What, Me Worry?

YOU. Yes, you who is holding this paper in your hands and hopefully reading it. How about taking a few minutes off and reading what follow...

YOU. Yes, you who is holding this paper in your hands and hopefully reading it. How about taking a few minutes off and reading what follows very carefully? You can answer 8216;True8217; or 8216;False8217;.

8226; I often worry about the future.
8226; I find it difficult to concentrate on any one task.
8226;I8217;m easily hurt by other people.
8226;I often have

stomach problems.
8226;I do not tire easily.

Of course, even if you8217;ve answered 8216;True8217; to all and 8216;False8217; for the last one, you have 45 more statements to check out. Because these are all part of the Taylor8217;s Manifest Anxiety Scale, a clinical rating of anxiety. It might interest you to know that you are not alone. Sure, we all feel anxious at some time or the other, but sometimes anxiety can get overpowering and it then becomes 8216;8216;a generalised anxiety disorder8217;8217;.

8216;8216;It affects 10.7 per cent of the population,8217;8217; explains Dr Vihang Vahia and he should know. He is not only one of the country8217;s leading psychiatrists, but has also done a pathbreaking study on anxiety along with his sprightly 86-year-old father Dr N S Vahia. Their work has been published in American, British and Indian journals.

In the midst of my frenetic day, I found an oasis of calm in their analytical explanations. This generalised anxiety disorder is one when you may be physically all right, but suffer from a feeling of continued tension accompanied by restlessness, easy fatigue, lack of concentration, irritability, feeling of impending death or doom or insanity.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY

Here8217;s a quick runthrough of all the invaluable guidelines distilled from my conversation with the doctors Vahia8230;

8226;Feeling anxious or having a panic disorder is not a sign of mental illness. Accept this fact.

8226;Try and understand what causes this.

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8226;No matter what causes it, the ultimate formation of symptoms is due to a biochemical disregulation of the bodily chemical neuro transmitters.

8226;Medicine is not the only answer. But whenever medicines are taken they have to be done so, under medical supervision.

8226;Medicines must be combined with psychotherapy. Seek help, if needed.

8226;Relaxation therapy, learning to relax through yoga, through shavasana, is extremely important.

8226;Learn to control your breathing

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8226;Reciting religious hymns are of extreme usefulness in focussing the mind.