When two or more disciplines converge, the outcome is often somewhat of a revelation. Multiple perspectives lead to new ways of seeing things and enriched understanding – and hopefully, a better way of doing things too.

When this happens in the medical arena, the results can be invaluable. Taking an integral approach to health and well-being allows people to understand the mind-body connection – and how emotional and mental turmoil can manifest physically.

This is the view of Family Medicine Physician and Senior Lecturer in Health Management at the UCT Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB), Dr Shadrick Mazaza.

Mazaza, who is also Chairman and President of the South African Academy of Family Physicians, has a keen interest in the area of personal transformation – to some a rather esoteric topic not usually associated with the worlds of medicine or business.

He, however, says his academic role at the GSB has allowed him to spend time thinking about this interest in recent years – and has enabled him to cross-pollinate some important ideas with fellow colleagues working within the converging disciplines of leadership and inclusion, for example.

To put it in his words, Mazaza believes personal transformation to be “one of the most important aspects of well-being”, and something he believes every human being should take an active interest in.

“My belief is that, in order to lead a fulfilling life (and that includes mental, physical and emotional health), personal transformation is crucial. I always say that the most important question in life is ‘Who am I?’

“When you embark on a quest to answer this question you start a journey of personal transformation that will allow you to lead a more enriched, purposeful life.”

According to the family physician, personal transformation means awareness of who you are – awareness that evolves all the time as we grow older. It is also the only route to true freedom, he says.

“Many people don’t realise soon enough that they can’t change and control events in their lives – they can only control how they see and deal with these events.

“For example, most people associate freedom as being connected with things or circumstances in their environment – like the end of apartheid. However, if this is how we view our freedom, then it is a very tenuous thing, something that can easily be taken away from us. I call these “mini freedoms” – akin to being allowed to wander around in a slightly bigger space within a prison. One still remains a prisoner in these situations. Self awareness leads to ultimate liberation – getting out of prison altogether. 

“We South Africans are infatuated with freedom – it is a very loaded word and concept – but if we expect too much from this ‘freedom’ (as many of us do) we will be left disappointed. The only way to change your life is to take control of how you see and interpret the world around you. This is one of the most empowering realisations a person can arrive at.”

To this end, Mazaza is an eager proponent of mindfulness meditation and says that simply being more mindful in everyday life is a key starting point for personal transformation. It has proven health benefits as well.

“The scientific case for mindfulness meditation is growing stronger all the time,” he says.

“Studies are proving that meditation can help maintain blood pressure, reduce pulse rate, improve immune system function and even result in alterations in brain patterns to the kind found in healthier people with low stress levels. It can basically help to relieve the physical and mental symptoms of stress.”

Mazaza has gleaned a lot of first-hand experience of this mind-body connect during his many years as a practising physician, and it has caused him to take a different view of traditional doctor-patient relationships.

“As a physician I realised that in about 70 – 80% of the patients I treated, the root of their illness was a direct result of activity of mind – for example, a result of stress. Stress can manifest in a number of ways physically; headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, back pain, hypertension, even diabetes – all of these problems are often rooted in the mind but Western medicine is more concerned with treating the effects than the cause.”

This realisation prompted Mazaza to consult differently.

When patients complain of physical problems, especially those most commonly associated with stress, he tries to get to the root cause by encouraging them to “interrogate” their interpretation of events in their life. In so doing he gets them to see how their lopsided perceptions gave rise to emotional charges, unhealthy relationships and stress. The results in some cases have been staggering.

“A few years ago a young woman came to see me complaining of the most severe headaches and back pain. She had seen several doctors and even gone for an MRI scan, so convinced was she that something was very wrong with her. Every doctor told her that there was nothing wrong – which simply made her feel worse.

“I spoke to her for 30 minutes, encouraging her to examine her expectations and how attachment to these led to the physical symptoms of headache, back pain and stomach pains. She revealed that her brother had died of a brain tumour several years earlier.

“I took some time explaining how her constant fears of also having a brain tumour and worrying about her own possible death was manifesting physically and how she was locked in a vicious cycle of worrying about her pain, which was just making it worse,” relates Mazaza.

Four weeks after the woman left – without any prescribed medicine – Mazaza called her up to enquire about her symptoms. She revealed a massive reduction in her headaches and pain, saying it was the first time in three years she had not taken any pain pills and felt well.

“As a physician I cannot tell you how gratifying that was. It is immensely empowering when you help someone to understand the connection between their mind and body and then make the decision to take control of their well being.”

Mazaza also sites an example of a woman patient who visited him complaining of depression – and seeking medication.

“When we started talking she revealed she felt depressed because of her husband’s daily late-night drinking antics. He was coming home at 3am every morning and expecting her to wait up for him to give him supper. This had been going on for years and she complained of headaches, back pain, sleeping difficulties, and not enjoying life in general.

“I told her I was disgusted at her husband’s behaviour and how unfair it was that he was having fun behaving the way he did and she was the one with “a disease” I explained to her the connection between her symptoms and her activity of mind over her husband’s behaviour.  Her stress was caused by her response to her husband’s behaviour and she had more control over that than she had over changing him. I advised her not to let him get the satisfaction of making her ill, and that the next time it happened she should she should be mindful of her responsibility about how she felt about things (including her husband’s behaviour) and that way respond to her husband’s behaviour instead of reacting to it.

“She reported to me two weeks later that she had taken my advice – and felt much better. She also revealed that after two nights of greeting her drunken husband in a calm and relaxed manner, he stopped coming home late!”

Potent experiences like these have over the years served to strengthen Mazaza’s belief in the mind-body connect and the power of personal transformation and self-awareness.

“Time and again I see patients trapped in a cycle of negative feelings and emotions and health problems. Taking control of how we see ourselves, our lives and the events and circumstances around us is the surest way to a fulfilling life and good health – without the need for medicine.”