Change in voice or voice mutilation happens when the voice breaks that commonly occur when a person reaches puberty. Before puberty, almost all the girls and boys have the same voice pitch. But after puberty, a boy s voice deepens an octave and the girl s voice deepens only several tones. Therefore, it becomes easy to identify the gender through voice. 

Another type of change in voice is known as voice crack. It happens when a person unintentionally enters a higher voice pitch zone for a brief period of time. It may be due to singing, shouting, talking in noise, and several other reasons. Also, there are several medical conditions leading to voice break or hoarseness. 

Medical Causes for Change in Voice

Acute Laryngitis: In this, the hoarseness or voice loss starts suddenly. One of the reasons can be a viral infection that causes swelling of vocal cords. Staying hydrated and less talk can treat it. 

Chronic Laryngitis: It can cause acid reflux disease. Exposure to irritating smoke, infections of vocal cords, or asthma can be some of the reasons. It can be cured only through medication.

Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease: This problem causes a change in voice. Due to this disease, people may also suffer from swelling issues, a lump in the throat, hoarseness in voice, and throat pain. 

Voice Misuse: Excessively loud voice, prolonged talking, and inefficient voice use can cause a change in voice and also known as voice misuse. 

Risk Factors That Can Cause Voice Disorder

Aging, alcohol use, and allergies are some of the major reasons for the voice disorder. Apart from these, smoking and throat cancer also results in a change in voice or voice disorders. All these are highly risky causes for the throat and may result in long-time problems. 

Some other risk factors are thyroid, psychological stress, and neurological disorder. 

How to Treat Voice Disorder?

One can use an air humidifier to keep the air of the surrounding moist because breathing moist air is a simple solution to the problem.

Giving rest to voice is also a solution.

One must drink plenty of liquids to keep the throat hydrated.

One must avoid whispering and decongestants to take care of the throat.

One must avoid shouting for a long time.

Avoid staying in a polluted area for a long time.

Gargling the throat every day with lukewarm water is good.

Staying warm during winters is also necessary.

All these remedies are simple and can be tried comfortably. A simple change in voice can turn out to be serious if not taken proactive measures. Therefore, one must not ignore any small unintentional change in the voice.

Conclusion
One must consult ENT doctor immediately for any sudden change in voice and if the problem lasts for a long period of time. 



Change In Voice - What Can Cause It?

Dementia is a dreaded psychological disorder in which the brain cells begin to deteriorate. It is different from regular senility. When the brain cells stop doing their work, it affects the brain function. This leads to a gradual loss of memory. At the same time, the person may also experience changes in personality as well as declining cognitive abilities, all of which are linked to the faculty of memory. Dementia usually affects senior citizens. However, it may happen to the young as well.

What are the Causes of Dementia?
Dementia may be prompted by -
  Alzheimer s Disease
  Huntington Disease, a degenerative disorder
  Vascular dementia
  Atherosclerosis
  HIV
  Multiple Sclerosis
  Pick s Disorder
  Parkinson s Disease
  Encephalitis, both viral and bacterial
  Lewy Body Disease
  Brain Tumour
  Progressive supranuclear palsy
  Chronic Subdural haematoma
  Wilson s Disease
  Neurosyphilis

Dementia in Siddha -
Siddha is an ancient and indigenous branch of medicinal science that was developed in Tamil Nadu. Siddha aims to get to the root of any ailment and eliminate it from the source instead of simply trying to eradicate the symptoms. Siddha believes that the human body primarily consists of three humours- Kapha, pitta and Vata. As long as the right balance is maintained, the human will be healthy. But if the balance goes out of whack or if the quantity of one humour exceeds the others, then that will make a person vulnerable to diseases.
When there is a Vata imbalance in the mind, a person s memory begins to fail him/her.

According to Siddha, a person who has contracted dementia will exhibit the following symptoms -
  Forgetfulness
  Difficulty with recollection and reasoning
  Confusion and disorientation
  Inability to make plans
  Impaired judgement
  Anxiety
  Depression
  Hostile behaviour
  Losing interest in everything around him/her
  Disturbed sleep
  Restlessness
  Hoarding
  Delusion or hallucinations (in advanced stages of dementia)

The approach of Siddha towards neuropsychiatry revolves around the concept of  Kayakarpam    a mode of treatment that can slow down ageing and deterioration of the brain cells. Treatment of dementia consists of -
  Skinned ginger soaked in honey
  Paddy rice mixed with ghee
  Amaranth cooked ghee, salt and pepper
  Aloe Vera
  Black nightshade

Treatment of dementia also includes  thokkanam . Medicinal oils are messaged onto certain parts of the body to activate the Varma points. This will release the  praana vayu - the force of rejuvenation. Siddha also recommends regular meditation top slow down the progression of dementia.

Allopathy has not yet come up with a cure for dementia. But, Siddha can help. Moreover, Siddha medicines are safe and can be consumed without fearing side effects.

Dementia - Getting It Treated With Siddha!

