Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: “Stress and trauma are a part of growth”

President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan participated in the event organized by the Ministry of National Education Washington Education Consultancy. Tarhan, who met with the MEB scholarship holders in the USA, made evaluations about "Stress and Anxiety Management". Underlining that one of the most important causes of stress is aimlessness, Tarhan stated that "Events take a person who has no purpose in life to where they want to be. A ship that has no purpose can be carried where the wind wants, however, the ship that has a purpose can take the wind behind it.".

"If there is anxiety, there is a deterioration in the psychological dynamic"

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan pointed out that the brain secretes five acid-specific chemicals when there is a war response and said: "What we feel when the physical integrity of our body is disrupted is pain. Anxiety is considered to be the emotions that are felt when our psychological integrity is disrupted. If there is distress and anxiety, there is a deterioration in the psychological dynamic created by the person. In other words, there is a balance here within the topographic structures that we call consciousness, subconscious, ego, superego. A person who is at peace with themselves somehow establishes this balance. The cycle is a stress that disrupts the balance, and a pressure occurs. Also, the word stress means force, pressure. The word stress was used in the first industrial revolution as the dominant stress points of mines for the pressure points of mines. Engineers use it, and then in the 1960s, a Canadian physiologist conducts animal experiments. In animal experiments, he sees animals have fight-and-flight responses under stress. Thus, an animal either fights if it is strong enough, or it runs away when you force the animal into a stress. There is also a fight-or-flight response in humans, and there is a biological counterpart to the fight-or-flight response in humans. It has a physiological and psychophysiological counterpart. Therefore, the brain releases 5 acid-like chemicals when there is a war response. We call the 5 horsemen of darkness; spite, anger, hatred, jealousy, hostility. If these feelings occur, the brain triggers cortisol in the body. When cortisol is triggered, vascular resistance increases and blood pressure rises. The muscles of the shoulders, neck and wait tighten, and the body enters a combat position. The pupils are getting bigger, we are focusing on the danger.".

"Stress has a challenging effect on psychological integrity in our body"

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan mentioned that there are 3 types of people in stress management and anxiety solving. Tarhan said that "Stress has a challenging effect on psychological integrity in our body. If we have the ability to be resilient in the face of stress, we do not get into trouble in the face of stress. At first, it is very easy to remember when we make analogies through metaphor in managing stress and solving anxiety. I want to make such an analogy. There are three types of people. First one a sponge type human. That person constantly absorbs everything. Here, one is constantly complaining and cries. So, they have constantly troublesome, and they infect this to everybody. Sponge-type people are constantly absorbing everything. This exists in many societies. When you speak, no good words come out of their mouth. They constantly criticize this, criticizes that. There are constant negative moods. Another type is the Teflon type. The peculiarity of Teflon pans itself is that it does not burn, but burns what it comes into contact with. Teflon people are indifferent and uncaring in human relationships. In other words, they do not blush at all, they are not ashamed, they are not bothered, they are selfish and narcissistic types. However, they make their relatives miserable. In other words, their first-degree relatives cannot convince them and they do what they want to. Teflon types use humans. After a while, they are left alone. They look relaxed, unconscientious; however, they are always alone to reach the goal, they make mistakes. Even if they are successful by working hard at first, it is something that is found in many later stages of life, especially when they are very lonely. The third types are rubber types. What does the rubber type do? When it is forced to face the event, it stretches, and after the event is over, it goes back to previous state again. They even call it social resilience in positive psychology. Resilience is translated into Turkish as psychological resilience, but it actually means flexibility. Resilience is being flexible. To be able to get back to being able to change back into the previous state in the face of forcing again. In fact, stress is an inevitable part of our lives, so when you go somewhere, you drive in traffic, you get stressed. Everyone has a way of dealing with stress.".

"The solution is more difficult in unprovoked anxiety"

