In everyday life it sometimes seems impossible to stay calm and respond to what destiny throws up without reacting. In some cases, the repetition of such draining situations leads to exasperation that explodes at the wrong time and in an exaggerated manner.
This happens because our body and mind can’t take any more, but even then we find it hard to walk away from the source of our malaise because we think those we leave behind can’t cope without us.
This is in fact, absurd and comes from a need to be ever present. Humans are creatures of habit; if the mechanisms they are used to changes, there’s a risk they may go haywire.
However, precisely because humans are creatures of habit, they adapt in a relatively short time to a new situation, just like animals adapt to natural conditions.
If abandoning daily routine lasts for a week nobody and nothing stops living; on the contrary, the person that benefits have the chance to take a break, recharge their batteries and after that a short period of «healthy egoism», will manage to cope with all those who rely on them with even more vitality and serenity.
This is why we often recommend trying the treatment alone, without husbands, wives, partners, girlfriends or boyfriends. For the best results, patients have to stop, find themselves and find their own time and pace.
The winning formula is that all clients are in the same boat: they spend the day together informally, wearing either a tracksuit or bathrobe, enjoying a previously unknown freedom. With the exception of a few rare cases, everyone is dealing with the same problems. Our guests include politicians, actors and businessmen - the rules are the same for everyone.
The first they feel strange, then suddenly they find themselves sharing all their free time with people they only met a few hours earlier and with whom they start to chat about this and that, sometimes even sharing extremely personal experiences.
You can be sure that while sipping a barley coffee or juice, one of the most common topics of conversation is food. During the first few days the flavours they are used to are constantly in everyone’s thoughts. You hear patients describing recipes with embarrassing amounts of calories and everyone highlights his or her culinary skills and secrets to the success of a dish. Food becomes the main topic of the first few days and just like at school, everyone just waits around for the bell for lunch or dinner.
Once they are eliminated, the excesses we are all used to cause what could almost be described as withdrawal symptoms. However, on the second or third day at most of this controlled diet plan, the sense of general wellness and the unusual sensation of lightness help them look at what seemed an insurmountable problem with more objectivity. After all, the reserves our body has guarantee we can follow a controlled diet for a certain period that will only make us feel healthier. Food can become a drug if we abuse it.
Fortunately, most of our clients do not have complex problems. Often however, weight gain in the absence of a clear physiological cause hides an inner unease in the patient that a period of relaxation can help solve. Examining the reasons for our dissatisfaction calmly and in a detached manner generally also helps us put them into perspective. When there is serious inner malaise, the situation becomes more complex and more difficult to solve.
This malaise can cancel the patient’s ability to react when faced with problems, getting to the point of either completely eliminating food, as happens with anorexics, or filling their lives compulsive behaviour. The patient’s abuse of his or her body also does great harm to the psychological sphere. Treatment therefore requires a lot more time and patience than usual.
What our centre offers patients is a welcoming environment, kindness, courtesy and professionalism and the warm atmosphere of a friendly place that generally helps to overcome and improve an oppressing state of mind and to benefit from a state of wellness that we are not used to recognizing and whose privileges we often choose not to enjoy.