Smith and Mackie (2007) term self-esteem as a set of positive or negative opinions about oneself. Self-esteem is an important predictor of success in career, relationships, marriage and public life. People who are depressed have a very low self-esteem about themselves. They think of themselves as good for nothings and persons having a nil value. There are three states of self-esteem. They are;

Shattered: An example of a person having shattered self-esteem is when he says,  I am old and useless to do this kind of work . This person sees himself as an absolutely useless person.
Vulnerable: In this state, a slight embarrassment or defeat may expose the vulnerable side of the person. Otherwise, such persons have a positive frame of mind.
Strong: People in this state are very strong emotionally. Defeats, embarrassments etc. do not affect them. These people have a very high sense of self-esteem.
Psychologists, however, have prescribed several ways through which one can improve one s self-esteem.

How to improve one s self-esteem

Control your thoughts- Watch out what your inner critic is saying to you. Every time you hear its voice, ask yourself- would this be the way your best friend would speak to you? If your inner critic is being merciless on you all the time, you need to silence it.
Focus on the good things that happen to you- Everyday, write at least 3 good things that happened to you. Avoid the obstructive or harmful things that came your way. Focus on the happier side of the day. Do not dwell upon the negatives.
No need to be perfect- In the quest to be perfect, many people lose control of themselves. It probably must do with the pressures of modern life where achievement is the be all and end all. But, not everyone can be perfect. Rather, focus on the effort or process. This way, you will be better able to appreciate yourself as a person.
Accept mistakes- Often we fail to realise that mistakes come to us masked as opportunities. But, we are too fixated by the mistakes we commit. We are obsessed with the thought,  Why did I commit this mistake?  rather than,  How to avoid this particular mistake? . If we learn how to avoid committing mistakes, we will tremendously improve our self-esteem.
Experiment with new skills- Try out new skills and then improve upon them. For example, you may pick up music and track your achievement levels. If you continually improve yourself in this new skill, you will obviously set new benchmarks. Give credit to yourself after achievement of every new milestone.
Accept your limits- You are no superman. You have your own limits. Once you accept your limitations, you will stop blaming yourself for all the wrongs that are happening to you. 

Self Esteem - How Can You Improve It?

Parkinson s disease adversely affects the way you move, as it is a neurodegenerative disorder. This happens when there are problems with certain nerve cells in the brain. These nerve cells produce an important chemical called Dopamine, which in turn sends signals to the region of our brain that takes care of the movement. This chemical help muscles to function smoothly and allow in carrying out one s daily activities. When somebody is suffering from Parkinson s disease, the nerve cells break down, thus hampering movements of limbs.

What Causes This Disease?

Over the years, a lot of research has taken place to find out the exact reasons due to which people get affected by Parkinson s disease but till now neither scientists nor doctors have been able to come up with any solution. They are thinking on the lines of aging or hAarmful chemicals in the environment, to be possible causes for this neurological problem. Sometimes researchers even feel that this could be a hereditary problem but there is no concrete evidence to substantiate this statement.

Symptoms Of Parkinson s

As discussed earlier, Parkinson s occur in aged individuals, when nerve cells break down, when the chemical called Dopamine is no longer able to send signals to the brain. You can easily recognize Parkinson s disease in any of your family members, if you come across certain symptoms, which are generally four of them:

Trembling or shaking of limbs and these tremors can affect different body parts like, hands, arms and legs.
Muscles become stiff, due to which it becomes tough for the affected individuals to move their limbs freely.
Due to stiffness of muscles, movement becomes slow and thus each and every activity of theirs takes much more time than usual.
People are unable to keep their balance and walk freely without any hindrance.
Generally, tremor is the first thing you would notice in a person and thus instantly get to know that the person might be suffering from Parkinson s.
Problems of constipation or facing difficult in swallowing tend to happen as the disease goes on to affect all the muscles in one s body. 
During the latter stages, someone who has Parkinson s, might well have a blank expression to the face with problems being faced while trying to speak and other related issues. The symptoms of this disease usually start for people aged between 50 and 60 but at times, it can even crop up at an earlier stage.
Preventive Measures And Treatment

Let s take a look at how you can prevent yourself from getting crippled by Parkinson s Disease.

Unfortunately, as the disease is mostly age related, so after attaining the age of 60, if not from 50, there would be very few individuals who would not be the victims of Parkinson s.

Research has revealed that having less of dairy and red meat and consuming more of fruits, vegetables and high-fibre foods, thus maintaining a healthy diet, can protect people from the dreaded disease.

Parkinson's Disease - Know What's It's All About

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental and emotional condition that is characterised by a heavily distorted thought process as well as hallucinations and even extreme fear that borders on paranoia. Let us find out more about this debilitating disease:

Causes:
1. Genetics: genetic factors play an important role in the development of schizophrenia.
2. Environment: possible environmental factors include obstetric complications, the mother's exposure to influenza during pregnancy or starvation. It has also been suggested that stress, trauma even migration can lead to the emergence of schizophrenia. 
3. Neurodevelopmental factors: schizophrenia appears to be a neurodevelopmental disorder. That is changes that cause the illness have been occurring from the earliest stages of development even in utero, and may continue to influence the development of the brain over the first 25 years of life. 

