Dr. Inder Jeet Sharma

Will power is the key to quit smoking.
Chewing an elaichi (cardamom) or laung (clove) when you are craving always helps.
Also there are many nicotine replacement methods in the market (not only chewing gum). All these should be used under supervision of the doctor.

Follow these simple steps to ensure a good sleep every night and stay away from sleep disorders and other health problems associated with unhealthy sleep habits: 1) maintain a regular sleep routine - try to get at least 6 to 7 hours of uninteruppted sleep at night time Go to bed at the same time. Wake up at the same time. Ideally, your schedule will remain the same (+/- 20 minutes) every Night of the week. A good sleep hygiene routine promotes healthy sleep and daytime alertness. 2) avoid sleeping during the daytime. It can disturb the normal pattern. 3) avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol near bedtime. While alcohol may speed the onset of sleep, it creates problems in he second half of sleep. 4) exercise can promote good sleep. Exercise should be taken in the morning or late afternoon. Yoga, can be done before bed to help. 5) have a quiet, comfortable bedroom. Set your bedroom thermostat at a comfortable temperature. Generally, a little cooler is better than a little warmer. Turn off the tv and other extraneous noise that may disrupt sleep. Background 'white noise' like a fan is ok. If your pets awaken you, keep them outside the bedroom. Your bedroom should be dark. Turn off bright lights. Have a comfortable mattress. 6) avoid heavy meals close to bedtime. 7) ensure adequate exposure to natural light. 8) avoid emotionally upsetting conversations and activities before trying to go to sleep. Do not think of, or bring your problems to bed. 9) stop using all your digital devices and stop looking at digital screens be it mobile phones or televisions at least 1 hour before the time you plan to sleep. Instead try reading a fiction book near bedtime so it makes you help relaxed and de-stressed. Sleep well live healthy and live longer. If you have tried all these and still have problems, please consult me for prescription medication.

You are consuming way too many cigarettes per day! The way to go about quitting is to do completely: not just reducing it. That will not work. Let me take the liberty of assuming that you really mean that you want to stop smoking. On that assumption I must congratulate you because that is the foremost requirement to help you with that decision. But it is not easy because there are a lot of conditioning associated with it and these can be spread over the whole day and night!!! When you decide, it must be done immediately and abruptly. Waiting another day will jeopardize the decision. Since you want to do it I recommend that you seek the help of a counselor and do it with support. You need to identify with why you smoke: there is an oral need, the nicotine effect, the psychological effect of covering up some other issue, for style, to impress, etc. You may discover that the reasons may be unimportant at this stage because you have become too addicted and the habit has become compulsive. You should start vigorous exercises, gradually increasing it over a period of time. Do deep breathing exercises every time you feel like smoking (try Yoga), and replace the oral urge with some healthy food substitute to satiate the need, for a little while. If the urge is too strong, then use nicotine chewing gum or nicotine patches, for a little while until the smoking drive reduces, substantially. You may join Smokers Anonymous in your city where the support is really extraordinary for like-minded people who are also in the same situation. Keep yourself occupied or engaged with interesting activities during the times when it is most tempting. Keep the company of non-smokers for some time i.e. at least for the first 21 days. Above all, announce it to everyone that you have quit smoking. Here’s a piece of very good advice: even if you accidentally/willfully take a cigarette, it is not the end of the world – you can start the cessation all over again. You must persevere with the best support until you defeat this addiction. To help process all of the above and to get support, go for counseling and persevere with it until you are completely over it.

Anxiety is a very normal emotion, which gives rise to feelings of nervousness every now and then. An anxiety disorder is a serious medical condition in which people experience a high degree of distress and mental trauma, which causes difficulties in leading a normal life. People suffering from this medical condition experience high levels of anxiety and nervousness almost all the time. Here are the symptoms that indicate you're suffering from anxiety disorder. 1. Excessive worry - This condition persists if you worry about the day to day activities a bit too much on a regular basis. It is identified when you start taking too much stress about very petty things, which tends to affect you in an adverse manner. A noticeable sign of excessive worry can be too much fatigue. 2. Sleep problems - Problems falling asleep at the right time and problems in maintaining a sound sleep are two signs that indicate you have an anxiety disorder. 3. Irrational fears - This symptom is not generalized; instead, it is specific and subjective in relation to a particular thing or situation. The fears that are experienced under this category are sudden and unexpected in nature and there is no fixed rationale behind these fears. 4. Muscle tension - Muscle discomfort and pain is one of the leading physiological causes of an anxiety disorder. The pain felt is chronic and pervasive, and is very common among people facing situations of anxiety. If you are exposed to constant periods of anxiety, you will experience fatigue, muscle pains and unwillingness to work. 5. Chronic indigestion - Problems related to the digestive system are also a sign of anxiety disorder. In this case, you may face constant digestive problems accompanied by a common disorder called IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). IBS refers to an anxiety situation in the digestive tract, which is characterized by stomach aches, cramping, bloating, gas, constipation, and/or diarrhea. Apart from the above-mentioned symptoms, other symptoms of an anxiety disorder include stage fright, self- consciousness, panic attacks, memory flashbacks, perfectionism, compulsive behaviors, self- doubt, and such others. But id you have serious problem you may see a psychiatrist and discuss.

