the speaking tree - A Psychotherapeutic Approach To Anti-ageing

Pulkit Sharma





The goal of psychotherapy is to enable a person to understand his mind, resolve conflicts, set realistic aims and pursue them with undivided attention. Anti-ageing is where we aspire to slow down or reverse the processes of ageing. This cannot be executed by simply eating special diets and supplements, using technological assistance or doing rigorous exercise. It requires a unified response from our system. Our mind is rational and illogical, progressive and regressive, optimistic and pessimistic. It is therefore by nature incapable of a unified response. Hence we often aspire much and yet achieve little. To anti-age, we need to deal with negative forces and infuse positivity.The first negative force is the tendency to create illusions and chase them. There is a huge difference between goals and illusions. While goals are anchored in reality, illusions derive from ego and its wishful fantasies. When people wish to slow down their ageing, they have a fantasy that they should forever remain in their youthful 20s.This fantasy is far removed from reality. We know that our body is basically matter and has a shelf life. If we seek to undo this fact we will end up in defeat and pain. Therefore, for anti-ageing motives, we need to set a realistic goal. Setting a realistic goal increases its likelihood of being achieved manifold. Therefore, we should aspire to be physically fit, emotionally vivacious, forever learning and evolving with each year of our life.
The second negative force is the predisposition to function in a conditioned manner. By the time we reach young adulthood we develop certain habits and personality patterns that we stick to for the rest of our lives. These habits and personality patterns restrict the range of things we can do and the variety of ways in which we can be. Although we find this conditioning extremely comfortable and self-defining it is our biggest enemy. Our mind and body stagnates and decays quickly if we do not provide it with variety. In a recent research published in European Journal of Experimental Biology, a group of people over 70 years of age suffering from mild cognitive impairment were placed on a new threemonth physical and brain activity schedule. It was found that there was a marked improvement in their cognitive impair ment and physical functioning.This shows that our mind and body have the capacity to rejuvenate and heal provided we break free from conditioning.Therefore, anti-ageing hopes can be realised if one remains interested in listening to, trying and practising something new.
The third negative force is the tendency to think pessimistically.Life is full of painful experiences that are beyond our control but we can choose how we respond to these events.Often, we do not realise this and we react reflexively to these painful experiences. As a result we end up being pessimistic about ourselves, in close interpersonal relationships and the world.
Recently, the American Psychological Association published a report highlighting that every thought and emotion sends a message to our immune system and this message can either enhance or impair it.Positive thoughts and emotions boost the immune system while negativity impairs it. A strong immune system goes a long way in fighting ageing. Therefore, to strengthen our immune system we need to be optimistic, keep a positive mental attitude and patience even in the face of life's toughest challenges. When we think of staying young forever, our focus rests on the body. However, understanding and changing our mental attitudes is one of the most important weapons to defeat ageing.(The writer is a clinical psychologist.)
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Communal clashes up 24% in Jan-May 2015

New Delhi TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Up To 287 From 232 In Same Period Last Yr

Communal violence in India has registered a jump with incidents rising by 24% and related deaths too up by 65% in the first five months of 2015 as compared to the corresponding period of last year, when the UPA government was in the saddle.As per latest data collated by the Union home ministry , 287 communal incidents were reported from across the country this year until May 31, as compared to 232 over the same period in 2014.
Deaths due to communal clashes during January-May 2015 rose to 43 from 26 and the number of injured too were higher at 961 from 701 in the first five months of last year.
The states that reportedly accounted for a major portion of the increase in communal clashes were Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maha rashtra and West Bengal.
This is for the first time that data has reflected negatively on the state of communal harmony under the Modi government.
Earlier, a comparison of the annual data for the year 2014 and 2013 had shown a fall in incidents to 644 from 823 respectively .
Deaths in 2014 too dipped to 95 from 133 and injured were fewer at 1961 as compared to 2,269 in 2013.
Many argued that the lower communal violence in 2014 as compared to 2013 was not really a verdict on the effectiveness of Modi government to control riots, considering that UPA was in power until mid-May 2014.

Union Government launches National Career Counselling portal

Union Government has launched National Career Counselling Portal in a bid to modernize all government-run employment exchanges. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the aegis of National Career Service (NCS) project of Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. The web portal will be a one-stop platform for both job providers and job seekers where registration can be done online. It will provide basic platform for searching and applying for jobs on the portal. It will also provide candidates career-related counseling either by its helpline numbers or visiting these centres along with other facilities like job posting, aptitude assessment, job matching, training providers, skill courses and guidance on self-employment and entrepreneurship. It should be noted that NCS project aims at

Climate change will create billion refugees, says study

The report, Human tide The real migration crisis, by the European aid agency Christian Aid, said that in future, many people, especially the poor, would be forced to migrate due to water shortage and crop failure, which would ultimately lead to fights over local resources. "We believe that forced migration is now the most urgent threat facing poor people in the developing world," said John Davison, lead author of the report.

Industrialised countries which have mainly contributed to greenhouse gas emissions should bear the cost of helping the worst hit by it, said the report.

AICTE appoints Anil Dattatraya Saharabudhe as Chairman 

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has appointed Prof. Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabushe, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati as the Chairman.

In his earlier stint, he has served as Director, College of Engineering, Pune since 2006 on deputation from IIT, Guwahati. He has 29 years of teaching and research experience. Prof. Shasrabudhe graduated from BVB College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli affiliated to Karnataka University with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and was a gold medalist. Thereafter, he obtained his M.E. and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1982 and 1989.

