Money is fine, but let’s lay
more stress on health
Swami Viveknanda’s healthy outlook
healthy India is a young nation racing towards affluence, but is the young India healthy? The answer is a big NO, writes
Dr Ravindra Kulkarni
“A sound body is a sound mind.”
“You will understand Gita better with your biceps, your muscles, a little stronger.” You may have the Gita in your left hand but have a football in your right.”
“Be not weak, either physically, mentally, morally nor spiritually. Young men, my hope is in you” — — — — — — Swami Vivekananda
These are some pearls of wisdom I acquired through a tiny pocket book called “Thus Spake Vivekananda” which I cherish till date. These gems could be well applicable to the work culture of today’s corporate world. As India observes the National Youth Day on January 12 to commemorate the birthday of India’s finest saint, his wake up call to the youth cannot be more relevant.
While the rest of the industrial power houses are growing old, India is growing young with 60 per cent of its current population aged below 25, and the present working-age population (aged 15–59) is four times that of the United States. A nation racing towards affluence, skyrocketing salaries and an economy on a remarkable upward growth trajectory are putting unprecedented pressure on youth to succeed. With the advent of MNC work culture in India, increased work pressure and increasing need for performance at the workplace, it has led to increased stress in the executive lifestyles. This type of a lifestyle increases the risk of developing heart disease by 10–15 times. A recently published Human Development Report 2009 prepared by the National Resource Centre for Urban Poverty and the All India Institute of Local Self Government, Mumbai , shows that the average Mumbaikar is likely to die at least seven years before other Indians and about 12 years before people living in the rest of Maharashtra. The killer: stress.
With the increase in the competition levels and the pressure to perform, youngsters are faced with the problem of stress at a very early stage. Things only deteriorate once they get into a job. More than half of corporate India’s young staff suffers from a range of stress and lifestyle problems. Today, the average age in which a person may suffer a heart attack has come down from 50 and above to 35 years. A study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India points out that 54% of the workforce in the IT and ITeS sectors were afflicted with stress, depression, obesity, chronic backache and hypertension.
Today, youth are affected by stress at different stages of their life. Between 13–17 years of youth, the single biggest source of stress is academics, between 22 and above they face stress at workstations. When I was researching on suicides and the causative factors, I found a news report about the suicide of a teenaged student who left a note that read “”I’ll come back as a ghost to haunt my teachers.” He reportedly shot himself in the head due to exam-related stress. Instances of exam stress aren’t a new phenomenon on the Indian academic landscape. Take for instance the prestigious IITs. In these luminous portals of education, suicides owing to academic stress have been regularly reported. Parental and peer pressure, rising ambitions and fierce competition are brewing a deadly cocktail for these young minds. But the good news is that measures can be taken to prevent stress. Social interaction, social cohesiveness, meditation, self-control and self-discipline help in managing and preventing stress.
Conclusion
On this National Youth Day, let’s take a pledge to prevent stress and stress-related diseases including hyper tension and heart problems. We should reinforce the importance of wellness for the larger interests of our economy and development that largely hinges on the youth of the morrow. We should aim to create awareness of stress at the workplace as well as to encourage employers to take action and ensure the health of their workforce. It is important for companies to invest in employee health as wellness programs in the workplace can improve employee health, reduce absenteeism, reduce workforce turnover and improve employee morale and loyalty.
(The author is an interventional cardiologist and founder Director of Just For Hearts)
