por ALBERTO AZCARATE VARELA
THE BAJA POST/NEWSROOM
The lack of knowledge of the emotional relationship with food makes many Mexicans underestimate the connection between body and mind. For example, obesity is much more than a physical condition, as it is configured by emotional elements that include anxiety, fear and rejection, which, if not detected in time, can trigger potentially harmful problems for comprehensive health, commented Professor Marylin Martínez, form the School of Psychology of CETYS University Campus Mexicali.
She also said that it is rare for people to reflect on their relationship with food, and even more so, that they know how to identify if it is stable, healthy and balanced, or if they experience dysfunctions, alterations or some kind of problem.
Fortunately, the adoption of lifestyles that take care of physical and mental well-being is increasingly popular among Mexicans, who are turning to the multi and interdisciplinary work of health professionals to improve their quality of life. In this work, the health psychologist plays a fundamental role, since she collaborates in the promotion and maintenance of an adequate lifestyle, as well as in the treatment of disorders and diseases when they occur, she pointed out.
Until relatively recently, according to the CETYS University professor, it used to be normal to live with discomforts such as fear, anxiety, insecurity and high levels of stress caused by the accelerated rhythms of work and the environment in which people develop in their different environments, and that sometimes they become somaticized, going from being an emotion or cognition to manifesting through physical pain and suffering.
In this regard, Professor Martínez issued three recommendations to be carried out gradually and progressively by those living with a chronic disease:
Create habits that take responsibility for your health: Promote your quality of life by creating and maintaining habits such as drinking water, doing 30 minutes of daily exercise, meditating, praying, and doing recreational activities of your choice
Eating as an act of self-care: Food choices are conditioned by factors such as education, knowledge of the environment, industry, personal tastes and preferences. Therefore, when planning, preparing, preparing and, finally, eating food, you must do it from the awareness of the need to ingest nutrients.
Seek professional help: It is normal not to be able to alone. In case of wanting to obtain improvements in the general state of health through a better diet, and not being able or not knowing how to do it, it is best to seek multidisciplinary professional support in which a doctor, a nutritionist and a psychologist participate.
“Psychologists have instrumentation and specific intervention techniques for each disease, where psychoeducation is provided to each patient and her family, as well as effective tools to improve their style and quality of life,” she said.
