An event or an accident that leaves us overwhelmed can lead to post traumatic stress disorder, also known as ptsd. A particularly stressful situation or event that has created terror or been overly dramatic or dangerous can lead to stress and anxiety long after the individual has physically come out of the situation. This kind of a traumatic condition is usually what characterises ptsd. This condition is something that is persistent, and can linger on for a long time, calling for medical supervision and care. Here's a list of things you need to know about ptsd.


	Duration: post traumatic stress disorder usually lasts up to six months. Yet, there are cases where it lingers on and requires treatment for some particular types of symptoms or behavioural changes. Usually, the patient's behaviour is a result of one or more of the symptoms discussed below.
	Re-experiencing symptoms: these symptoms include flashbacks and life like re-imagination in the form of dreams and nightmares. In many cases, the patient may remember and re-experience the entire scene or series of events that have led to the trauma in the first place. This can be triggered by a memory or association with words, events and other such things that have to do with the memory of the traumatic episode.
	Avoidance symptoms: a traumatised patient may go out of his or her way to avoid things that are remotely close to the traumatic incident. They may fear a reoccurrence or a reminder of the event and may avoid addressing the trauma altogether. Patients suffering from this symptom may have created a mental block, and may not be able to remember the exact details of the event. They may also feel emotions like fear, guilt, depression and even worry, over the past incident which led to the trauma in the first place.&nbsp;
	Arousal symptoms: arousal or reactivity symptoms may trigger the same reactions that the person showed during the traumatic experience. These may include being on edge constantly in anticipation of a reoccurrence, or even getting startled by the slightest thing since the mind is already occupied with thoughts of the event, constantly. Anger and emotional outbursts may also be caused due to these symptoms.
	Mood symptoms: mood swings are the most common outcome of these symptoms. The patient may experience a complete lack of enthusiasm and drive to indulge in activities like hobbies and socialising. Also, the patient may end up harbouring feelings of negativity towards family, friends and strangers, besides going through phases of guilt and self blame for the occurrence of the traumatic event.


Ptsd can be a debilitating disorder in the emotional sense, and should be treated by a psychiatrist in case it lingers on for more than six months.


All About Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Ending one s life is terrible. But often, instead of analysing the patient s mental condition at that time, we tend to judge them. The most common cause for suicides is undoubtedly depression. Adverse social or financial conditions often contribute to the mental condition of patients. However, a recent paper published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology might change the way we think about suicides. Lena Brundin and her co-workers have come to the conclusion in the paper titled  Role of inflammation in suicide: from mechanism to treatment,  that our immune system can trigger off suicidal thoughts and tendencies. Let us find out how.

There is proof that certain medicines that are used to treat cancer patients can affect the immune responses. This in turn can trigger off suicidal tendencies.
Certain injuries can lead to brain disorders which are related to inflammatory responses that might be responsible for some changes in behaviour often leading to suicidal thoughts.
Just like certain medications trigger of suicidal thoughts, there are some that might diminish them like Lithium. It is used to treat bi-polar disorder. What it does is decrease immune related chemicals. Another drug has proved to be very effective in reducing suicidal thoughts and tendencies   Ketamine. Ketamine, like Lithium, has been found to block certain chemicals that are related to immune response.
Though the whole topic is still under extensive research, it can perhaps be concluded that certain drugs have the ability to lessen suicidal thoughts and depression because they block some chemicals that are related to immunity.
The suicidal mentality is very complex. It requires not just medicines, but counselling, empathy, love and understanding. Often, many patients cannot come out of their depression, resulting in therapy sessions that are fruitless. In those cases, medicines that might reduce the negative thoughts and moods will come handy. It will help the patient initially to deal with the situation and start with a lot of positivity. Every year, almost one million deaths occur due to suicide. Not only does it leave behind survivors who attempt to kill themselves but also broken families that struggle to get over the death. If this research is successful, several people will benefit from it, all over the world.

Suicidal Tendencies - Can Your Immune System Influence it?

Cerebral Palsy (CG) is a neurological disorder caused by an injury to the brain or a brain malformation that occurs while the child s brain is still developing   in the mother s womb before birth, during birth, or immediately after birth.

