PHOTO: Courtesy

Fernando Sarráis, psychiatrist of the Clínica Universidad de Navarrarecommends balancing fatigue and rest to avoid physical and psychological pathologies such as chronic asthenia, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, anguish and depression. "With the internship you can incorporate this harmony into your ordinary life until it becomes automatic, as happens with many other habits. This way, these negative consequences are prevented," he says in his book Learning to live: restfrom the collection 'Person and Culture' (EUNSA), where he reveals keys to combat chronic stress and improve the quality of life.

Fernando Sarráis made these declarations on the occasion of the presentation of the collection of interdisciplinary books 'Person and Culture', in which more than 100 experts from 15 universities participate. In addition to Dr. Sarráis, the event was also attended by the princes of Panagyuristhe Kubrat of Saxony and Coburg and his wife Carla Royo-Villanova; Covadonga O'Shea, President of ISEM; and Tomás Trigo, professor of the School of Theology of the University of Navarra and co-director of the collection.

Activities to avoid stress and promote relaxation

Psychiatrist Fernando Sarráis.

Photo: Manuel Castells

In this sense, the psychiatrist assures that rest "depends on the realization of some activities that promote positive emotions and neutralize the negative ones". Among these, he proposes the following: physical exercise; enjoyment of the senses, especially visual (television, cinema, photography, internet...); enjoying beautiful images, pleasant smells, cozy temperatures, silence or soothing sounds; music; cinema; reading; games; excursions and trips; the contemplation of 'good and beautiful' things such as a landscape, children playing, the sea...family and friends; hobbies such as hunting and fishing; encouraging laughter and good humor; crafts and tinkering; gardening and horticulture; pets and companion animals; and prayer and religious activities.

"It is necessary to learn to disconnect, which means to temporarily stop thinking, remembering, imagining and feeling responsible for the tasks performed", says Fernando Sarráis. And, as he points out, this can be done on a superficial level or in a deeper way, which implies a change of mentality: "Not to feel like the only one manager of the task (share the weight and delegate), accept with good humor the failure in that work, do not make the value or prestige staff depend on the perfect performance of the tasks, and detach emotionally from the opinion that others may form when they judge how we perform our jobs".