Self-Destruction Syndromes

Cigarette smoking, inactivity, alcohol abuse, obesity, drug use, and accidents all represent a form of suicide or self-destruction. These factors combine to be the most important determinants of your present and future health. You can live longer and feel better by employing enjoyable disciplines in your life-style. Get back in control. Remember that the effects of each bad health habit are cumulative. The probability of early death or disability increases the longer you continue to smoke, the longer you are obese, the longer you lack exercise, and the percentage of time that you ignore your seatbelt. Stopping bad habit at any time is beneficial. And for most of these problems, moderation, rather than total elimination, is the crucial health element.

Avoid making excuses: “Everyone is overweight in my family.” “I just wish I had the time to exercise.” “It’s easy to give up smoking, I’ve done it fifty times.” “I never drink before lunchtime.” “I can handle it.” I don’t smoke cigarettes all the way.” “Diets just don’t work for me.” It is embarrassing to hear such statements offered by apparently intelligent people. First you need insight; then change is possible.

How can you conquer a habit? This is accomplished only by hard work. We have given most of the principles above. Avoid self-deception. Set goals and write them down. Chart your progress. Work with others who have the same problems. Plan to work at it the rest of your life. Tell others what you are doing. Discover the pleasant dividends of your change of habit and remind yourself of them: a better sex life, better physical reserve during the day, admiring looks from others, more energy, more money, a clear mind, less illness.

Decide to make permanent changes in your life. Crash diets, periods of time “on the wagon,” and spurts of physical activity are all poor practice. When you exercise beyond your conditioning, you stress muscles, ligaments, and the heart. When your weight bounces from high to low to high like a yo-yo it is just as harmful to your heart and arteries as if you had kept the initial high weight. The spree drinker adds additional social and medical problems to those of the steady alcoholic. These issues are for a lifetime, and there are no short-term solutions.

You are the patient. It is your life and your responsibility. Define for yourself those health goals which are important to you and your family. Define a solid and workable program to approach these goals, and plan to maintain that program for the rest of your life. You will live longer, feel better, and have more energy to share with your family and friends.