Archive for the ‘Psychological problems’ Category

Hello Readers,

March 1 is observed as Self Injury Awareness Day worldwide. The day recognizes self-injuring tendencies of people as a serious health concern and urges you to identify the symptoms in yourself and others (if any) to nip this habit in the bud.

What makes a person resort to such crude measures? Self-harming is essentially a coping mechanism. Unable to deal with emotional turmoil and problems in life, some people injure themselves so that they are forced to focus on the physical pain rather than face the issues in life. They invite this bodily pain to numb the real pain. Does this sound familiar anyone?

Self-injury is like drug addiction. Like drug-intake starts with smaller doses, self-harm too starts with smaller cuts and scratches. Soon minor cuts stop having the same effect and you escalate to bigger and frequent injuries till you become extremely dependent on self-harming. There have been reported cases of people using this mechanism to help them sleep as their problems keep them awake at nights.

What one forgets is that self-injury only calms you or gives momentary relief (if you can call it a relief). It doesn’t kill your real problem, be it some trauma in the past, abuse, or self esteem issues. People can suffer for years without confiding in anyone or knowing that they even have a problem.

What you can do-

• The first thing to do is to identify and admit that you have a problem and self-injury is NOT a normal way of coping.
• When you feel that bout of depression, stop whatever you’re doing at once. Taking some time off to mull over your emotions can help you a lot.
• Ask a trusted family member or friend to be a point of contact when you feel like you are going to self-harm.
• Low energy levels are due to hunger, thirst or fatigue, which you may not recognize at the time, can also trigger depression and consequentially Self-injury. Avoiding long gaps in between meals is the best way to deal with this.
• Like any craving, your urge to self-injure too has a peak-point, which will not last more than 5 minutes (though you may feel like its forever). After that peak-time, it will go away on its own. Distracting yourself with loud music, meditation, calling up a friend or going for a walk may work.

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You are drained physically, emotionally as well as mentally during your pregnancy and delivery. Now, your health front needs to be in the forefront. Along with your newborn, your health also needs your special attention. It is necessary for you to keep hale and hearty as your newborn care can quickly make you drained and exhausted. So, do not miss your share of self-care.

En Route to Fitness

With the newborn, it is obviously difficult to find time for exercise, but you have to make the effort. It is not about getting back to your original shape soon after childbirth, but it is about staying fit as your body needs it. There is absolutely no need for any organized fitness classes; just a few exercises done at home can do wonders.

• Dance a little! The foot taps can tap your fitness.
• Chalk out some time for a small walk. Take your baby on a pram tram ride too in a park while you move your legs a bit.
• Swim away a little from your baby for a swim. You can leave your baby  with his/ her dad for a while and you go for a swim.
• Postnatal exercises are taught in child health clinics. Certainly, attending a class or two will give you a fair idea as to how to go about it.

Eat Right

As you would be breast-feeding your baby, so it becomes even more important for you to eat right. Never skip on the sips of water. Increase dietary calcium with lots of milk and dairy products. Even the temptations of snacking should be met with some healthy options like sliced and salted raw vegetables, vegetable soup, breadsticks, baked beans or scrambled eggs every now and then.

Come Out of Your Shell and Socialize

The more you meet your loved ones, family members, relatives and friends, the more you will feel reassured. Socializing helps! Try to interact with other new mothers who can be some of your friends or relatives, meet them frequently by visiting their houses, plan for outings together if possible. Getting to see the same pediatrician or exercising at the same dance class will further motivate you to keep fit and to stay healthy without affecting your bond with your newborn.

How has the phase of new motherhood added fun and excitement to your life?

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Women today are leading a multi-tasking life that involves a fine balance between household and hectic job demands. Consequentially, they are more often diagnosed for anxiety disorders as compared to men. And it is more than occasional jitters, self-consciousness or shyness during job interviews or when expected to give a speech.

PHOBIA is basically an irrational & uncontrolled fear towards an object, person or situation. Have you noticed anyone trembling with fear if they so much as see a spider at the other end of the room? Or no matter how you much you reassure, does your kid refuse to go for a giant wheel ride in Melas? Are you one of those who feels giddy at the mere thought of crossing a busy road? These are a few common phobias and if left untreated, then the phobia can affect the person’s day-to-day life and activities also.

