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!

You might think, as a parent, that if you behave strictly then your child will become well-behaved. But research and studies have shown that the opposite happens. Strict parenting leads to children who behave worse than others and they suffer from low self-esteem.

Some other reasons why being strict is harmful:

Never learning self-regulation: Responsibility and self-discipline have to be learned by the children themselves. When you put harsh limits on them, they never learn self-regulation. If they think the limits don t sound too harsh, they will learn to accept them. But the limits placed on them should never be controlling. If this happens, children see themselves as being controlled and no one enjoys being controlled.
Instilling fear: If you are being authoritarian (parenting in which there are high demands and low sympathy) instead of empathetic, then your children will become scared of you. You are instilling the power of fear in them. This triggers a vicious chain of events. When you yell, they will yell as well.
Anger and depression: Authoritarian parenting often leads to children believing a part of them is unacceptable. They feel that their parents would not understand. It makes them susceptible to anger management issues and depression.
Blindly obeying those in power: Children raised up in strict households start thinking power is always right. They learn to obey blindly. This makes them vulnerable to peer pressure. They also never learn to take responsibility for their actions.
Rebelling: Children tend to be angrier and become rebellious when they have strict parents. The need to break free and not conform to the non-empathetic limits that forces them to act out. They might even nurture thoughts about leaving home and running away.
Lying: Strict parenting creates excellent liars. Children learn to lie when they are in trouble. They think lies will placate their parents and they can get away with anything.
Damage to parent-child relationship: If you are strict and you don t change your authoritarian ways, then it damages your relationship with your children. Natural empathy is lacking in strict parents. You don t understand your child, and your child doesn t feel like sharing their lives with you. It creates a divide between the parent and child. Children never quite get over this as they grow older.

Being a Strict Parent Can be Harmful for Your Kids - 7 Reasons Prove it

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?

Take a deep breath and relax! - a piece of advice given by yogis thousands of years ago. 

Modern-day life is not deprived of anxiety, trauma, mental stress, and depression in spite of the success in technological advancement that has made our life so much easier. Every aspect of life can be easily done with the majority of present-day inventions, yet mental peace is almost an obsolete element. This is because of the fast-paced stressful life that we lead.

Individuals are engrossed in the race of life rather than taking out time for self-counseling, contemplation, or just plain relaxing. Cutting out all the bustle and cacophony, people need to spend some time in contemplation and such an act is considered as meditation. It can not only solve issues relating to mind, but can also be a remedy for many health ailments as well.

Understanding Meditation

Meditation is a type of mind-body medicine. Meditation can produce a deep state of relaxation in mind. The act has been practiced for thousands of years. Today, meditation is practiced for stress reduction and relaxation.

During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of perplexed thoughts that may be causing stress in your mind. This practice may result in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.

Improves heart and muscle functioning: When an individual is anxious or tensed, there is a release of cortisol and lactic acid which increases the levels of stress. The metabolism of the body is affected by these secretions. Cortisol is almost like a semi hormone that is vital for controlling metabolism. Meditation decreases the release of these chemicals and hence increase the functionality of heart and muscles.
Improves healing and cognition: According to extensive studies in human development and neuroscience, meditation has been proven to have clear effects on human brain and thus improve the wholesome functionality of the body. Also, it maneuvers our logical and cognitive skills. It is beneficial both mentally and physically by stimulating the brain to generate waves that bring it to the alpha state. This condition of the mind allows cell healing.
Other health benefits: Meditation helps you to reduce high blood pressure, elevated levels of blood lactate, and lessen panic attacks. It reduces any pain related to tension like ulcers, headaches, muscle, and insomnia. It also improves the immune system increasing your energy levels as well.
Mood booster: Meditation helps combat depression or mood swings as it helps secretion of serotonin that enhances our mood and thus works as an activity that elevates our mood. It is extremely beneficial for women to tackle Pre-Menstrual Syndrome and Menopausal mood swings.
Calms your mind: Meditation helps you to concentrate your focus on a single perception or experience, a no-thought stage, which is often detoxifying for the mind to unleash into an absolute state of rest. This is essential as it enables the body and mind to synchronize together to unravel and unwind. This state calms you from within, helps you to think about whatever problem is bothering you from a deeper elemental level and to a rational out the stretch. Your analytical perspective broadens and decisions made after that can never be wrong as it is propelled by a mature heart and a settled brain. It enriches you spiritually.
Meditation has an overall psychosomatic effect. Meditation can combat numerous problems. All you have to do is maintain the consistency.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

How Meditation Can Solve All Your Problems?

