The word stress brings on goose pimples in most of us, as we associate the word stress with all that is bad for human health and as the root cause of major killer diseases. Stress management, therefore, has become a very productive tool in the hands of the charlatans marketing all kinds of remedies for stress reduction. I am introducing a neologism here in hormostress, stress that is good for the human system or, for that matter, for the good of all living dynamic systems. Stress need not always be bad and, as stated above, many times it does a lot of good to the system. In fact, for normal growth and maintenance stress in moderation is a pre-requisite. That stress which does the body good is hereinafter called hormostress. (Hormo=stimulate, as in hormone).



However, the same stress in excess could even kill, when it is called distress. Distress could be due either to excess stress or abnormal reaction of the system to stress. Distress brought on by abnormal reaction of the body depends on many factors; the leading cause of distress being the human mind. In short, mind is at the centre of all good and bad consequences. That said, I must hasten to add that our genes, to a great extent, influence the responses of our body to distress. The end result of distress on the human body also depends to a certain extent on our environment. Environment is the key even to gene penetrance-the capacity of the gene to show its power. The two leading causes of a hostile environment are tobacco smoke and alcohol. Good food and exercise in moderation are the other assets. In short, distress centres on the human mind but also is influenced by the factors mentioned above.



The crux of distress management, therefore, is the management of the human mind in a conducive environment. Since man does not know where the mind is any difficulty in the mind is felt as a bodily symptom- somatization. Depending on one’s genetic make up one might feel the result of the distress as pain in the neck while another could have a peptic ulcer, the third a heart attack and the fourth a cancer. Here again the mind plays a crucial role. If one is mortally afraid of cancer, distress could help cancer growth and so on. Each one of our emotions has a chemical response in the system and therefore distress secretes many chemicals that could harm the system.



Unfortunately, in the past when the human mind was poorly understood researchers concentrated only on the end result of distress on the body and misinterpreted distress as an endocrine abnormality. The famous general adaptation syndrome (GAS) of Hans Selye concentrates on the chemical changes centred on sympathetic stimulation with its attendant changes. The holistic management of distress, therefore, centres on controlling the agitated human mind. Change of mode of living is the key to health promotion. Each person has different levels of stress tolerance depending on his genetic constitution as shown in the figure 1 below.














The point at which good stress becomes distress is shown as the point NODS. (no observable distress symptoms seen) NODS keeps changing in individuals and at different times in the same individual. With proper management of the mind one could increase the benefits of hormostress (anabolic) and decrease the ill effects of distress (catabolic).



Controlling the human mind is not a simple task. One can never force the mind to do what one wants it to do. The heavy load in the mind is the negative feelings of jealousy, hatred, anger, and frustration with depression. If one could unload the mind of that heavy burden distress could be managed easily. The easier option is to replace these negative thoughts with the strong positive thoughts of universal love, camaraderie, learning to let others live and, if possible, go out to help another in trouble. Instead of trying to control the agitated mind one could easily concentrate on helping others in distress when one quickly learns the beauty and happiness of peace of mind. The latter is the key to distress management.



Molecular biology today enables us to measure the response to this kind of mental change as an increase in our immune system capacity. It is no longer in the realm of philosophy. Tranquility of mind could be quantified as in other physical sciences. Yoga and meditation try to do the same. Yoga is not to be equated with aasanaas. Real yogi is one that has transformed his mental obesity into universal compassion at all times. There is no point in trying to force the mind through meditation for an hour or so and the rest of the time filling the mind with negative thoughts. Mind must be constantly kept filled with positive thoughts that do not let negative thoughts come in.



When man becomes tranquil the world becomes a better place to live in. Mental tranquility could be infectious spreading to neighbors through the exchange of our leptons (the last bit of the subatomic particles). Human mind resides in every human cell at its subatomic quantum level. This individual consciousness (mind) is only a small bit of the universal consciousness, the all pervading Brahman. Mind could be gradually elevated from the manas, to budhi, to chitta, purusha and finally to that level of Ishwara, the one who is one with his surroundings, according to the ancient Indian medical wisdom of Ayurveda. Modern medicine has to get rid of its reductionist mind set and look at human problems holistically to be useful to mankind. Otherwise medicine has no future.