The Hindu Business Line : Healing begins with optimism

Larry Dossey, MD presents `fourteen natural steps to health and happiness' in The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things, from Harmony Books (www.crownpublishing.com). These steps are: Optimism, forgetting, novelty, tears, dirt, music, risk, plants, bugs, unhappiness, nothing, voices, mystery and miracles.

Looks like an odd list, doesn't it? But Dossey explains that the 14 steps, though seemingly ordinary, can help us become more complete human beings. "Three-fourths of those who go to doctors' offices have nothing wrong with them physically, meaning that they are largely beyond the reach of what complex, modern medicine has to offer," he avers.

Begin, therefore, with optimism. It is the tendency to believe that things will turn out well. Dossey cites Martin E.P. Seligman to explain how optimism fosters longer and healthier lives in four ways. One, the brain registers the optimism experience and this percolates down throughout the body. Two, optimists are more likely to follow `healthy regimens and medical advice' because they are more likely to want to be healthy. Three, optimists' sense of control assures them that they can make a difference in what happens and so they experience fewer noxious events, compared to pessimists who "often seem to roll out a red carpet for chaos." And four, "optimists enjoy greater social support."

The second step, forgetting, is about being less harsh to oneself. "We blame ourselves for what we forget, but we don't credit ourselves with the fantastic quantity of information we process and recall each day of our lives," rues Dossey. "Our fear of forgetting can lead to hyper-vigilance about how our memory is performing... and the resulting anxiety and worry can make us even more forgetful."

Third, novelty. "Neophobia is the fear of new things, and neophobes are individuals who cringe from novelty in favour of predictability, repetition, and routine," explains Dossey. Dangerously, neophobia may explain "the high death rates in men following retirement." How so? "When faced with a new situation — no job to go to every day, the necessity of finding new friends and alternative ways of staying occupied — many men despair." To encounter novelty, wonder (by reading and solving puzzles), and wander (by walking)! "There is evidence that novelty is one of the most potent ways of preventing Alzheimer's," is a reassuring line.

Fourth, tears. Please note that emotional tears are "more protein-rich than irritant tears, such as the onion-slicing kind." And that tears contain "more than 30 times the amount of manganese found in blood," and so can rid the body of toxins?

On music. "Humming might be helpful in preventing or treating the sinus stuffiness of common colds and sinusitis." Music is "one of the most effective bridges between cultures," argues Dossey. "Unlike the machinations of diplomacy, there is little artifice in many kinds of music."

On that healing note, let me leave you to find Dossey at the nearest bookshop for help with the remaining steps.

Chocolate plus chips!

Right food?

A bar of chocolate and a packet of chips are what my school-going daughter compels me to get everyday. Kindly advise how I can wean her away from this addiction?

P. Rajan, Kochi

Here's the answer from Dr W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, R&D, DRDO Life Sciences, and Deepa Prakash, CEO, Nutreplanet, Bangalore:

Food addictions come from a long-term food behaviour pattern. It is hard to try and understand why your child chooses these foods but if you help teach her about nutrition in a simple way, she will certainly start choosing the right kind of foods to eat. Chips offer a crunch to the palate with excessive salt; and chocolates, apart from providing a sudden surge of sugar to the child, promote dental caries. To wean her off these foods you can try the following:

Explore new foods with her keeping a small portion of the chips and chocolate as an option. If you serve papaya slicesand carrot sticks, keep one ounce of chips and chocolate on the same table. She will learn that you are not going to deprive her of what she likes and will accept the healthier foods.

Surf websites on food and nutrition for children like www.kidshealth.com with her in tow. She will learn from pictures and cartoons on the site with your gentle explanation and participation.

You and your family ought to eat healthy; if you are choosing the right healthy food to eat, she will soon follow suit.

Don't worry too much, children go through `food jags' (addiction to one kind of food) when they are growing up. More than often it is just a passing phase.

Send in your health queries to BillOfHealth@gmail.com.

More Stories on : Books | Health | Bill of Health

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
NPA classification in loan repayment default

Machining for EOU

`Just don't give up'

Do families have to bear the brunt of a feverishly booming market?

SBI strike

A long wait for maturity

Just Do IT

Number Crunch

Employee retirement option is not the same as VRS

Ramanujan, a forgotten genius?

Culture shocks

Healing begins with optimism

Cartoon Corner