Supriya Shankra Clinic

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder in which a person has recurring thoughts and feels the urge to perform certain specific tasks at regular intervals. Living with OCD can very difficult and medications or therapy alone cannot guarantee complete recovery. The patient himself/herself has to take certain steps to win against the disease.

Here are some measures you can take to control the symptoms of OCD to recover faster.

1. Accept the truth: If you cultivate an accepting approach towards the fact that you are suffering from OCD and will experience obsessive thoughts then it will be easier to cope with the situation. You have to convince yourself that the recurring thoughts and compulsions you're having are not real, do not imply anything and will go away soon. This helps you maintain an optimistic approach and accelerate your recovery process.

2. Try to postpone your compulsions: When you have the urge to do certain ritualistic tasks try not to give in to them. Try to suppress the urges by saying to yourself that you will do it later and then involve yourself in normal day to day activities so that the compulsions can't rule you anymore.

3. Divert your attention: When you feel that you are having a recurring thought or compulsion, try to distract yourself by channelizing your thoughts towards some other activity. You will find that as you engage yourself in other activities, the obsessive compulsive thoughts will lose their impact on you and will prove to be less bothering.

4. Tell yourself that ocd is one of the most insignificant things of your life: Reduce the amount of value you impart to the disorder. Try to convince yourself that ocd cannot change your way of living life and you don't need to give in to your recurring thoughts and compulsions every time. Try to believe that you will not let this disorder affect your life in anyway and it's just your brain bringing these thoughts, not you. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Psychiatrist.

For human beings, the body is considered the temple, one that they strive to keep fit and in shape. In fact, the plethora of ailments, which people complain of suffering from, almost always deal with their physical health. In this over engagement to restore the physical health, the well being of the mental health is never considered. However truth remains that the health of the mind is equally if not more important and must be given its share of priority. With the growing age and times, depression has emerged as a gnawing problem, one that is plaguing individuals indiscriminately and one that must be eradicated as soon as possible. 

Some of the ways to combat this fatal ailment are: 

1. Exercises: Everyday a bit of exercise not only keeps the body fit and healthy, but also goes a long way in easing and calming the mind. You need not indulge in strenuous exercises, but must make it a conscientious habit to work out a bit daily.
2. Talk to people: Though depression makes one inexorably quiet and silent, the first thing that is prescribed as a remedial measure is talk to people. Engaging in conversations with people, telling them what exactly is troubling you are proven ways to combat depression.
3. Meditate: There is no better way to treat mental ailment than meditating.  When you suffer from depression, your body undergoes severe conflict. Meditating not only calms the mind, but also soothes away the worries.
4. Develop a support system: Depression is almost always followed by an unfathomable sense of loneliness. Talking to others does help, but at the same time try to develop a support system. Find an individual, be it parents, relatives or friends and confide in him or her. Not sharing what you are going through is never a solution and only exacerbates the fatality of the situation.
5. Change the daily routine: Monotony is never exciting and it is only time, before the humdrum of life gets to you. Changing the daily routine and incorporating something new and exciting go a long way in recuperating you from the mental dullness and fatigue. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Psychiatrist.

Forensic psychiatry is generally identified as a specialized offshoot of psychiatry, dealing with the calculated treatment and evaluation of mentally disordered offenders in secure hospitals, prisons and in the community. This branch of psychiatry requires an indepth understanding and thorough knowledge of the connection between legality and mental health. 

Patients of Forensic Psychiatry, generally are affected with personality dysfunctions, mental illness, psychopathic disorders, organic brain damage, learning disability and other conditions, such as histories of abuse and traumatic experiences as well as substance abuse and misuse.

Nature of the work
The most important prerequisite of this branch of psychiatry is a secure and safe environment where the subjects are liable to legal restrictions. Evaluation and assessment may vary from highly secured hospitals and prisons to low secure units and community based services. Forensic psychiatrists must have a thorough knowledge of civil, criminal and case law because of their frequent dealings with criminal justice agencies and the courts. 

An important component of Forensic Psychiatry is risk assessment and evaluation. Forensic psychiatrists must be fluent and adept at handling patients during emergencies or routine situations. Moreover, they should be calm, composed and professional in their dealings, especially with patients who display instability or violent and aggressive behavior.

The probation service, the prison service and the courts generally rely on forensic psychiatrists for expert advice, precisely because of their familiarity with preparing reports for mental health review tribunals and criminal justice agencies.

