Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Founding Rector of Uskudar University, met with his readers at the 40th TÜYAP International Book Fair held this year. Tarhan, who held a talk titled 'Stress from Individual to Society', signed his books for his readers. Interest in Tarhan was very high during the talk and signing event. Stating that controllable stress is beneficial, Tarhan said that the whole point is being able to manage stress. Tarhan used the expression, “In psychiatry, there is no defeating stress; there is managing stress.”
The 40th International Istanbul Book Fair, held between October 28 and November 5, 2023, brought together hundreds of authors with readers from Istanbul and surrounding cities, with the participation of over 1000 publishing houses and non-governmental organizations.
Within the scope of the fair, author Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan was also among those who met with his readers this year.
Firstly, a talk titled “Stress from individual to society” was held, moderated by journalist Şaban Özdemir. In the talk held in the Marmara Hall, Tarhan made important evaluations regarding stress and its management. Tarhan pointed out that stress is not the cause of unhappiness, but rather the meaning attributed to stress can bring unhappiness, and stated that stress can be managed when the correct meaning is attributed to it. Tarhan emphasized that patience and gratitude hold a very important place in controlling stress.
“Controllable stress is beneficial.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, speaking about the biological and psychological harms of stress, stated that zero stress is not possible. Tarhan said; “In a state of zero stress, one does nothing. That is actually a greater stress for the human body. Because a person who does nothing does not act in accordance with their psychological nature, their organs begin to atrophy accordingly. Since many organs do not work and many networks in the brain are not utilized, just as a well opens up the more water is drawn from it, a human also opens up the more they work. If they work towards a goal, it opens up. Therefore, controllable stress is beneficial. Uncontrollable stress harms people. The whole point is being able to manage stress. In psychiatry, there is no defeating stress; there is managing stress. A person needs to set a certain purpose and a goal for life, chart their own course, and develop a strategy. Therefore, for a person to manage their stress, they need to add meaning and purpose to their life.”
“Uncertainty is a source of stress on its own”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the biggest cause of anxiety is meaninglessness; “The reason for fears is meaninglessness. When a person cannot make sense of something, there is uncertainty. Even uncertainty itself is a source of stress. Stress changes according to the window and angle we look through. If a person sets such goals for themselves in life, the effort they put in is worth the trouble. What people who suffer for themselves, for their future, for society do is not stress; it is overcoming an obstacle on the way to a goal. This develops a person.” he said.
“Stress is harmful if it becomes chronic”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, also drawing attention to the physiological and psychological effects of stress, provided information about the disease dimension of stress. Tarhan said; “Stress is harmful if it becomes chronic. When people are exposed to danger, they give a fight or flight response. And there is also the newly identified freeze response. Because it gives a fight response, the brain's shoulder, neck, and back muscles contract against the threat, pupils dilate, blood flow to the brain increases. Glucose, sugar, and blood fats are pumped into the blood from all energy sources; the body prepares itself for battle and directs all its energy to defense. This is called sympathetic activation. The sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system becomes active. There is also parasympathetic activation; the brain has the vagus nerve, which is the longest nerve in the body. If a person can activate that nerve and calmly suggest to themselves 'the danger has passed, calm down, relax, the problem is solved', parasympathetic activation occurs, muscles relax, the body relaxes, and the person learns something against that stress.”
“Patience and gratitude are the remedy for stress”
Reminding that stress is related to the meaning a person attributes to it, Tarhan said that if a person attributes the correct meaning to stress, they can manage it. Emphasizing that stress has both a threat and an opportunity dimension, Tarhan said, “If you focus on the threat dimension, saying 'why did it happen, how did it happen, why did I do this', you cannot manage stress; you increase it even more. If you manage the opportunity dimension, you say 'what did this teach me'. There are things a person can control and things they cannot. There are things within one's power and things beyond it; we have our minds to distinguish these. If we use our minds, we can manage our stress. Those who can accept and manage things they cannot control by believing in a higher power and a higher value can manage stress better. For this reason, people with strong faith see that nature and life are not meaningless against stress, and that nothing is a coincidence. They manage stress because they think 'this also has a meaning, there is wisdom in it'. In our belief system, there are two concepts that are the remedy for stress. One is patience, the other is gratitude. These two are very important in controlling stress. In things within one's power, a person will do their best, and after doing their best, they will say, 'this event has a high meaning, a high value for me, I need to wait for it, I shouldn't rush, shouldn't be impatient, I will suffer today, but there is something greater waiting for me in the future'. Rumi has a saying, 'if your arm is broken, wait, Allah might give you wings'. When you look at stress from this perspective, patience for it is to comply with the speed and rhythm of nature.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan, who also answered readers' questions, signed his books for his readers in the book signing hall after the talk.
Readers showed intense interest in Tarhan.
Readers who had their books signed by Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan also had the opportunity to chat and take photos with Tarhan.
