"Achieving the Happiness and Good Health you Deserve"
A talk by Alan Wise - July 2017
At the general meeting on 18 July, Alan Wise, a clinical psychologist, presented the members with his recipe for happiness and well-being: the avoidance of stress and depression, which can lead to actual physical illness, such as backache. Apparently, one in four us suffers from a stress-related disorder; one in five from an anxiety disorder and one in six from disturbed sleep. Stress-related symptoms are apparently one of most common reasons for visits to the G.P. So what is the cause? According to Alan, one factor is the modern pace of life, notably, the speed with which news travels round the world leaving us breathless to catch up with events around us. In that respect, social media has a lot to answer for!
Stress can be identified by, among other things, lack of concentration and memory lapses, whereas depression among the elderly is often caused by worrying about financial matters, the prospect of poor health – particularly loss of sight or hearing – and worst of all, loneliness or a feeling of helplessness. According to Alan, we are unable to shed our anxieties because they cost us dear to acquire them. One solution seemed to be to “think positive thoughts” or buy a dog! But that might be the easy bit.
It was a sobering discourse for an audience of, let us say, the upper age group. Interesting though it was, we heard very little concrete advice about how to acquire a less stressful existence in our modern world. Perhaps we should simply stop reading the papers. In any event, I am not convinced that thinking positive thoughts is going to get rid of my backache, especially if the true cause is merely Anno Domini.
Janet Cato – July 2017
Stress can be identified by, among other things, lack of concentration and memory lapses, whereas depression among the elderly is often caused by worrying about financial matters, the prospect of poor health – particularly loss of sight or hearing – and worst of all, loneliness or a feeling of helplessness. According to Alan, we are unable to shed our anxieties because they cost us dear to acquire them. One solution seemed to be to “think positive thoughts” or buy a dog! But that might be the easy bit.
It was a sobering discourse for an audience of, let us say, the upper age group. Interesting though it was, we heard very little concrete advice about how to acquire a less stressful existence in our modern world. Perhaps we should simply stop reading the papers. In any event, I am not convinced that thinking positive thoughts is going to get rid of my backache, especially if the true cause is merely Anno Domini.
Janet Cato – July 2017