Mindful - not fanatical
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: According to a survey, 61 percent of Germans would choose eternal health if they had a wish, compared to only 20 percent for inner satisfaction, 6 percent for true friends, and just 5 percent for eternal love , What do you think of this order?
Prof. Gustav Dobos: What's interesting is that people often underestimate the importance of having friends and a good partnership for their health. Studies show that a stable social network has a strong influence, especially in the case of mood disorders. It's sort of healthy to have a best friend. Women clearly have an advantage over men, who are more likely to get involved in close friendships.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: What does it depend on where our individual health vulnerability is?
Prof. Gustav Dobos
Prof. Gustav Dobos: This is always a combination of genetic, physical and mental factors. Often, special personality structures play a role. For example, migraine sufferers are usually very demanding, but they need regular withdrawal. They say they have a Ferrari engine in their heads. Your brain is running so fast that it has to stop now and then a pit stop? just the migraine. Even with back pain, psychology has great influence. There is a clear link between chronic complaints and dissatisfaction in the workplace.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: Can such knowledge help to better deal with the "breaking points"?
Prof. Gustav Dobos: It is important to know that stress is often a crucial trigger. The physical stress response makes sense before a challenge, but under continuous stress, it becomes easily independent. Then it disturbs the physical balance, and the weakness announces itself. It's like a boat where a plank is loose: in calm waters, you do not realize that, but when it gets rough, you have a problem.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: What can you do in calm waters to survive the storm?
Prof. Gustav Dobos: Since stress means something different for everyone, it is important to know one's own triggers and to remember in time: now it's getting too much. One of my patients once compared his migraine with a piece of music that starts with a single low tone and then increases to a tremendous crescendo: the migraine attack. It was about learning to hear that first sound? with him it was a pull up the back? to perceive as a warning signal and to respond to it. When he went for a walk, drank a lot, and retreated into a quiet situation, he was usually able to prevent migraine.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: That sounds simple.
Prof. Gustav Dobos: In fact, there are often simple things that help: exercise in the fresh air, regular hot-cold showers in the morning, yoga, good friends and a satisfying partnership. With that you already do a lot for your health. In order to find out what is particularly useful or harmful to one's own individual, it helps to observe for a while, perhaps to write down how complaints are influenced by certain situations.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: When is a treatment required?
Prof. Gustav Dobos: If the partnership or ability to work under normal everyday conditions suffer greatly and the whole quality of life is affected, they go into disorders with disease value. Then the family doctor should be contacted.
To person: Gustav Dobos is the chief physician of the Department of Internal Medicine, Naturopathy and Integrative Medicine at the Essen-Mitte Hospital. It combines conventional medicine, Chinese medicine, natural medicine and so-called mind-body medicine, which uses the interaction of mind and body to treat stress-related illnesses. Further information at www.uni-essen.de/naturheilkunde