Before joining IIT Guwahati as Associate Professor in 1995, he has also served as Lecturer and Assistant Professor at NERIST. Under this role at NERIST, he has taken several role and initiatives in IIT Guwahati and COEP for academic, curricular and co-curricular activities, research and good governance. He is also Chairman, Basic Scientific Research (BSR), Empowered Committee of UGC.

India’s suicide problem

Government response to the crisis of farmer suicides has been simplistic. Instead of special packages, it should offer improved access to healthcare.

For over a decade, farmer suicides in India has been a serious public policy concern. More recently, this has led to a shrill media outcry and much politicking. The government response to the crisis of farmer suicide has mostly been simplistic and sometimes aggravating. The main issue with offering “special packages” to deal with such a problem is that it is reactionary rather than preemptive long-term policy. Suicides are characterised by a prior history of difficulties and, in most cases, mental illness that renders the person vulnerable to suicidal behaviour, for which we need to have a deeper understanding of factors that trigger and contribute to suicides among different demographic categories. We study the data from the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) of India and disaggregate across demographics and leading causes of suicides. We examine existing data on the suicide mortality rate (SMR), defined as the number of suicides reported per 1,00,000 population for categories such as farmers, housewives and students. We begin with farmer suicides and the state of Maharashtra, which had the largest number of farmer suicides for decades. We find that 76 per cent of all suicides there are concentrated within six districts, and nearly 60 per cent of the farmers who committed suicide own more than four acres of land. Indebtedness has been highlighted as the prime cause and leading public intellectuals have called for an end to the “debt deaths”. The National Sample Survey data suggests that the debt burden, measured as the debt-to-asset ratio, declines with increase in asset-holding. So poorer households have a higher debt burden. This is true for both institutional and non-institutional debt. However, the suicide data reported by the state government indicates that the incidence of suicide is much higher for households with larger land holdings. Nearly 86 per cent of all farmer suicides in Maharashtra are committed by those with more than two acres of land. Compare the two most farmer-suicide-prone states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh with two of the most backward states, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Data for farmer SMR reveals that over the last two decades, Andhra and Maharashtra have had very high and significantly rising numbers of suicides. Farmer suicide rates in Bihar and UP have been consistently low over that period. However, there are no obvious reasons to believe that farmer distress is lower in Bihar and UP. Remarkably, even if we look at the number of suicides for categories of professions unrelated to farming, like government and private services or students, Andhra and Maharashtra - 

What makes India less peaceful than 142 other countries

India has been relegated to the 143rd place in the 2015 Global Peace Index, down from 140 in 2014.

The number of internal conflicts and possession of nuclear and heavy weapons are among the parameters that have weighed heavily in pulling down India's ranking in the 2015 Global Peace Index to the 143rd position among 162 nations ranked.

The Index, which incorporates a number of parameters to measure the "texture of peace", is brought out annually by the Institute of Economics and Peace.

It "is a composite index comprised of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators that gauge the level of peace in 162 countries. These indicators can be grouped into three broad themes: the level of safety and security in a society, the number of international and domestic conflicts and the degree of militarisation." The scores for India on these 3 counts are 2.4, 2.8 and 2.3 respectively out of 5 each.

The 2015 report says that Middle East and North Africa has overtaken South Asia as the most violent region in the world compared the previous year.

India scores poorly in terms of the conflict factor, which takes into account the number and duration of conflicts fought within a country (the lower the score the better the position). This includes civil, interstate, one-sided and non-state conflicts. The other parameter has to do with the number of nuclear and heavy weapons a country possesses.

Internal conflicts fought 5.0	Nuclear and heavy weapons 5.0	Access to weapons 4.0
Perceptions of criminality 4.0	Terrorism impact 4.0	Political terror 4.0

Among the various other parameters in which India fares poorly is terrorism impact, which is based the number of deaths, injuries and property damage caused by terrorism during the past five years. Another factor is perceptions of criminality which is a qualitative assessment of the level of perceived criminality in society.

Globally, deaths caused by terrorism increased by 61 per cent in 2013, pointing to its unabated growth over the last decade. Most of the deaths occurred in five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria. France, Denmark and Australia were the new countries which witnessed acts of terrorism.

Another bunch of parameters on which India scores three also include two related to internal conflict and one which has to do with violent demonstrations.

Intensity of internal conflict 3.0	Violent demonstrations 3.0	Violent crime 3.0
Neighbouring countries relations 3.0	Deaths from internal conflict 3.0

India scores relatively better on the remaining parameters scoring 2 or below; with homicide and deaths from external conflict getting scores at the higher end.

Incarceration 1.1	Political instability 1.1	Weapons imports 1.0
Military expenditure 1.6	Armed services personnel 1.0	UN peacekeeping funding 1.2
Weapons exports 1.0	Displaced people 1.0	External conflicts fought 1.0
Deaths from external conflict 2	Security officers and police 1.7	Homicide 2.0

In South Asia the position of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan deteriorated during the year while that of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh improved. Bhutan tops the list with a rank of 18, Nepal comes next with a rank of 62 followed by Bangladesh, ranked 84. Afghanistan is second from the bottom at rank 160 and Pakistan is ranked 154.

There is also a price to pay for conflict and the lack of peace. In India's case the report estimates the economic costs at 341,733,390,956 US dollars.

So, which is the most peacful country in the world? Iceland. And it is Europe that emerges as the most peacful region in the world.

Keywords: peace index, conflict