Are you afraid that you are going to be alone forever in life? Do you fret about rising cancer rates and fear it might be you one of the patients one day? Modern living factors ranging from being plugged continuously into facing the impact of human activity on this planet have generated a new set of stressors. They aren’t registered as phobias in the most Psychology or Psychiatry textbooks yet, but still, they happen to bother us these days.

What are these Neo-Stressors?

The modern age stressors have taken a new avatar as there is a development of technology and advancement in the field of science and technology. Neo-stressors are explained as follows;

Nomophobia

Nomophobia is the irrational fear of being without your mobile phone or being unable to use your phone for some reason, such as the absence of a signal or running out of minutes or battery power.

Zero-Inbox Syndrome

The urge to check every notification and clear every inbox is registering as a stressor too. The urge for zero unread messages leads to repeated phone use that can affect focus, attention, and productivity, according to experts. This type of stress could create unwanted stress which could have an impact on other systems of the body.

Carcinophobia

Cancer phobia, also known as carcinophobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by the chronic fear of developing cancer. It can manifest in tremendous feelings of sadness, fear, panic, and distress. In some cases, the phobia can be so extreme that it prevents the individual from living a normal life.

Anuptaphobia

This is the fear of being or staying single. Anuptaphobiais considered being a specific phobia, which is seen in today’s life as most of them are a single parent or unmarried. Anuptaphobiais also linked to Gamophobia (Fear of marriage).

Macrophobia

The name derives from Greek macro meaning "long" which is the fear of long waits. The phobia often comes about due to one who waits for a long time too frequently, which resulted in frustrations. Sufferers would shop online instead of going shopping or have someone else do the shopping for them. This could be explained as due to non-availability of things in a shop, they shop instantly through online platforms or as someone to shop for them, just because they have no patience to wait.

How do all these Impact Our Health?

There is evidence that we are becoming over-dependent, or even possibly addicted, to our modern age gadgets and wrong lifestyles. Think about how you feel when you realize you have forgotten your phone or left it behind somewhere. It can be uncomfortable, can’t it?

Recent research studies have clearly shown the link between the modern-day gadgets and humans have close attachments towards them. Consequent to prolonged usage and attachments, the stress levels have gone up when they have been detached of these gadgets which have been alarming factors which causes a lot of stress that makes an impact on various systems of your body. These stress levels are unavoidable when they are used wisely and whenever the usage exceeds the permitted levels, it is found that they not only impact the body, but also have effects on brain structures and their function.

The mental stress could have a great impact on physical health. Mental stress could directly influence the heart; thus it could increase the pulse and blood pressure and as a result of it, it could even disturb all your bodily systems and hormone secretions in the body. Initially, if this type of stress is not taken care, it might slowly develop into chronic diseases that could manifest into psychosomatic ailments.

Strategic Tools to Manage these Stressors

Basic management of stress goes with A B C Strategy, where:

• A stands for Awareness of what causes this stress,
• B stands for Balance on how we could bring a balance among the negative and positive stress, and
• C stands for control of emotions and stress levels which could play a vital part in our preventing ailments caused by stress

Yogic Way To Handle It

Yoga alleviates these stressors at the root cause rather than at symptomatic levels.

Stress management through Yoga includes various physical practices called Asanas, through which the physical body is prepared for higher practices like Pranayama or breathing exercises along with some advanced practices of Yoga Nidra and Yogic sleep, where the vital energies are awakened.

When you practice asana, it is believed that it could bring is a balance of body and mind.–. When one practices Asanas with consciousness, awareness, and maintenance, it could bring a balance in the working of the various bodily systems – namely, regulate endocrinal secretions, improve circulation, increase concentration, increase muscle tone and activity, improve nerve functions and also immune functions. Muscles contain stretch receptors and the stretching movements of asanas could send relaxing impulses to the brain, which could bring the relaxation of the mind.

Pranayama means controlling the breath. The techniques of pranayama could bring in a balance of mental and physical planes of being by regulating the breathing pattern.

Meditation is a practice that is considered to be a mind-body medicine that could produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. When you meditate, you focus your attention and eliminate all your negative thoughts that are responsible for causing stress in your mind. This process of elimination could bring an enhanced state of physical and emotional well-being.

Yoga plays a vital role in the reduction of stress. It is one of the comprehensive solutions in stress management, which helps to keep our body and mind in a balanced state, which lines with the principle of prevention is better than cure.

Alternate Natural Methods To Manage the Neo-Stressors

Some simple ways that could work well are to follow step by step plan:

1. Make a date plan–Slowly try reducing the frequency of a habit by tapering it.
2. Have a will power and determination– Practicing some simple meditation techniques could also help you achieve it.
3. Mind Diversion Therapy– These therapies could make you less involved in the habit of drug addiction could also help you slowly get rid of these habits on a slow basis. By diverting your mind into various other activities like music, sporting, leisure activities, yoga, Taichi, etc. could help your mind.
4. Meet A Counselor– If you are unable to achieve the steps mentioned above on your own, it might be advised to meet a counsellor who could help you to come out of these habits.
5. Eat a Healthy Diet– A well-balanced diet in all nutrients and vitamins is very much necessary to bring down your stress levels and also to boost up your immunity.

(About Author - Dr. Sangeeth Somanadhapai is a Naturopath, Academician, Blogger and Stress Management Trainer with 21years of experience at various levels, private and government projects).