According to medical knowledge mental illness is defined as a health condition involving changes in thinking, emotion or behaviour of a person. Many mental illnesses are connected to distress or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.

It is apparent that many people who are afflicted with mental illness don’t want to talk about it to anyone. Actually mental illness is a condition that you should not be ashamed of and like any other health problem like heart disease or diabetes. Infact today most of the    mental illness can be treated expertly.

Mental illness can grip anyone regardless of age, gender, income, social status, race/ethnicity, religion or upbringing. Mental illness can take many forms, from mild ones like phobias that only interfere with daily life in a limited way to conditions so severe that a person may need to be cared in a hospital.

STRESS AND MENTAL ILLNESS

To a certain extent stress is a natural reaction of our body to a stressful situation and helps our brain and body to react to it. If the same stress gets out of control then it can lead to mental illness. Stress can be due to various reasons, right from morning exercise, to work, school, changes in life, traumatic events like death of a dear one etc. Stress can affect our health, it is important to know how stress affects us and how to deal with minor and major stress events so that we know when to seek proper help.

STRESS HAS NO DISTINCTION

Which means stress can affect everyone. It has been seen that some people cope with stress more effectively or recover from stressful situations more quickly than others. What ever the type of stress it is always risky for physical and mental health. Stress can be a one time occurrence or it can be an occurrence that happens continuously for a longer period.

ALL STRESS IS NOT BAD

As mentioned earlier, stress is not always a bad sign. Stress can motivate people to prepare themselves for a expected event or perform better is a life situation. Like a situation during a interview or a new job, a little stress goes a long way in improving your performance. In life threatening situations the body prepares to face a threat or flee to safety as a result of the stress response.

LONG TERM STRESS

If the stress response turn chronic or goes on for a long time it can cause major health problems. When the stress response is constant, or if the response continue even after the threat situation is over then it is called long term stress. With chronic stress the life saving stress response suppresses the immune system, causes digestive disruption, affects sleep and reproductive systems and finally proper brain functioning. This sort of physical and mental health problems will affect the efficiency and quality of life of a person.

When the stress is routine then what happens is that we fail to recognise it and its effects rather than when stress is acute or traumatic. In chronic stress our body does not receive signals to return to the normal. Thus over a period of time the stress or strain on your body and mind contributes to heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes and mental disorders like depression and anxiety.

HOW TO MANAGE STRESS?

Practical steps to prevent or manage chronic stress can help prevent majour health upsets in life. The following are few tips for managing long term stress.

Watch for the signs: Watch how your body responds to certain stressful conditions, it will usually show signs like sleeplessness, craving for alcohol, anger, depression and feel low in energy.

Have regular exercise: It is observed that you need not strain yourself but just do a minimum of 30 minutes brisk walking to feel relieved of your stress.

Take to a relaxing activity: It could be a good book to read, a game of golf or just driving the car out of town into the scenic countryside and spending time there.

Reset goals: Be more realistic about the goals you set for yourself decide what can be done and what else can wait. Say no to tasks if they are putting an overload on you. Always note what you have accomplished than what you were unable to do.

Stay connected: Try cultivating a network of people who make you feel great and provide you some sort of emotional support. If you feel stressed talk to your friends, family and even community leaders to find a way out of it. All these will help you either tackle stress or prevent it.

Everyday we are exposed to allergy causing elements and many of them affect us. The most common of them include pollen allergy, sinus, asthma and other nasal allergies. Another important reason for allergy is the seasonal climate change which triggers various health issues including all the above allergies especially in metropolitan cities and thickly populated areas.

Wide Spread Allergies

On a daily basis a single doctor in a city like Bangalore treats 5-7 patients with nasal allergies, chronic sinusitis and nasal obstruction.  For a typical ENT surgeon, these cases can be high as 30-40 percent of the daily patient load which points to the national prevalence of chronic sinusitis in 1 out of 8 Indians, as per the National Institute of Allergy and infectious diseases. This seems to be very high and very concerning figure of the prevalence of sinusitis in the country.

How to treat Sinusitis?

Sinusitis can be controlled with medication, lifestyle changes and surgeries, which are also ways to control other allergies. Many patients show signs of improvement with courses of antibiotics, nasal sprays and anti-allergy medications. Yet may suffer from sinusitis inspite of treatment for months together. This patients require even surgical correction to improve air circulation into the sinuses. But many people delay surgical treatment in the hope that the headaches will disappear over time. The delay in treatment can affect the eye or brain and lead to a poor quality of life.

Tips for keeping sinusitis away

It is advisable to use salt water sprays to keep the nasal passage and sinuses clean. Salt water does not cause any side effects and they wash the nasal passages. Salt water also clears the collected mucus that causes the inflammations. Jal Neeti and Yoga are natural ways to treat sinusitis. Certain forms of yoga/ Jal Neeti(swimmimg ) helps to improve circulation within the sinuses. If medications and natural therapies fail then it is advised to seek surgical treatment.

We have read a lot about left arm pain and heard friends and family suggest that it could be heart related. Actually pain in the left arm can be due to various reasons, ranging from ordinary muscle pain to even severe heart attack. Other reasons are ailments of the skin, soft tissue, nerves, bones, joints or blood vessels in the arm. Before concluding that left arm pain is due to heart problem we should eliminate other causes.

There are several factors like those given below to consider before narrowing down the pain to heart related pain.

What is the intensity of pain?

If it is a heart attack then most often we feel like some pressure or squeezing like sensation in the left side. It can be mild in pain or not painful at all (called silent heart attack). The pain can also be in full measure and it will rank 10 out of 10 in intensity. Rather than the left arm this pain will be more in the chest area and then radiate down the left arm and go up your jaw or the back.

Look for other signs

Apart from the pain in the arm, jaw, neck and back some other symptoms are also observed and these may include – nausea, dizziness, and cold sweat, shortness of breath and chest tightness & difficulty in breathing. If any of these symptoms occur along with left arm pain then it is advisable to see a doctor immediately to rule out heart attack.

Note the duration of pain

If the left arm pain lasts only for few seconds then it is unlikely that it is due to any heart ailment. If the pain persists for a long time (for days or even weeks), it is also unlikely that it has something to do with your heart. Only if lasts for few minutes to few hours then you should doubt that it has connection to heart problem. Take not of the interval of your pain occurring and if possible not it down which will help the doctor know your case better.

Is your pain due to Angina?

Angina is a pain that is caused due to insufficient blood flow to the heart. When Angina occurs you feel a squeezing or pressure sensation along with pain in your shoulders, your chest, your arms, your back or your neck. It may also feel like indigestion. It is not compulsory that Angina pain should be in the left arm but there is always a possibility. Angina can worsen due to stress either physical or emotional. If you suspect you have Angina it is best to meet a doctor. It requires appropriate evaluation and treatment.

Check for pain due to other reasons

There are many other reasons for the left side pain to occur and if you look at them one by one then here are a few important ones.

Moving your neck causes pain, and then it should be due to cervical spondylosis. If the pain aggravates when you move your shoulder it could be due to shoulder arthritis. If you feel numbness or lose function in the left arm it may be due to nerve related injury. If there is variance in your blood pressure then it may be due peripheral arterial disease like atheroscelrosis and commonly occurs in smokers.