Symptoms: 
This disease has a variety of symptoms include cognitive and emotional ones that can vary in the degree and severity. One of the most common symptoms included hallucinations and delusions where the patient may end up imagining things that do not really exist. The patient may also be gripped by sudden and crippling fear like paranoia, which can be debilitating as far as everyday functioning of the person goes. The symptoms can also interfere with the way a person deals with situations and life skills on a cognitive basis. Withdrawal and hopelessness are also a part of this disease.

Treatment: 
The earliest signs and symptoms must be referred to a psychiatrist. The treatment involves the management of the case of an individual basis along with psychological rehabilitation programs and inclusion of the patient in self-help groups. Housing and employment programs must also be availed so as to keep the patient busy. Also, behaviour therapy will be required in such cases. The mode of counselling should usually be on a one on one basis, although many doctors also suggest that group therapy can help in showing examples of progress so as to encourage the patient to change and get a new lease of life.

Schizophrenia: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Shannon L. Alder once said,  Sensitive people usually love deeply & hate deeply. They don't know any other way to live than by extremes because their emotional thermostat is broken. 

Sometimes certain thoughts & habits become so addictive at times that even while being aware of its futility the person fails to resist from indulging in it. Obsessive Compulsive Disorders can be extremely debilitating & can easily thwart subjective well-being. The main features of this illness are obsessions and compulsions.

Obsessions are certain thoughts, doubts, images or urges that occur in one's mind. These are unwanted, repetitive by nature. Most people with OCD realize that obsessions are senseless, irrational, or excessive, but they are unable to ignore or suppress them. They would attempt to resist and control them, but would not succeed. Obsessions cause significant distress and anxiety to the sufferers and as a result cause interference in their day to day functioning.

Compulsions are repetitive acts that the person is driven to carry out in spite of knowing that they are meaningless, unnecessary or excessive. Compulsions are usually in response to obsessions. For example, a person with an obsessive fear of contamination washes hands repeatedly in order to ensure that his or her hands are clean. The person attempts to resist repeated hand-washing, but gives in to the urge so as to relieve him or herself of the anxiety or discomfort. Persons with OCD often perform certain acts repeatedly to avoid some dreaded event or to prevent or undo some harm to themselves or others. For instance, touching the floor even number of times to prevent an accident.

They are aware most of the time that the activity is not connected in a logical or realistic way with what was intended to be achieved, or that it may be clearly excessive (as in the case of hand-washing compulsions), but cannot control them as they reduce anxiety, at least transiently.

Common Symptoms in OCD:

Some common obsessions-

- Fear of getting dirty, contaminated or infected by persons or things in the environment.

- Blasphemous thoughts.

- Thoughts of harming or killing others or oneself.

- Doubts that a task or assignment has been done poorly or incorrectly.

- Recurring thoughts or images of sexual nature.

- Fear of blurting out obscenities.

- Fear of developing a serious life-threatening illness.

- Preoccupation to have objects arranged in a certain order or position.

Some common compulsions:

- Repeated hand-washing, taking unusually long time to bathe, or cleaning items in the house.

- Ordering or rearranging things in a certain manner.

- Checking locks, electrical outlets, gas knobs, light switches etc. repeatedly.

- Repeatedly putting clothes on, and then taking them off.

- Counting over and over to a certain number.

- Touching certain objects in a specific way.

- Repeating certain actions, such as going through a doorway.

- Constantly seeking approval (especially children)

What are not obsessions?

The common usage of the word obsession as in,  he is obsessed with music  is not an obsession as used in the context of OCD. Here the person indulges in the activity with complete will, has control over them and derives pleasure out of the activity.

When one is fired from a job or loses someone close to them, it is natural to brood over the event. However, these thoughts are not considered as senseless or irrational, though they may cause some discomfort. Similarly, a person appearing for an examination may feel anxious and worry about the results, which could occupy considerable amount of his time. These thoughts, though unwelcome, are under his control and not experienced as senseless. The above experiences are obviously not obsessions. The common usage of the word obsession as in,  he is obsessed with music  is not obsession as used in the context of OCD. Here the person indulges in the activity with complete will, has control over them and derives pleasure out of the activity.

Treatment:

Your clinical psychologist might subject you to anyone from a variety of treatment strategy available based on the severity of the condition and course of illness. Client specific psychological treatment is recommended according to unique triggers and patterns of obsessions/compulsions.

Cognitive Behavioral therapy comprises of a variety of techniques used to modify or replace maladaptive thoughts, emotions and behaviors with more adaptive forms of the same. Obsessions and compulsions seen in OCD are examples of maladaptive behaviors as they cause significant distress and interfere with normal functioning of an individual. Behavior therapy helps to remove obsessions and compulsions and thereby ameliorate the distress.

In treating OCD several CBT techniques are used. One of them,  Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) , is the most effective and widely used technique.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - All You Should Know!

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