Congratulations India; we seem to be finally doing things worthy of the 22^nd century.  A church on the outskirts of Chennai has a transgender priest, kudos that people who are ‘different’ are gaining acceptance in our society.  It’s a sign that we are finally learning to be tolerant.

Ideally, with the tremendous economic growth that India has seen over the years one would assume that the country would grow emotionally too; but sadly, we have failed to grow our EQ (emotional quotient) at the same rate.

Somewhere in our race to become economically and financially strong, we’ve put emotional growth on a back burner; an example being our acceptance of people who are different from us or are specially-abled which is abysmal; so while we should be talking about rehabilitating this group and giving it its proper place in society, we are unfortunately still stuck at the ‘acceptance’ stage.

We continue to shun transgenders, homosexuals and bisexuals while in practice these people have the same rights to live and work with dignity as everyone.

Thus, this news deserves its page 1 status; hopefully others will follow the lead and incidents such as these will be a norm and not the exception.

At the very grass-root levels, we could start by being more accepting and tolerant of people and things around as; after all, Rome wasn’t built in a day

It was heartening to see that this issue finally found first page mention; what was also commendable is the effort to collate statistics on the youngsters’ state of mind pre-exam and the acknowledgment that ‘exam-fever’ is indeed a reality.

While the effort must be lauded, it needs tackling at the very root.  » Continue reading “2 Feb 12, Thursday: the Times of India, pages 1 & 7, “before exams, city kids most stressed in India””

At first read, this piece was hilarious but if you stop by and think at what’s really happening, it’s melancholic!  My husband thinks I am too much of an idealist and there is no such thing as ‘balance’ in life. (I wasn’t even getting into the gender-angle of this article, which would require a thesisJ)

China’s tremendous financial growth and prosperity would obviously come at a price. But this – ‘hiring’ partners (‘especially’) during holiday season to please your parents is in my opinion, is plain alarming. » Continue reading “29 Jan 12, Sunday: Mumbai Mirror, page 18, “In China: Rent a girlfriend to please family””

This incident should come as a strong eye opener for employers in India; while terms of employment across most responsible employers require not only thorough medical exams but also complete and accurate disclosure of medical ailments; however, let’s stop by and think if a candidate would indeed disclose ‘mental breakdowns’ to his prospective employer? An emphatic ‘No’ would be the answer!  After all, we all want to always put our best foot forward.

And the Indian employer scene is worse; where even being ‘seen’ outside a ‘shrink’s office’ is a huge taboo; such disclosures would be seldom forthcoming. » Continue reading “26 Jan 12, Monday: Mumbai Mirror, page 8, “brain-frozen ST driver kills eight in Pune; was treated for schizophrenia””

New evidence has shown that alcohol and high anxiety feed off each other in individual ways.Having a drink when one is a little anxious can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. But so far, so good.BUT in some people, drinking when they are super tense underscores the dark side of whatever stressed them out and leaves them depressed. In others, intense stress overwhelms alcohol’s relaxing effects, so one reacts by having another drink . . . and another. » Continue reading “DO ALCOHOL AND STRESS MIX?”

April 28, 2011 – WASHINGTON

Stress can affect the immune system and weaken the body’s defense against infection and disease - has been confirmed by various studies across the world.

In Cancer Patients

-      Stress can also affect a tumor’s ability to grow and spread.

-      However, the biological mechanisms that underlie such associations are not well understood.

-      Now, researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center (One of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States) find that poor psychosocial functioning is associated with greater vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression––a signaling protein that not only stimulates tumor growth, but is also associated with shorter disease-free survival in head and neck cancer patients. » Continue reading “Stress and depression are associated with shorter survival in head and neck cancer patients”

Symptoms from everyday stress may be affecting our bodies and we may have no idea. If left unchecked, stress can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach issues, obesity and depression and to our disbelief this is just the beginning of the list.

Recognize stress and learn how to manage it especially before the holiday season sets in and the daily life commitments start to multiply. » Continue reading “Before the holidays is the time to beat stress”

Heart is one of the most important organs of our body. Depression and anxiety chronically elevate levels of stress hormones and thereby diverting the body metabolism meant for tissue construction needed to repair the heart diseases.

Heart disease facts:

-      Mental health disorders and heart diseases are two major causes for disability in a person.

-      Heart disease is related to two conditions, which are myocardial infarction (heart attack) and angina pectoris. » Continue reading “How Stress, Depression and Anxiety Can Cause Mental and Heart Disease”

The Cancer Council NSW surveyed nearly 3000 people in the state, all of whom had received a cancer diagnosis at some time within the previous 18 months, the first Australian study has found that, “Cancer patients are in collective denial, attributing to stress, genetics or other factors beyond their control diseases more likely to be triggered by lifestyle choices such as obesity or smoking”.

The study leader said that it was possible people might be using the term stress as a catch-all for other factors more directly related to cancer.  » Continue reading “Cancer patients in denial over poor lifestyle choices”

According to an Endocrine Society press release, there New Research indicates shift work, defined as work performed primarily outside standard working hours, at a young age is associated with elevated long-term cortisol levels and increased body mass index.

Previous studies have shown that long-term elevated cortisol levels lead to increased abdominal obesity, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular risk. » Continue reading “Stress Hormones May Increase Cardiovascular Risks for Shift Workers”