Being judged poorly by faceless mass of ‘others’ is a scary prospect. We all encounter mild forms of SOCIAL PHOBIA from time to time. Yes, even practiced public speakers! So its nothing to be ashamed of, and of course there are ways to enhance your social skills. Once you identify where this phobia stems from, which is your deep fear of embarrassing yourself (will they make fun of me?), you can figure out a way to take the bull by its horns.

For many of us, coping with traumatic events can be very stressful. Recovering from an accident, coping with illness/loss of a loved one, major relationship setbacks etc have a way of haunting us in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, and dizziness. If you feel as if you can never get over what has happened and hopeless about moving on, you may be suffering from POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. If you know someone with a traumatic past, how did you help him/her?

Did you know? An occasional & mild dose of fear, anxiety & doubt help us to make decisions, solve issues and even grow as an individual. But only when they do not occur often or last long. For instance, you must have heard amusing stories about women who check their door lock, gas knobs & light switches multiple times, sometimes even in the middle of the night. This is OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER for you.

Do you know people with the anxiety symptoms or phobias mentioned above? Please share the anecdotes of your experiences with those people here…

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Did you know! Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of Dementia (a general term used to describe group of symptoms affecting mental function)  This neurological brain disorder is named after a German physician, Alois Alzheimer, who first described it in 1906. And till date 36 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease. There is one new case of dementia worldwide every seven seconds, and the number is set to rise to 65.7 million in 2030 worldwide and nearly 3.7 million people in India are suffering from dementia, and this number is set to double over the next 20 years, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Alzheimer’s disease affects your memory, thinking and even judgment badly, making you forget things quickly, which further hampers your ability to carry out even the most trivial day-to-day tasks. This problem arises when the nerve cells in your brain die due to aging, which affects the transmission of signals to the brain. The nerve cells die gradually over the years, so this ailment is most commonly seen in old people.

Common Symptoms:

• Impaired memory
• Afflicted thinking
• Poor judgment
• Disorientation and confusion
• Tendency to misplace things
• Excessive abstract thinking
• Trouble in carrying out day-to-day activities
• Personality and behavioral changes
• Difficulty in following commands
• Language problems and impaired communication
• Bad visual skills as well as spatial skills
• Lack of motivation and initiative
• Changes in sleep patterns

More about Alzheimer’s

The progression of Alzheimer’s disease is different from patient to patient. In some people, the symptoms can worsen very quickly, within a span of a few years even; but for others, the same symptoms can take up to 20 long years to develop. In the early phase of the disease, long term memory is not affected, whereas short-term memory of the patient is seen to be impaired badly. The patient is most likely to forget recent conversations, and may ask same questions over and over again that had already been asked and answered before. Also, the patient forgets common language words during conversation. After being diagnosed for Alzheimer’s, the average period of survival of the patient is from 3-9 years.

Treatment

There is no sure cure for this disease till date, and also no identified process to slow down brain nerve damage. However, Alzheimer’s disease progression rate can be slowed down by some medications. If these medications and treatment is started at the early stage of the disease, then, it will be possible for your loved one to remain independent and function normally in the day-to-day life for a much longer span of time. If your loved one has developed any of the above mentioned symptoms, then it is important that you take him/her to the doctor immediately for diagnosis.

Is your loved one becoming forgetful of things or rather feeling confused doing activities of daily living?

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When you can stop hard drugs, you do not want to. When you want to stop, you can’t. Say NO to Drugs… United Nations report 1 million registered & over 5 million unregistered drug abusers in India.

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26 is a United Nations annual observance day that stands for the resolve to build up action and support to accomplish the goal of a global society free of drug abuse.

Drug addiction involves drug or psychotropic substance abuse in spite of its damaging psychological, physical and social consequences. Certain hard drugs like heroin and cocaine are highly addictive and ensure swift emotional, psychological or a physical dependence. Remember whatever the reason is – boredom, curiosity, accessibility, for thrill or peer pressure, there is always a better alternative. Drugs do not solve problems. In fact it adds more to your existing problems.

