist as well as the medical journals are all suggesting the majority of visits to primary-care personnel result from stress-related disorders.
In a landmark study by Dr Eysenck (1988) reported that unmanaged reactions to continuous stress were more predictive of death from cancer and heart disease than cigarette smoking .
Other ground-breaking studies have shown that the greatest indictor for recovery are not physiological such as blocked arties but emotional factors, such as “overall happiness” and job satisfaction.
A study of more than 1500 heart attack survivors found that when subjects gor angry during emotional conflicts, their risk of subsequent heart attacks was more than double of that who remained calm. (Kubzansky and others, Harvard Medical School 1997).
Study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed common emotions such as tension, sadness and frustration can trigger a drop in blood supply to the heart. If simple life stresses can cause such drastic physical effects on our hearts and lead towards heart disease, perhaps we can appreciate the incredible stress and impact people have to endure in wars in Afghanistan or Iran or hundreds of thousands of children, women and vulnerable human refugees in DR Congo right now.
The growing scale of human suffering around the world itself is having an impact on our stress levels and quality of life. The economic meltdown presents us a genuine opportunity to realign our lifestyle towards transparent and ethical models, which not only provides us with a less stressful life, but also ensures a more responsible behaviour where our actions are based on thoughtful behaviour.
Meditation is central to all wisdom tradition and has been shown to be one of the most effective and rewarding practice to reduce stress .
EXERCISE
Mindfulness (by Dav Panesar)
Symran (by Dav Panesar)
