By Svetlana Kogan, M.D.
Being a holistic medical doctor makes you a confidant to a lot of people. You cannot help it but notice trends and patterns as people speak their minds and vent their frustrations to you day in and day out. Over the years, I have seen elections come and go and people reacting to political climate in various ways. Naturally, there is always a dichotomy: someone is rejoicing and someone is upset. What I have never seen before, curiously enough, is the intensity of the negative emotions projected by some patients and the consequent chronic stress affecting the quality of their life.
Political stress can lead to significant biochemical shifts in our mind and body, and can disrupt homeostasis. One of the many things it causes is that more cortisol is secreted continuously, which promotes hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, to mention a few illnesses. At the same time, there is an underproduction of dopamine, serotonin, and body’s natural endorphins, creating a perfect milieu for depression, anxiety, and insomnia. But the damage does not just stop there. It has been demonstrated by various large randomized studies that prolonged stress leads to cancer, autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system attacks the person himself, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Chronic stress also has a tendency to beget psychosomatic conditions, like pain syndromes, gastric ulcers, irritable bowel diseases and many other mind-body syndromes, whose pain is very real.
People affected by political stress are often feeling sad, disempowered, and angry. Most people expect the doctor to solve their health problems by whipping out a prescription pad and writing a script for a miracle pill that will put an end to all of their suffering. Unfortunately, this is not how you get to the root of the problem called political stress. You can treat the superficial symptoms with medications but on the profound level the person will remain unbalanced, conflicted, and now thanks to all the tranquilizers they have received – numb to reality. So, how do we get to the source of the problem and make the stressed person feel whole again?
It is possible to cope with stress and achieve happiness without relying on medication. My recommendations for the ‘do it yourself at home’ de-stressing call for engaging as many of your five senses as possible, because as I described in my book ‘Diet Slave No More!’ new habits are wired more strongly and effectively if you see, hear, smell, touch and feel the material you are working with.
Here is the thing: we, humans, love feeling worthy and great, capable of grand accomplishments. The easiest way to derive these positive emotions is by communicating with beings that are:
• Small
• Weak
• In need
The two things that come to my mind, which meet all of these requirements are Children and Pets. Both are innocent and fragile and cause us to feel unconditional love. I find either one to be a great emotional pill – an antidote for chronic political stress. Kids and pets living with us or around us, they come without the side effects of medications, and the benefits last longer. It turns out that when we care for the weak and the helpless children or pets, we make chemicals in our brain, such as oxytocin, which trigger powerful happy emotions.
Music is another powerful de-stressing modality. Listening to relaxing and tranquil music has been shown to decrease blood pressure and heart rate and create a peaceful state of mind. In the December 5th CBS special on healing effect of music on insomnia, I mentioned that fact that we are over 70% water and music effectively changes water structure, with soothing music producing a harmonizing effect on the structure of water crystals.
People aggravated by political stress will also benefit from spending more creative time in the kitchen. Cooking can be extremely therapeutic. It engages areas of the brain responsible for planning, strategizing, and coordination to mention a few. Chopping, tossing, and seasoning those veggies, meats, and fish, will effectively divert your mind from anger to productive activity of making something healthy, delicious and visually beautiful.
If you are experiencing political stress and are glued to TV all the time – you will have a very hard time breaking away from the root of the problem, unless… you start watching more comedy and romance and less news and politics. Laughing and making jokes and listening to them have been demonstrated to release dopamine – one of the brain’s happy chemicals. As the Bible says, “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” (Proverbs 17:22)
There are endless ways to replace the daily routine of angry resentment with peace and forgiveness. It does not matter which of the activities proposed by me suits you best, whether it is planting a tree, or tending to your garden, or visiting the grandmother you have not seen in years – whatever you choose to do, just make sure to invest as much of yourself into it as possible: see yourself doing it, smell it, listen to it, taste it, and touch it. Revisit the happy activity over and over, until you feel whole again, and all that’s left is love. By caring for someone or something, you are really fixing yourself, and that kind of remedy can never be matched by a pill.
Svetlana Kogan, M.D. is a Board Certified Medical Doctor with 20 years of experience. She has appeared as a health expert on FOX, ABC, CBS, and NBC prime time TV, and has authored hundreds of publications for internet and print. She moved her Concierge Internal Medicine practice from Manhattan NYC to Naples, where her focus is on fusing traditional medicine with holistic approach to illness and prevention.
720 Fifth Ave S, Unit 209
Naples , FL 34102
Phone: (239) 676-6883
www.customlongevity.com