HABITS TO DIE FOR: PART 1

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TweetHabits To Die For: Part I
By Heather C. Tristany, CPT, MES, LSWMC

It was 3:00, a.m. when the phone suddenly rang out in the darkness. Upon answering, a voice cried out, "This is your brother, Dad just died of a heart attack. The paramedics are on the way." I was completely shocked. I had seen my father a few days earlier, and there weren't any indications that he was ill. In fact, he appeared to be in peak form. Confused and grief stricken, I began to search for the cause of his death. I suspected that it was his "no activity" lifestyle and high fat diet that finally caught up with him. The next day, the coroner's report confirmed my suspicion: His death was the result of atherosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries from deposits of cholesterol and fat. The truth was painful! Especially, when the experts concluded that his premature death could have been completely avoided--only if he had the appropriate medical care. It became very clear, that it was his bad habits which ultimately robbed him of his life. Now, he's gone and never to return.

Regretfully, when I look back and ask "Why didn't he save himself?" The answer was obvious: He was in denial, he lacked knowledge about health, and would not accept that he had a life threatening problem.

Yes, bad habits can kill, but it is possible to change your lifestyle. However, it requires an entirely different mindset: First, you must take personal responsibility for your own health. Second, develop the awareness that you need to make definite changes in your life. Third, educate yourself and learn the fundamental premises of good health. Forth, research the health risks that are associated with aging; and Fifth, inquire into your family's history of diseases and pathology. Armed with these facts, you now have the basics to make informed decisions about the nutritional and exercise requirements that you need.

Nevertheless, changing life long habits is not an easy task. Typically, desperate family members quote medical statistics and use scare tactics to try and change their loved ones. It simply does not work. To make matters worse, pressuring and nagging creates even more resistance. If anything, it erects a wall of denial which can defy all rational explanations regarding good health. The usual reaction is "that could never happen to me!". When it does--it can be fatal!

Then, what is the answer: To get someone to change their deeply entrenched habits requires their conscious commitment to take personal responsibility for their own life. There is no other way! The problem is, that the onset of most diseases of aging are silent killers. They are slow, progressive and insidious. There are no warning signs, no pains, nor any pronounced symptoms that would hint to an impending disaster. This is typical of heart disease, stroke, and cancer in individuals over the age of fifty. For that reason, it's no surprise that many people do not make the connection that today's lifestyle habits can potentially lead to premature death. Therefore, if you are risking your health by poor habits--this is what you can you do to change....

Primarily, you need to understand the nature of habits, and what makes them so difficult to change. Clinical Psychologist, John F. Tristany, Ph.D. defines habits as, "deeply ingrained, learned patterns of behavior that are continually reinforced by environmental, emotional, and psychological factors." He continues, "habits are maintained by the Pleasure Principal: the desire to gain pleasure and the absolute need to avoid pain". To understand how the pleasure principal is applied to changes in exercise, diet, and lifestyle--it must be compared to the sedentary individual. For these people, physical activity is alien. Exercise, aerobics, and muscle fatigue are interpreted by the brain as pain provoking. The result is pain avoidance, withdrawal and alternative pleasure seeking. This is where searching for passive stimulation such as overeating, drugs, alcohol, and sex are anchored to the pleasure principal; and therefore, reinforce inactivity.

Dr. Tristany believes that this principal is reversed for active people. He states, "physical exertion is emotionally associated with good health, strength, and body image. The pain impulses linked to exercise become positively associated to one's physical identity and to the euphoria of sexual attractiveness. Thus, the habits of a healthy lifestyle are rewarded by the pleasure principal through social recognition and physical feelings of well being.

The same principal applies to eating behaviors as well. Most people react to dieting as a negative experience to be avoided. Food restriction is felt to be depriving, frustrating and painful for most. Giving up those sweet and creamy foods, stemming from old family habits, is truly a painful experience. Conversely, those who value fitness--associate pain with consuming fattening foods. They experience discomfort just thinking about being overweight or potentially compromising their health. These examples may seem simplistic; but if you think about your food preferences, you'll begin to recognize how this principal affects your attitudes, thoughts and behaviors.

Understanding your philosophy of life is the next critical step towards changing your habits. Lifestyle patterns such as attitudes and fixed habits of inactivity fall into this category. As defined by Clinical Psychologist....

Please stay tuned for part two of "Habit To Die For".

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