Imperatives: 

1. Quintessentially, the obligatory role of a forensic psychiatrist requires:
2. Ability to treat others with understanding and respect
3. Ability to work flexibly
4. Emotional resilience along with the ability to empathize with patients
5. Anticipation and an inherent initiative to work in challenging situations
6. Good communication skills
7. A scientific and analytic approach and assessment
8. Good leadership qualities

Social anxiety is the term used to portray an extreme state of shyness. Everyone feels on edge in certain social situations, yet for a few people it can be somewhat more extraordinary and overwhelming. For instance it might influence their decision to attend a university, do a certain job or even their love life to some extent. Situations where individuals regularly encounter social nervousness include:

1. Public speaking
2. Conversing with power figures
3. Conversing with a gathering of individuals or a person
4. Eating in broad daylight
5. Any performance based circumstances

However, there are a few ways in which one can overcome social anxiety. These include:

1. Getting rid of unhelpful thoughts: The way that we see or perceive things affects our social anxiety. A number of these musings happen outside of our control, and can be negative or unhelpful. It is hence essential to recollect that they are only thoughts, and are not really truths. Despite the fact that we may trust a ton of our unhelpful thoughts when we are socially anxious, we need to address them since they are generally built on wrong assumptions.
2. Increasing external focus during social interactions: When we are socially on the edge, we have a tendency to invest a great deal of our energy in focusing on our own sensations. This is because we expect that our tension is noticeable to others. For instance, we may invest energy attempting to judge whether we are sweating, shaking, or blushing. This technique aggravates things even more. This is because we tend to overestimate how obvious our tension is and this obviously makes us feel much more unsure. Additionally, by concentrating on ourselves, we are kept from completely focusing on the discussions around us. This normally makes it even harder to participate and we wind up connecting less than we could or should have.
3. Getting rid of avoidance and safety behaviours: When we are socially restless, we have a tendency to dodge social circumstances (e.g. parties; little gatherings, requesting a discount and so forth). In any case, if we continue maintaining a strategic distance from the situations we fear, we will never find the opportunity to explain to ourselves that we can handle them and our certainty stays low. At whatever point socially anxious people do enter the situations they fear, they tend to utilise safety practices (e.g. staying close to a good friend at a gathering; remaining silent when in a gathering to avoid looking absurd and foolish).

The most ideal approach to diminish your anxiety towards social circumstances is to continuously stand up to them, without depending on safety practices. Obviously, going up against social circumstances or situations can be overwhelming, particularly given that our anxiety levels frequently increase when we do so. Therapy can also be used to get over these tendencies.

Personality refers to the enduring and habitual patterns of behaviour, cognition, emotion, motivation and ways of relating to others. In simpler terms, it's the persona we have for the world to see and interact with. If these patterns or ways of relating with others become nonadaptive or pathological, a personality disorder develops.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is such a disorder of personality that causes mood swings, self-esteem issues, impulsive behavior and recurrent self-harm behaviour. It is very difficult to lead a normal life with these varied psychological issues.

The symptoms begin to appear from early childhood but they take a serious form only when one reaches adulthood. Issues with behavior and emotion are difficult to treat, people suffering from this illness should be willing to spend a lot of time and be dedicated towards his/her recovery. Through treatments and therapies, they do make significant improvements over time.

Causes

The exact cause of borderline personality disorder is not known but various reasons have been hypothesised as possible aetiology. Neuro-chemical disturbance in the brain, genetic vulnerability, some kind of childhood trauma like abandonment, death, neglect and/ or sexual abuse are probable causes of the disease. Prolonged and chronic stress/ anxiety may also lead to triggering of BPD symptomatology in vulnerable individuals later in life.

Symptoms

• Prolonged dysthymia/ sadness
• Feeling lonely/ misfit
• Emotional dysregulation or Frequent mood swings
• Significant interpersonal issues
• Self-Injurious behaviour like making cuts in skin, burning, pricking etc

These symptoms are warning signs of borderline personality disorder and should be paid attention to:

• Abandonment issue - People suffering from BPD have serious abandonment issues. They have an intense fear that they would be left alone and often act out to restrict their love ones from leaving. Sometimes their strategy is to not get too close to protect themselves from being left alone, so they appear aloof.
• Disturbed self-image - People have self-esteem issues, they sometimes love or hate themselves or see themselves as evil. They have unclear goals, views, beliefs and often end up changing their friends, lovers, jobs, sexual identity frequently.
• Dysfunctional relationships - It is very difficult to maintain a normal relationship for people with personality disorder. They tend to have quick short-lived relationships and get put off very easily which leads to a lot of heartbreak.

Suicidal tendencies and frequent self-harm behaviour like cutting skin using blades/ sharp objects are common.

Drugs and alcohol abuse, eating disorders and sexual promiscuity are other forms of self-destructive behaviour commonly encountered in this population. Extreme aggression, delusions, transitional Psychotic states are other possible symptoms of BPD.

Love and support from family and friends are crucial for patients suffering from this disease. Prolonged counseling sessions, therapies and the effort to break away from the chronic gloomy thoughts will definitely lead one to a better life. If you wish to discuss any specific problem, you can consult a psychiatrist.