Tarhan underlined that if the state of anxiety lasts more than 3 days, it is considered as pathology and stated that "Managing stress depends on each person. Ideally, people with psychological resilience make their psychological integrity flexible when they experience stress; however, it changes back into the previous state again. Thus, it does not allow your anxiety to last too long. If the anxiety state is prolonged for more than 3 days, it is considered pathology, and if it is longer than 15 days, it is accepted as disorder. Now it is necessary to use medication. Sometimes there are anxieties without any reason. If there is a reason, that is, this event happened, it is easier to solve it because it happened from here. In unprovoked anxieties, the solution is more difficult. Childhood traumas usually affect or internal dynamics affect unknowingly. In fact, anxiety is called the psychic brain, that is, psychological pain. A person suffers to that degree. I know a patient who came in with a knife in his stomach because of anxiety. It is not a very simple thing. For example, there were psychotic anxieties. There are psychotic anxieties. It starts as soon as you wake up in the morning. It is so terrifying that the person will say 'How is it going to be today, what is going to happen all day, how am I going to live with this troublesome?'. There are people who use substances because they cannot solve their anxiety, there are people who become an addict. There are people who take handfuls of medicines. Mild anxiety is easy to solve but when the person is not able to solve it, it impairs the quality of life of the person when it becomes a clinical case. If depression is added to anxiety, we apply certain scales on people who have anxiety in such cases. Situational anxiety and general anxiety are examined via the scales.”.

"Stress and traumas are part of growing up"

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan pointed out that the incidents have an opportunity dimension as well as a threat dimension and said that "Anxiety is a preliminary sign of trauma. Anxiety is part of growing up. Stress, traumas are part of growing up. Therefore, if something is not right, you need to change skins. So, you have to grow. For this reason, those anxieties are very useful, and they are not in vain. We call such traumas developing traumas. The person is improving, getting stronger, but for this, the person needs to take the right position. One needs to perceive the events correctly and interpret them correctly, but if they cannot do it by themselves, they can do it with the help of a person who knows. They can do things by changing their question-solving style, they can do it by developing different perspectives, they can look at it by putting forward new options. All these, the event that is experienced, every stress, every anxiety is actually something. Just as there is a threat dimension for us, there is also an opportunity dimension. When it is threatened, our peace escapes that day, the taste of our mouth deteriorates, your body comfort deteriorates, in other words, our routine is disrupted at that moment. When you look at the opportunity dimension, you say, 'What has this taught me?' and you can grow out of there.".

"Irregularity is the biggest cause of stress"

Tarhan mentioned that uncertainty and the unknown are the biggest trauma effects and stated that "We need to maintain our own personality boundaries and pay attention to someone else's personality boundaries. The Paleolithic Age is the age which civilized man, however, it is thought to be the Neolithic Age. We say that they have become civilized because they produce devices, but in fact, the criterion of civilization is not to carve the stone, but to make a fence. To be able to draw between the border of one's neighbor and one's own is a sign of civilization. The most important feature that distinguishes civilized people from uncivilized people is whether they obey the laws and rules. Normlessness is the biggest cause of stress. An orderly environment establishes trust. If we make our home orderly, it builds trust. An unregulated environment leads to uncertainty and the unknown. Uncertainty and the unknown are the biggest trauma effects. For example, an earthquake happened, and it is the uncertainty and the unknown that affect people more than the trauma of the earthquake itself. It is the same in life events, and it is the same in death events. Uncertainty and the unknown make more people suffer than death. When you add meaning to death, when you bring an explanation, when you bring a reasonable explanation to death, no matter what world view the person has, the person who knows the trauma of death can face death easily. That's how one can overcome the stress of death.".

"It is the position taken against the wind that makes the kite fly"

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan drew attention to the fact that it is not necessary to be afraid of stress, but whether to take the wrong position against stress and said that "We should know our own strengths and weaknesses. We should know our strengths, determine our goal accordingly and draw our road map. This is called psychological SWOT analysis. What is in a SWOT analysis? There are strengths, weaknesses. You look at opportunities, you look at threats, and accordingly the person determines their strategy. It makes its strategic accumulations and moves forward on the path of life. I see, one of the most important causes of stress is lack of purpose. Events drag a person who has no purpose in life to where he wants to be. Just as the wind takes a ship without a purpose wherever it wants, the ship with a purpose can take the wind behind it. It is not the wind that makes the kite fly, it is the position taken by the kite against the wind. The position we take against life events, stress. And that stress can be a wind for us. You should not be afraid of stress at all, however, you should be afraid of whether you take the wrong position against stress. For this reason, the events called stress are actually stress or whipping in our point of view. Therefore, it is necessary to handle it in this way, but if the person is constantly nervous, we recommend breathing exercises. For example, it is used in meditation or similar practices. You breathe in while you are counting '1, 2, 3, 4', and you hold it at '5, 6' and then you exhale slowly. You exhale while counting '7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12’. You inhale fast, you wait, you exhale slowly. When you do this, the sudden effect of stress, well, the oxygen going to the brain increases here. If you change the focus of attention, you will fight with someone you looked at that moment, you are angry about something, if you step aside and do this, the muscles relax after a while.".

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)