Dr Elena Stamatova: “My past is my experience, my future is my fantasy. Real life is here and now.”

 

by Elitsa Lukova

photo: www.foter.com

Stress is part of our lives and we have to cope with a variety of challenges every day – from minor worries to major crises. Due to the growth of stress factors in the last few decades, Dr Elena Stamatova, a psychiatrist with over 40 years of clinical experience, observes an alarming tendency to increase of anxiety and depression on one hand and decrease of the age of people with psychological and mental disorders on the other.

According to Dr Stamatova“, stress can have a positive or a negative impact on us depending on its strength and the duration of the effect of the stressor. We, one way or another, live together with stress, whether it is of a personal, social or professional character. So, everyday stress in small doses is necessary for us. It is creative, positive and motivating.”

Distress is the excessive or chronic stress associated with a wide range of negative health consequences – from anxiety and depression to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. And sometimes the border between stress and distress is pretty vague.

“A lot of stressful events happen daily one after another and accumulate in the subconscious. Stress piles up and up, and unless we blow off steam, it bursts. After crossing that border, stress becomes regressive”, said Dr Stamatova.

When stress becomes overwhelming, we usually have to change our habits, reduce the stressors or at least try to alter our response to challenges we face. “This crisis gives us a chance to stop and think over, to understand the reason and to change our attitude to the stressor,” added Dr Stamatova.

It turns out, there is not a precise recipe for coping with stress. Hobbies, sport, yoga and meditation, breathing techniques, art and crafts are all good stress reduction tools. “What works well for one person may not for another. The most important thing is to change our focus, to take care of ourselves and to   glut our lives with activities that make us feel OK.”

Dr Stamatova admits she herself doesn’t have any specific hobby or activity to cope with stress. Her secret strategy is just to accept reality. “Like many other people, I cannot predict or change circumstances and situations, but I have learnt to live here and now. My past is my experience, my future is my fantasy. Real life is here and now.”

 

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