Hi, In need order to change your thinking by challenging your negative thoughts its important you discuss that thought with a psychologist and get solution. The intensity and frequency of the thought also matters as sometimes it can be much more than just a negative thought. In the mean time, practice Mindful Breathing The primary goal of mindful breathing is simply a calm, nonjudging awareness, allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go without getting caught up in them. Sit comfortably, with your eyes closed and your spine reasonably straight. Bring your attention to your breathing. Imagine that you have a balloon in your tummy. Every time you breathe in, the balloon inflates. Each time you breathe out, the balloon deflates. Notice the sensations in your abdomen as the balloon inflates and deflates. Your abdomen rising with the in-breath, and falling with the out-breath. Thoughts will come into your mind, and that’s okay, because that’s just what the human mind does. Simply notice those thoughts, then bring your attention back to your breathing. Likewise, you can notice sounds, physical feelings, and emotions, and again, just bring your attention back to your breathing. You don’t have to follow those thoughts or feelings, don’t judge yourself for having them, or analyse them in any way. It’s okay for the thoughts to be there. Just notice those thoughts, and let them drift on by, bringing your attention back to your breathing. Whenever you notice that your attention has drifted off and is becoming caught up in thoughts or feelings, simply note that the attention has drifted, and then gently bring the attention back to your breathing. It's okay and natural for thoughts to enter into your awareness, and for your attention to follow them. No matter how many times this happens, just keep bringing your attention back to your breathing. All the best.

Dear lybrate user, welcome to lybrate. Memory and mind power depends mainly on three aspects. Understanding, storage and recollection. To understand what you are studying, you must be able to be attentive or concentrate. Concentration is possible when you are interested in that subject. Creative way of learning can help you concentrate and understand easily. When you are able to understand and concentrate, it is stored within your brain. If you read more and more it will be store in long term memory. Third part is retrieval. Whenever you want to retrive what you learned and stored, your brain gets the request, searches the database and retrieves the information for you. The retrieval may prove to be difficult if you are anxious, stressed, worried or tired physically or mentally. Retrieval is more easy when you are relaxed and healthy. Brain needs nutrients to keep itself sharp. Fruits, vegetables and dry fruits provide much needed nutrients for your brain. Include at least one fruit in your daily diet. Physical exercises, entertainment, hobbies, relaxation, memory games like sudoku etc help keep your memory sharp and active. Take care.

You have an anger-related depression and the incidents around your family may be great contributors towards it. I suspect you are not expressing this feeling and therefore the depression. Sometimes you act your anger out with your wife and children making them hapless victims of your inability to express to the elder family members for their gross indifference towards to and your wife and kids. Procrastination is also indicative of anger not expressed. Headaches are directly related to anger. All this stress is causing acidity in your system. This is not laziness in the traditional sense but a lethargy or inertia prompted by unexpressed feelings of anger. You must do regular and vigorous exercise every day. Yoga and meditation is also good to calm you down. Force yourself to do the opposite of what your mind and body feel like doing or not doing. Depression is the only condition I recommend that you must fight with all your might. Work with a counselor and particularly learn to express your anger at home. Many years of suppressed emotions are playing havoc in your system. If none of these have the desired effect, do go to a psychiatrist and seek medical intervention to help with the depression. Whatever happens please do continue with the counseling.

Dear , I would like to know how can you say that you have loss of memory loss. I son; t see your age here. Amnesia and related problems are rare. Don't conclude unless you get yourself checked for memory. These problems are either they are too busy or due to anxiety and stress. Busy people use organizers or employ a personal assistant because they can't remember every task. You need to understand this. If you still say, you are having memory problems, we need to check your memory using memory test. If you want more of my help in this regard, please contact me. Take care.

Loss of control over the addiction is not surprising since that is a major part of the enslavement to substances. That also means that if you want you can give it up anywhere, anytime. But the better reason to give up smoking is to relate to the harmful effects of tobacco. Also the peer pressure is very great while in college and in the hostel, and it appears that you are not able to say ‘no’. To be ‘in’ with the crowd you may hesitate to refuse to join them and go along with the flow. But this is hurting you further, and down the line you will find it increasingly difficult to quit. Do it now even if your friends ostracize you: your life is at stake, not theirs. When quitting, you must take one day at a time. If you look too far ahead you will get discouraged and will give up. If you sit and count the number of days you have given up, that will also focus too much on achievement. You must focus on the here and now, on that day to be precise. After all quitting is not that easy due to many factors. So even if you fail one day, you must try and try again. Very few people succeed in their first attempt. Your persistence will eventually pay off. The urge to discontinue is hampered by many factors but the worst of them is the conditioning. In fact these conditions can exist all through the day unlike other addictions. But your desire to want to stop is the most important factor. It is important to find out about the ill-effects of smoking to have a reason that alarms you about continuing in the habit. The information is really scary but true and you must remind yourself about this every day. The nicotine in tobacco smoke stimulates the heart beat to raise the blood pressure in no time at all. So you must avoid it like the plague: it is just very bad medicine for you. In fact it is highly toxic too. You will need to stop smoking or consuming any tobacco related items with immediate effect. You should start vigorous exercises, gradually increasing it over a period of time. Do deep breathing exercises every time you feel like smoking (try Yoga), and replace the oral urge with some healthy food substitute to satiate the need. You may also take hard candy or chewing gum. If the urge is too strong, then use nicotine chewing gum or nicotine patches, for a little while until the smoking drive reduces, substantially. You may also join Smokers Anonymous in your city where the support is really extraordinary for like-minded people who are also in the same situation. Keep yourself occupied or engaged with interesting activities during the times when it is most tempting. Keep the company of non-smokers for some time i.e. at least for the first 21 days. Above all announce it to everyone that you have quit smoking. Here’s a piece of very good advice: even if you accidentally/willfully take a cigarette, it is not the end of the world – you can start the cessation all over again. You must persevere with the best support until you defeat this addiction. Counseling is very useful in the initial stages and when temptations are at their highest.

Dear user. I can understand. You are YOU. Whatever your behavior today, whatever your body language today are learned from your past experiences and social interactions. Whatever you have learned can be unlearned or over written. This is a continuous process happening throughout your life. I suggest cognitive behavior therapy for you. Take care.