Smoking is a die hard habit and many people eventually die of the same. It remains one of the most common causes of cancer and lung diseases, which eventually lead to death. The irony is that almost all smokers know the harmful effects, but find it hard to quit. With a firm determination, there are people who quit, but then the relapse rate is quite high too.
Many believe that quitting requires a behavioural change. From peer pressure to a lifestyle habit, smoking is a social phenomenon. There are various methods to help quit smoking like quitting cold turkey and nicotine substitutes. Hypnosis is also gaining popularity as a method to help quit smoking. Research has shown an encouraging success rate in the range of 30 to 40% in cases where the desire and commitment to quit are high. This of course is with people who have strong will and are able to be hypnotized.
Hypnosis or hypnotherapy is a psychological technique used as supplemental therapy in a lot of cases, such as weight loss, depression, speech disorders, pain management, de-addiction; the list can be quite long.  It puts the person undergoing therapy into a deep sleep or trance, where they get in touch with themselves and find answers to a lot of questions. It is believed that while hypnosis puts a person to sleep, it also induces a higher level of cognition and a higher level of neurological activity. 
'During the actual session, the smoker is asked to imagine the numerous ill effects of smoking and the need to reduce its harmful effects on the body. This improves the willpower to quit smoking and reduces the desire. They are also advised of the benefits of quitting smoking, including longevity of life and better quality of life. The person is told that quitting smoking before 50 years of age gives a 50% chance of increasing the lifespan by 15 years. Now that is quite motivating for a lot of smokers to give up the habit.
It generally takes about 4 full sessions of hypnotherapy to reach a level where the patient is ready to kick the habits. Also, self hypnosis can be taught where the person can go into hypnosis on his own and enforce smoking cessation. There are even self hypnosis tapes that are available for aid.
However, a word of caution here, hypnosis is not for everybody as not everybody can be hypnotized easily and there has to be a strong belief that it will benefit, only then can smoking cessation be tried with hypnosis. It is still in the testing phase and is to be medically proven as a way to quit smoking.

Hypnotherapy In Smoking Cessation

Your health is affected by a number of physical, mental and emotional conditions. Falling in love is one of these factors. Being in love with someone does not only put a smile on your face, it can also boost your immunity and lower stress levels. Love can make you feel stronger both mentally and physically. Here are a few reasons why love is beneficial to your health.

You may have a longer life: Love helps fight stress and hence helps reduce the harmful effects of stress. Stress is a direct trigger for many fatal conditions such as heart attack and strokes and thus, being in love reduces your risk of such diseases. Studies have also shown that when in love, a person takes more care of themselves and hence has a lower risk of having an accident, violence etc. thus, being in love can give you a longer lifespan and can reduce chances of an early death.
You may have a lower risk of lifestyle diseases: Along with boosting your immunity love can also improve your lifestyle. Instead of microwaving a TV dinner, a person in love is likely to eat a healthier meal with their partner and be more conscious of their diet. Being in love also makes you want to look good thus, encourages exercising. By following a healthy diet and exercising regularly, you can reduce your chances of suffering from lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Living with a person you love can also lower your alcohol and nicotine consumption and hence protect you from their ill effects.
It protects you from depression: Companionship and love are good for a person s mental health. Love can help stabilise emotions and keep you from depression. By living with someone a person does not have the chance to withdraw into themselves and can always rely on having someone to talk to. By sharing your thoughts and emotions with another person, difficult situations can become easier to handle and hence cause less stress and depression.
It can help you look younger: As mentioned earlier, being in love can make you take better care of yourself. It is often said that a person in love  glows . In a nutshell, being in love makes you happy and this releases happy hormones that aid in the removal of toxins and prevent premature ageing. When you re in love, you may also notice your hair looking healthier and shinier.
In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Why Falling in Love is Good For Your Health?

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