The news on 23rd January speaks of multiple hoax calls by a mentally disturbed citizen to different airports across India disrupting flight schedules, creating panic, diverting flights, pressing security staff into hectic combing operations, and all this at a time when the country is already on high alert given the recent terrorist strike in Pathankot. We live in stressed times and episodes as above effect unnecessary peaks in the graph, thus consuming precious national resources into combating imaginary situations. With Republic Day two days hence, the incidence assumes greater urgency.

Human body is no different. The system is designed to work in harmony. Minor disturbances correct automatically. Our heart beat, breathing rate, glucose and hormone levels fluctuate with varying exercise, intake, stimuli and thoughts. We all experience happy as well as anxious moments and our in-built self-regulatory system tends to bring us to a steady state. The principle is called Homeostasis. We sulk with every failure, loss and tragedy in life but the psychological immunity brings us back to happiness after a while. The examples quoted are real life situations.

Human mind is a wonderful phenomenon. It can visualize situations that need not exist. We know that the subconscious mind cannot differentiate between situations, real or imaginary. It acts as it is fed and that most of our conduct and outcomes in life are because of our subconscious. Anxiety causes stress hormones like cortisol in our body to rise and such anxiety need not arise out of any rational reasons. Body and mind are adequately programmed to combat different situations and can be trained to combat the unusual.

So far so good, but what happens if the mind begins to entertain hoax threat calls that do not exist? Well! Just like did the security forces get into immediate action on the news as above, so would human system respond to calls, real or hoax. It tends to rush blood supply to the periphery, raising blood pressure and increasing heart rate. Anxiety peaks and stress hormones are released. In brief the system is put on high alert unnecessarily. This consumes energy and disturbs equilibrium. There being no real threat, uncertainty may prevail and even if resolved, another hoax call could happen, and then yet another. We create a pattern of entertaining hoax calls that compromise our immunity and destroy our faculties. This gets worse if body is already fighting some disease.

Some of these hoax calls are:

1. I am going to fail
2. My friend does not confide in me anymore
3. I would fall sick
4. I may lose my job
5. My colleague is feeding the boss against me
6. My spouse could be cheating
7. The flight could crash

The list could go on and on, making us fret about undue presumptions as well as future. It’s time we audit such hoax calls, sift them from the real and affirm neither to raise nor entertain them. Let us not permit hoax calls to hijack our mood, goals and schedule. Let us feed our mind with positive thoughts.