This disorder affects the child s movement and muscle coordination and control. It also affects his:

Reflexes
Balance
Posture
Motor skills and
Oral motor functions
In easy to understand language, CG can impact the child s ability to walk, talk, sit, do simple tasks like eating, combing hair, talking, and other activities we take for granted. The physical impairment caused by cerebral palsy can affect all limbs, the face and head, or it may just affect one limb. Since CG affects muscles and a child s ability to control them, common symptoms include muscles that contract too much, too little, or all at the same time, leading to limbs that are stiff and forced into awkward positions. Other complications also arise such as intellectual impairment, seizures, or vision/ hearing and speech impairment.

How does Speech Therapy help?
Speech problems affect more than half of all children with cerebral palsy as they have difficulty controlling the muscles in their face, throat, neck and head. Apart from speaking, this also affects chewing and swallowing. It can also cause drooling and the ability to learn, difficulty hearing and understanding spoken language.

This is where speech and language therapy comes in. Speech therapy improves a child s speech and communication by strengthening the muscles used for speech. It also improves understanding of speech and language as well as help with swallowing disorders, like dysphagia.

Speech therapy helps exponentially as when children improve their speech and communication, they are able to express their needs, share their thoughts and interact with others, leading to an overall improvement in their overall quality of life.

Speech therapy can help with the following:

Listening
Articulation of words
Pronunciation
Fluency
Sound and word formation
Language and vocabulary development
Breath control
Chewing
Swallowing
Speech muscle coordination
Apart from this, the other primary benefits are boosting self esteem, socialization, independence and reducing shyness. 

Exercises used in Speech Therapy
Speech therapy treatment usually consists of exercises tailored to a child s specific needs. Different exercises are used in speech therapy like:

Articulation therapy: The therapist uses language cards to help focus attention on specific sounds to encourage the child to make sounds while looking in the mirror to help him understand how his mouth moves.
Blowing exercises: The therapist encourages the child to blow bubbles or a whistle to train the mouth muscles to produce sounds.
Breathing exercises: Work is exclusively on inhalation and exhalation to strengthen the diaphragm.
Jaw exercises: The child is encouraged to eat foods that require extra chewing to strengthen jaw muscles.
Language and word association: The therapist uses flashcards with different words and sounds written on them.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) - How Speech Therapy Can Help You?

Like everyone else, teenagers are susceptible to anger. When this gets out of control, it can lead to problems at school as well as at home. One of the major reasons for this is that teenagers do not know how to channel their anger and control it. When teaching teenagers how to manage their anger, it is important to understand that each child is different and will respond to anger differently. Here are a few tips that could help.

Recognize triggers and warning signs: Most anger outbursts are triggered by common factors. This could include feeling disrespected, feeling misunderstood, being refused permission or something or feeling as though too much were expected. It is important for teenagers to recognize these triggers so that they can deal with them in a better way. An anger outburst is also often preceded by certain physiological changes. For example, a person s breath could quicken or they may begin to clench their muscles before getting angry. Recognizing these early signs can help teens control their anger and not allow the situation to escalate.
Develop a vocabulary: Most teenagers throw tantrums and slam doors because they do not have words to express their anger and end up getting more and more frustrated with themselves and the situation. Hence, help your teenager develop a vocabulary to express what he or she may be feeling. This could include words like angry, mad, furious, irritated, tense, apprehensive, etc. Encourage them to talk out their anger instead of letting it simmer inside them. When your child does say things like  you re making me angry  etc do not immediately discipline him but instead talk it out. They may also be encouraged to write out their anger or find other creative outlets for it.
Deep breathing: Deep breathing is an anger management technique that helps adults and children alike. Teach your child how to take a few deep breaths before lashing out at someone. Show your child how to inhale slowly, hold the breath and exhale slowly while counting to five. This can help him or her calm down and handle the situation in a better way.
1+3+10: This is a golden rule of anger management. When your teen feels angry he or she needs to tell himself or herself to calm down. This is step 1. Next, they should take 3 deep breaths. This should be followed by counting to ten slowly. This can help them gain control of the situation and prevent an anger outburst.
The above mentioned tips can help in anger management of teen. However, if the condition seems out of control, you can always seek professional help to deal with the situation.