Today’s youth is more prone to drug abuse than ever due to over exposure, easy accessibility and peer pressure. Parents need to come out of the cocoon of ‘my child won’t do anything like that’. Anyone can fall prey to this menace. Know that your child might try out drugs. So you need to know about drug abuse to talk to your child in an informed way. Don’t just shove vague advices like ‘don’t take drugs, it’s bad’. Be frank and tell how it take control of your brain and makes one dependent on them. If your kid understands that you know what you’re talking about, they WILL listen to you.

Street drugs make life worse, not better

Choose a good time to talk, when your child is relaxed, or when the subject comes up during dinner, TV news or simply regular discussions. Or, if they are using drugs, don’t confront them when they’re high on drugs. Being a good friend to your child’s friend’s help as peer pressure is a strong trigger to drug abuse. This is not for any CID-giri but just to make sure that they are not involved in substance abuse. In case you find that your child is using drugs, don’t panic. Yes, it is hard to contemplate. But you need to face it with a cool head if you want to help. Let them know that you’ll be always there.

Newspapers and TV media highlight cases of drug abuse and trafficking from time to time but the problem is huge and but there’s little action. Country’s entire youth is being crippled of life. Only when social awareness peaks will this heinous crime stop hogging the headlines and ruining lives. We have to combat against this menace in unison and everyone has to bear the responsibility to safeguard our future.

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69% Indian women say they can balance career & home. How true is this?

If you’re feeling overtaxed and finding it more difficult than ever to juggle the demands of your job and family, you are not alone…

The International Day of Families is observed on May 15 every year, since 1992 when the UN General Assembly passed a resolution proclaiming it. The concept of family is in a state of constant change, often under the influence of socio cultural and economic parameters. Though the importance family and its well-being have never been questioned, at times we do need a reality check. This day provides an opportunity to promote awareness about various issues relating to families and reflect one’s role and contribution to the family- healthily speaking.

Ensuring work family balance

The bottom line is simple. For any society to be healthy it is necessary that its basic unit, family is taken care of. The theme for 2012 International Day of Families is ‘Ensuring work-family balance’. Balancing family life and work forms the basis of the family’s ability to provide economically and emotionally for its members. But that doesn’t mean that one can be an ever-lasting fueled machine. This particularly holds true for Indian women who never stop trying to be all-in-alls.

Total inability to say the word ‘No’ has always been a problem for Indian women in general. Though it is an assertiveness issue, it has much to do with family-work harmony. When you don’t say ‘no’ when required you tend to take on everything that we want to and what others want us to do. So by the end of the day you are drained, stressed and overwhelmed. Just do what you are good at, others will do the rest. There is nothing wrong or shameful in asking your husband & kids to lend a hand. In fact a husband/wife team works well when expectations and everyday jobs are clearly defined and divided.

It is anyway too difficult to accomplish anything excellent when you’re exhausted. And even if you do you’re not likely to derive any joy out of it (then what’s the point?). Look after yourself by lacing healthy eating with some regular activities as a family. Then you can safely say that your family is safe in your hands.

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Statistics suggest that there are some 35 million obese people in India. Yet, obesity is not seen as a disease here; one of the many ironies of Indian health scenario. The way it has creepily crawled to the top 10 lifestyle problems of modern India is astounding. And this is all the more reason to help alert and educate those who (read majority) are stuck to their couches of just how grim the situation has become. Obesity does not simply take a toll on the physical health but is also a free-ticket to psychological problems like depression, anxiety etc. Sadly, it’s no secret that we all exist in a somewhat callous world full of narrow mindedness, discrimination and unawareness.

Impact of Lifestyle and Imbalance Diet.

Did you know that more than 25 medical conditions or complications are linked to obesity? Diabetes, high BP, cholesterol, heart attack and stroke top the list. Simply put, obesity is the direct upshot consuming more calories than you burn. These ‘extras’ then lead to energy imbalance. Fast food culture being the most popular cause in our fast-paced world is the main convict; it is rich in calories and poor in nutrients. It may suit your schedule perfectly not your body. Environment, peer pressure, genetics’ all these play a role in undermining your say in your weight. But while even obesity due to genetics can be thwarted by your determination and will power, what is peer pressure. Finally, it all comes down to your ability to say no.

Learn to SAY NO when your peers invite you for pizza-burger bash.

Learn to SAY NO to the second piece of burfee or chocolate.

And most of all learn to SAY NO to yourself.

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