Dr. Sandeep Vohra an, MBBS, MD in Psychiatry and a Senior Consultant of the Department Of Psychiatry at Indraprashta Apollo Hospitals is currently the youngest ever elected President of Delhi Psychiatrist Society. At 34 years of age, this man has managed to reach new heights with his ideas and enthusiasm in a profession that can easily drain one of both.

He has been practicing psychiatry since ten years and in his opinion the problems that most people between the age group of 25 -35 suffer from are, "Anxiety, panic disorders, depression, phobia and even OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)". The first step to recovery from any of these problems according to Dr. Vohra is, "to take time out in order to talk about the problem with a person you trust. If, after discussion the need is felt for treatment, then a psychiatrist should be consulted."

Some of the common symptoms of stress according to him are:
Irritability
Listlessness
Unexplained palpitation
Dryness of mouth
Increased urination
Negative thinking, feelings of hopelessness and despair
Fatigue and lethargy
Change in appetite and sleep pattern
Loss of sexual desire

"To overcome these problems, certain changes in a person's diet and lifestyle are mandatory," asserts Dr. Vohra.
He recommends these 3 diet tips that aid the cure of stress-related illnesses:

1. Avoid consuming alcohol and smoking cigarettes.
2. Reduce the intake of fats and oily stuff in your diet.
3. Restrict your intake of tea or coffee to 2-3 cups a day.

According to Dr. Vohra, an addition of the following activities to your lifestyle can act as stress-busters and make your life more meaningful. They are:

Playing with children.
Solving puzzles.
Indulging in a sport of your choice on a weekly basis.
Spending time with yourself. Try to recall memories of those times in the past when stress wasn't omnipresent. This technique works wonders if accompanied by music or other aids that belonged to that time of your life.
Taking time-off from work which also means that you may not bring office work to your home.
For complete mental as well as physical relaxation try yoga.

That was the doctor's advice for busting stress. Wonder what the doctor does to keep his sanity after listening to so many tormented souls on a regular basis. Let's find out how much of his own medicine does he get to taste. "I keep my Sundays totally off. Being a doctor it's very difficult to do that but except in the case of an emergency. But I'm usually successful. Also, I am by nature, an optimist. As far as exercising is concerned, I don't get much time to do that on a regular basis but to compensate for that I avoid taking the lift while doing my rounds at Apollo."

Quite a good attitude you'd say but what makes it even more exceptional is that he doesn't smoke and drink either! Now that's the personification of the power of positive thinking!

Address: Vohra Neuropsychiatry Centre, 29/24, East Patel Nagar,
New Delhi - 110 008
Phone: 576 6567, 578 5567

- Pritika Sethi