The whole world today is engulfed by strange feelings of alienation, fear and apprehension. Stress due to day-to-day hassles is compounded by the demands of the modern day world. Be it a hard core professional- manager, doctor, engineer, teacher or a student, homemaker or the common man on the streets, there are reports of people from every walk of life succumbing to the pressures, resulting in increased incidence of health problems and in extreme cases suicide and homicide. These are all signs of decreased ability of the body and mind to cope with the ever increasing demands of the modern times.
Most appalling is the fact that people with above average academic records, in reasonably good positions are crumbling- the so called 'intelligent' lot. Over the years of merit dominance, intelligence has lost its true meaning, to be restricted to – a mere ability to fare well in academics.
Experts believe that academic excellence is only the tip of the iceberg .When it comes to life success, IQ contributes only 20% to factors that determine life success, and rest of the 80% is attributed to by other factors. These other factors include the ability to motivate oneself, persist in the face of frustration, to control impulse and delay gratification( self control), ability to regulate one's moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think and the ability to empathize and hope. This is what psychologists call 'emotional intelligence'.
Psychologists believe that intelligence is not a single entity. Rather there exist multiple intelligences which are independent of each other yet work together to provide solutions to problems. Along with the general ability to perceive, comprehend and think logically- self awareness- recognizing one's own and others' feelings, managing emotions and handling relationships are some of the components of EI.
While EI plays an important role in how far a person progresses in personal and professional life, it plays an equally important role in the physical and mental health of an individual. On the one hand there is loads of research to prove that negative emotions like anxiety, anger, apprehension, hopelessness, sadness and depression have a negative impact on physical health in terms increased proneness to blood pressure, heart ailments, breathing troubles and asthma, there is also evidence of lowered immunity and decreased resilience. On the other hand there is clear evidence of positive emotions (optimism, happiness and hope) helping people recover faster and less painfully from chronic and terminal illnesses.
Research has proved that our immune system is linked to our emotions via the influence of the hormones released under stress. The catecholamines (epinephrine and nor epinephrine), cortisol, prolactin and the natural opiates beta-endorphin and enkephalin are released during stress arousal. Each has a strong impact on the immune cells. When these hormones surge through the body, the functioning of the immune cells is hampered. Stress suppresses immunity at least temporarily while persistent stress has a longer lasting effect.
Positive thinking and good social relations have been proven time and again to avert or delay the onset of most known diseases. Why optimistic outlook has health consequences can be explained as- 1) pessimism leads to depression, which in turn interferes with the resistance of the immune system to tumors and infections, 2) pessimists tend to neglect themselves by not following medical regimes or by being careless about their health habits.
A positive and optimistic outlook towards life is learned early in life and is influenced by the emotional support extended by the family and friends.
Relaxation training can help patients deal with some of the distress their symptoms bring, as well as with emotions that may be triggering or exacerbating the symptoms.
Anger control training, ability to trust and the ability to see things from the other person's perspective (empathy) have a balming effect on the negative emotions.
The essence of the matter is that every individual is capable of understanding one's own emotions, monitoring one's responses and learning effective ways of handling relationship and adversities, to be able to lead a physically and mentally healthy life.
Dr. Aradhana Sharma can be contacted at: g.aradhana@gmail.com
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