The human mind continues to fascinate me. Recently I met a close friend after a long time.  Over dinner and drinks he filled me up on his life. He now had a successful business employing well over 20 people. As we were chatting he said Nitin, I feel I have a problem. I asked what, to which he replied “I think my brain is a confused mass of protoplasm”. Intrigued I asked what did he meant by that.

He answered ” my brain is always working. It never stops thinking. All the time I have thoughts going through my head. What I have to do today, what needs to be done tomorrow. How I wish for just a short while my brain would stop thinking. I am doing one thing but my brain is already thinking about what next has to be done. In the morning I get up to take a shower and as the cold water strikes my face, thoughts race through my mind. Needless and endless thoughts. Do you have any drug which I can take to control my mind?”

I guess the pressures and distractions of modern life has made all our minds (some more than others) confused masses of protoplasm. Our minds are constantly getting bombarded by external images, sense objects, pressures of modern life, all causing a sensory overload which our minds are unable to compensate for. More and more people are burning out at a young age, some willingly and others been forced to opt out of the rat race. Turning to meditation, yoga and solitude to bring this incessant brain chatter under their control. Unfortunately we still do not have any magic drug to switch on and off these thoughts and ramblings of the brain.

Till that happens we continue to suffer the price of modern existence.

Nitin Sethi, MD