Chronic Stress, Anxiety? You Are Your Best Doctor: Dr. Bal Pawa (Transcript)

Full text of Physician Dr. Bal Pawa’s talk titled “Chronic Stress, Anxiety? – You Are Your Best Doctor” at TEDxSFU conference.

Listen to the MP3 Audio here:

TRANSCRIPT:

Dr. Bal Pawa – Physician

Let’s pretend that I’m Oprah, and all of you are getting a brand-new car, a BMW. Whoa! You’re excited, you rev up the engine, and you hit the road; you’re enjoying the ride, and suddenly a little white poodle jumps right in front of you. You panic, the dog panics. You’re going right, left right.

And just when you think you’re going to hit the dog or crash into the ditch, you slam on your brakes, swerve, and shoo! The dog scampers off but you’re left shaking.

What just happened? You just experienced an acute, short-lived stress called ‘fight-or-flight.’ sound familiar?

Now, imagine if your body lived in this state all the time. Chronic excessive stress leads to distress – heartburn, headache, muscle tension, hypertension, gut problems, sleep problems, high anxiety, low sex drive. Sound familiar?

As I can tell you, the American Medical Association also reports that an astonishing 75% of all the symptoms that doctors treat can be traced right back to excessive stress.

As a researcher and as a physician, I see these symptoms. And eventually, these symptoms lead to serious life-threatening diseases – diabetes, depression, heart attacks, and even cancer.

There is an undeniable mind-body connection when it comes to stress and disease. But today, I’m going to show you how to use your mind to stress proof your body by becoming your own best doctor.