Great interest was shown to Prof. Nevzat Tarhan at the Istanbul TÜYAP book fair...

President of Üsküdar University Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan met with his readers at the 40th TÜYAP International Book Fair held this year. Tarhan, who gave an interview on 'Stress from Individual to Society', signed the books he wrote to his readers. In the interview and signing program, great interest was shown to Tarhan. Stating that manageable stress is beneficial, Tarhan said that the main thing is to manage stress. Tarhan said that "In psychiatry, there is no overcoming stress, but there is managing stress."

With the participation of more than 1000 publishing houses and non-governmental organizations, the 40th International Istanbul Book Fair brought together hundreds of authors from Istanbul and the surrounding cities, which was held from October 28 to November 5, 2023.

Within the scope of the fair, author Prof. Nevzat Tarhan was among the names who met with their readers this year.

Firstly, an interview on "Stress from the individual to society" was moderated by Journalist Şaban Özdemir. In the interview held in the Marmara hall, Tarhan made important evaluations about stress and stress management. Pointing out that stress is not a cause of unhappiness, and that the meaning attributed to stress can bring unhappiness, Tarhan said that stress can be managed when the right meaning is given. Tarhan stated that patience and gratitude are very important in managing stress.

"Stress that can be controlled is beneficial."

Talking about the biological and psychological harms of stress, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that zero stress is not possible. Tarhan said that "With zero stress, it is a case of doing nothing. It is actually a bigger stress for the human body. Since the person who does nothing does not act in accordance with their psychological nature, and their own organs begin to rust accordingly. Since many organs do not work, many networks in the brain are not used, so the well is opened as water is being drawn from the well, and the human being is a creature that gets sharp as one works. If a person works towards the goal, they get sharper. Therefore, controllable stress is beneficial. Uncontrollable stress takes its toll on people. The whole job is to manage stress. In psychiatry, there is no overcoming stress, but there is managing stress. A person needs to set a goal for a certain purpose and life, draw a path for themselves and develop a strategy. That's why people need to add meaning and purpose to their lives to manage their stress."

"Uncertainty is a source of stress in itself"

Stating that the biggest cause of anxiety is meaninglessness, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said: "The cause of fears is meaninglessness. When a person cannot make sense of something, there is uncertainty. Even uncertainty is a source of stress itself. Stress varies according to the point of view and angle we are looking at. If a person sets such goals for themselves in life, it is worth suffering in what they do. What people who suffer for themselves, for their future, for society is not stress, but overcoming an obstacle on the way to the goal. It improves the person.”

"Stress is harmful if it is chronic"

Drawing attention to the physiological and psychological effects of stress, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan informed about the disease dimension of stress. Tarhan said that "Stress is harmful if it is chronic. When people are exposed to danger, they have a fight-or-flight response. They also react with freeze response that is detected recently. Since the brain reacts to the fight, the shoulder, neck and back muscles contract against the threat, the pupils dilate, and the blood supply to the brain increases. Glucose, sugar and blood fats from all energy sources are pumped into the blood, and the body prepares itself to fight and directs all its energy to defense. This is called sympathetic activation. The sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system becomes active. And then there is parasympathetic activation, there is the vagus nerve of the brain, which is the longest nerve in the body. If the person can activate that nerve, if one instills themselves with a cool attitude by saying 'the danger has passed, calm down, relax, the problem has been solved', parasympathetic activation occurs, the muscles relax, the body relaxes, and the person learns something against that stress."

"Patience and gratitude are the cure for stress"

Reminding that stress is related to the meaning that a person attaches to it, Tarhan said that if the person attaches the right meaning to stress, they can manage stress. Emphasizing that stress is a threat and an opportunity dimension, Tarhan said that "If one focuses on the threat dimension, if one focuses on 'why did it happen, how did it happen, why did I do this', they cannot manage stress, and a person increases it more. If you manage the opportunity dimension, you should say, 'What did this teach me?' There is something that a person can control, and there are things one cannot control. There is what we can afford, there is what we cannot. We have the mind to distinguish them. If we use our minds, we can manage our stress. People who can believe in a higher power and a high value, accept and manage the things we cannot control can manage stress better. For this reason, people with strong faith see that nature is not meaningless, that nothing is a coincidence. They manage stress because they think that there is a meaning and wisdom in this. There are two concepts in our belief system that are the cure for stress. One is patience and the other is the concept of gratitude. These two are very important in managing stress. A person will do his best in what one can, and after doing their best, the person will say, 'This event has a high meaning and a high value for me, I have to wait for it, I should not be hasty, I should not be impatient, I will suffer today, but there is something bigger waiting for me in the future'. There is a saying by Mevlana, 'If your arm is broken, wait, maybe Allah will give you wings'. When you look at stress from this point of view, patience is to follow the speed and rhythm of nature."

Answering the questions of the readers, Prof. Tarhan signed his books for the readers in the book signing hall after the interview.

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan signed the books for his readers, and readers had the opportunity to have a conversation with Tarhan and take photos.

  

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)