Sometimes when a person has too much on their plate, they are left feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. Here are a few ways in which you can manage being overwhelmed and return to a place of control, contentment and relaxation.

1. Venture out: Trying to work and get your tasks done despite your confusion and feeling of helplessness will not lead you anywhere. You need to step away to have the capacity to see your conditions from a new point of view. Move to an alternate room, get up from your work area, sit on a different couch, go out for a walk or go sit at a bistro. Venturing out from the present circumstance and changing your physical surroundings will help you gain clarity, and move you far from the overwhelming perspective. This is when you can see the solution more clearly.
2. Vent it out: When you are occupied, it is very easy to lose any feeling and sense of priority and the panic makes everything seem urgent. In reality, there will be things that may require your consideration for a brief span. Hence, the key thing is to have clarity and gain visibility on what you are managing. Attempt a "mind download", where you record everything, with the goal that you can figure out what is obstructing your brain and its functioning.
3. Requesting help and allowing help: You would be surprised at what number of individuals will offer assistance. Usually, our limited thinking is because we become a problem for ourselves as we disallow others to help us. Sometimes we also think they will say no, thus we do not ask for help. Simply try it out. Request help, and get ready to be surprised at the generosity you might get from others.
4. Phase out noise: When we feel overwhelmed, it feels soothing to do something to loosen up and relax, such as watching the TV, listening to music, watching the news or playing a game. What we overlook during this time is that the additional data that comes in clutters our mind that further tangles our already overwhelmed senses.
5. Make continuous improvements: Concentrate on one area at a time. Question yourself: what kind of change would be good for you? Concentrate on little, easy-to-do portions, not an instant upgrade. Say, your employment. Experiment with ten minutes of a sustaining pace. Appreciate how that feels. At that point expand on it. Check whether your well being moves forward. Try to feel positive energy in the bargain.

Treat the sentiment of overwhelming nervousness as a companion, for it is an indicator telling us that we have to slow down. It tells us to readjust our centre of focus and prioritise something else that makes us feel positive and better.
 

Stress is a response to pressure or threat. It makes us feel tense, on edge or nervous. Stress triggers a surge of hormones called adrenaline which temporarily affects the nervous system, causing your heart rate to increase along with your blood pressure and breathing. In today’s world, everyone feels the weight of stress. Whether it is in school, at work or even at home. It is important to not let the stress we feel interfere with our day to day routines. Here is a way to manage your stress when you feel it is getting to be too much:

Have a mindful SNACK:

Stop: Stop whatever you are doing and take a minute or two and reboot. When you feel everything is getting to be too much, stop mid-bite, mid-step or even mid-yell and reboot yourself.

Notice: Notice what is happening within and around us. Notice the things you can see, hear, smell etc and most importantly see if you can notice your thoughts. You do not need to analyse them. Simply become aware of them.

Accept: Whatever you are struggling with or whatever is stressing you, accept and acknowledge it for what it is without any judgment. Accepting that something has gone wrong or is not going your way is essential to fixing the problem.

Curious: Ground yourself with questions about your environment and what you are feeling. Ask yourself questions regarding the same. What am I feeling? What am I thinking? What do I see? What do I hear?  Asking these questions will help you ground yourself and take the necessary steps in solving the issue.

Kindness: Realistically speaking, it is hard to find the silver lining for all problems. Sometimes the problems we are faced with are daunting, unpleasant or boring. Yet, it still needs to be solved. If we approach every person and problem with a positive attitude it will help get things back on track.

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder that includes delusions, loss of personality, confusion, aggression, social withdrawal and mystic behavior. People suffering from schizophrenia may apparently hear voices or tend to feel that others are controlling their minds, their thoughts or plotting against them.

Schizophrenia can be hereditary. But the condition cannot be predicted except in the case of strong family history. Also, while prediction of Schizophrenia is difficult, its prevention is no easy. It cannot be prevented except where it occurs due to drug abuse like cannabis. Also, prevention can only be talked about in first episode cases and the best way to prevent is to take medicines properly.

Three ways to keep Schizophrenia at bay:

1. Socializing and meeting people - Socializing helps you build up a high self-esteem, lowers stress and keeps you busy and distracted. It is important to connect with friends to avoid isolation.

2. Exercise and Diet - Exercise and intake of high nutrition diet are important to take care of your body. Fish oil has omega 3 fatty acids that can prevent psychotic disorders from getting worse. Consumption of these types of foods can prove to be beneficial in preventing the disorder.

3. Timely consultation - Consulting a psychiatrist if you have any symptoms, like suspicious feelings or unusual thoughts is an essential step to regulate the condition before it fully develops.