Daniel López Rosetti: “You can ease stress by adopting a Stoic view of daily frustrations”

“You should not try to be better than other people, but better than yesterday,” cardiologist Daniel López Rosetti told LA NACION. His approach to personal well-being begins not with an external contest, but with an internal change in how people perceive everyday frustrations.

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You should not try to be better than other people, but better than yesterday; the competition is with yourself.

López Rosetti said chronic stress produces what he calls “low-grade inflammation,” a pro-inflammatory condition spread through the body. He likened it to a bruise distributed internally and connected it to the popular idea of “making oneself sick with worry.” In his view, a Stoic perspective can help reduce that burden by teaching people to distinguish between stressors that deserve attention and those that do not.

“The day is a fishing line with many hooks. The stressed person becomes skilled at swallowing them; the person who manages stress avoids the hooks,” he said. He argued that medicine should not focus only on prescribing drugs. Some stressful situations, he said, require a philosophy of life more than an anti-anxiety medication.

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The day is a fishing line with many hooks. The stressed person becomes skilled at swallowing them; the person who manages stress avoids the hooks.

The doctor also described physical activity as a first-line clinical tool. Aerobic exercise, including brisk walking or jogging, and strength training can help address low mood and depression. He cited the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 150 minutes of aerobic activity each week, equivalent to walking for 30 minutes on five days. For diagnosed depression, benefits generally become established after four to eight weeks of biological adaptation. For temporary sadness or frustration, he said, movement can work much faster, because “movement is a medicine.”

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What stresses you today probably should not stress you. And dealing with that reality so it does not stress you surely has more to do with a philosophy of life than with an anti-anxiety medication.

López Rosetti, who continues to work in public health, also stressed teaching and direct contact with patients as ways to renew his professional calling. He said medical care should remain centered on the sick person, not only on the disease.

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Movement is a medicine.