How To Handle Angry Teenagers?

Schizophrenia is a very serious psychological disorder which influences how a person feels, thinks, acts and reacts. A patient suffering from schizophrenia may experience issues recognising what is real and what is nonexistent; might be lethargic or unresponsive, and may experience issues communicating ordinary feelings in social situations.

The reason for schizophrenia is still hazy. A few theories and speculations about the reason for this disorder include genes (hereditary qualities), biology of the body (the unevenness in the brain s functioning); or persistent viral infections and immune disorders. Some of the problems faced by schizophrenics are as follows:

Delusions: People may feel that somebody is keeping an eye on him or her, or that they are somebody well known and famous.
Development and movement problems: These include behaving in a strange manner, pacing around, posturing or shaking forward and backwards for no reason.
Thought issue: Jumping from one topic to another in an unreasonable manner is also one of the symptoms or challenges of this condition. People may make up their own particular words or sounds.
Hallucinating: Seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing or feeling something that does not generally exist. The most widely recognised symptom is listening to nonexistent voices that give orders or commands to the patients.
Absence of feelings and emotions: An irregular feeling or expression may be experienced. For instance, crying at a joke when a typical reaction would be to laugh at it.
Despite these, some of the other very common problems faced by schizophrenic patients are as follows:

Social withdrawal from family and friends
Problems affecting in the ordinary exercises of life, for example, at work or school
Poor hygiene and lack of cleanliness
Mental shock
Loss of proper sentence formation
Issues deciding
Overlooking or losing things
Issues understanding ordinary sights, sounds, and sentiments.
Moving rapidly starting with one thought then onto the next.
Pacing and strolling in circles
Unreasonable written work, yet without any meaning.
A person with schizophrenia is twice as likely to end up diabetic or experience the ill effects of the chronic obstructive pneumonia disease (COPD) than the general population. Individuals with schizophrenia regularly commit the normal error of attempting to overlook the sickness thinking that it does not exist.

Schizophrenia has crushed a considerable amount of lives throughout the years. The indications of schizophrenia can be exceptionally scary and unnerving. There are different treatment techniques that one can access to improve the lives of the people who experience the ill effects of schizophrenia. Treatment of schizophrenia has, however essentially enhanced throughout the years, and there is no motivation to trust that it will not keep on doing so. In case that you or someone close to you has schizophrenia, look for treatment in light of the fact that your odds of recovery are good and your odds of change are great.

Schizophrenia - Common Problems Faced By A Person Suffering From It!

Top tips to help you fight anxiety

Anxiety is the latest problem affecting a majority of the population, owing to our hectic and fast-paced lifestyles. All of us are so busy in our lives that we forget to provide our mind and body with the basic care that they need in order to function effectively. Here are five useful tips to help you overcome anxiety, on a daily basis.

1. Maintain the right diet
Though it may sound like a cliche, maintaining a healthy diet on a regular basis is the key to beating anxiety. Try and consume food products rich in Vitamin b which is known to improve mental health; and Omega-3s which can effectively counter severe anxiety and depression.

2. Get adequate sleep
Not getting enough sleep not only affects your mind but has an adverse effect on your body as well. Even anxiety can result in irregular sleep patterns and thus ensure that in any situation, you manage to get six to seven hours of sleep on a daily basis.

3. Engage with people
Man is indeed a social animal. People make us happy. The hormone oxytocin significantly reduces anxiety levels and it is released during the process of socializing; thus it is essential to be in contact with your close group of people.

4. Keep your immediate environment clean
A cluttered home or workplace not only adds to physical clutter but contributes towards building up mental clutter as well. Spend a few minutes every day in keeping your immediate environment clean and organized. You are bound to feel calmer and more relaxed.

5. Indulge in breathing exercises
When your brain is tensed, your breathing pattern automatically becomes short and shallow. In order to send relaxing signals to your brain, try taking deep and long breaths and continue the process for a few minutes.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on consult.

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5 Most Effective Ways To Drive Anxiety Out Of Your Life

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