Whine or Wine

Whine or Wine

By: Dr Madan Vasandani

            Accept it, we are all whiners. Jakarta is such a city that causes us to whine all day long. The traffic, the food, the people and many more is the perfect concoction resulting in an everyday “thorn in the flesh” situation. It is human nature to complain of just about everything under the sky. Being healthy is defined as state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Whining causes a lot of mental stress and this can lead to various ailments.

1. Talking your problems to death can make you feel even worse – Voicing out your frustration is a natural way of dealing with them. Most of us don’t just stop at voicing it out. We go beyond and start a session with our friends and blow it out of proportion. A recent study found that people who vented to each other about their problems were likely to develop anxiety and depression. There is a definite belief in our culture that talking about our problems makes you feel better. That’s true in moderation; it only becomes risky when it becomes excessive
2. When you complain, you not only create more negativity for those around you, but you also reinforce negative thought patterns for yourself. Negativity breeds negativity. Research for the Mayo clinic finds that negative thinking can contribute to: Decreased life span, higher levels of stress, decreased resistance to common cold, increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease and lower psychological and physical well-being.
3. Complaining or whining results in heightened levels of negative emotions which results in increased acid production and decreased mucus production in your stomach which results in a condition called Gastritis. Studies have found that those people who chronically complain develops gastritis 1.6 times more that those people who rarely complains
4. The heart and Brains – During periods of heightened emotions a persons blood vessels narrows. This can result in a Heart attack or a stroke in those people who already have a blockage in their arteries. Chronic complaining which could result in anxiety results in  permanent narrowing of the arteries because of increased production of stress hormones
5. A study conducted by researchers in John Hopkins University in Washington D.C. found out that cancer cells can grow rapidly in bad emotions. The study said that cancer cells grow tremendously in an acidic environment. Anger, hatred, unforgiving, and other bad emotions actually set up the human body in this kind of acidic environment.

A few useful tips to decrease complaining or whining are

1. Decrease spending time with people who constantly complain

2. Focus on solutions and not problems

3. Go for a Holiday

4. Have a couple of glasses of wine – Besides improving heart health, the health benefits of drinking wine extends to mental health. It effectively combats anxiety and boosts moods. As a result of removing these negative emotions, stress, a factor in aging, is reduced

      Jakarta is a vibrant and dynamic city filled with many positives and negatives. Sometimes there seems to be no solution to the problem. Whining results in mental exhaustion and also many diseases. Learn to cope up with the situation you are in without complaining. If you have any health concerns visit us at Centrepoint Healthcare. For appointment call 021 570 6208