Addiction is one of the most common mental health problems faced by people around the globe. This could be an addition to alcohol, nicotine or drugs. Addition usually begins in a person s teenage years and if left untreated, may continue into adulthood. As with other health issues, addiction worsens with time and the later it is diagnosed, the harder it is to treat.

Alcohol Addiction
An addiction to alcohol is termed as alcoholism. In some cases, it can make the person drink heavily on a day to day basis. In others, it may cause binge drinking at regular intervals. In either case, the person cannot stay off alcohol for extended periods of time. Alcohol addiction is hard to recognize given the social acceptability of having a drink. If left untreated, this condition can be fatal and cause ulcers, bone loss, liver disease, an increased risk of cancer and suppressed immunity.

Nicotine Addiction
Like alcohol addiction, nicotine addiction is hard to spot given that people smoke openly. However, when a person cannot stop smoking even though he or she is aware of its ill effects, treatment needs to be sought. Nicotine dependence affects mood swings and has a physical effect on the body as well. It can cause anxiety, restlessness, frustration, loss of appetite, insomnia, constipation as well as heart disease and lung disease. It can also increase the person s risk of suffering from cancer, infertility and respiratory infections.

Drug Addiction
This is the most serious of the three. Drugs can take many forms. Some are smoked while others are chewed or injected into the body. It is a misconception that drugs are common only amongst the lower rungs of society. Drug addiction can cause mood swings, social withdrawal, memory loss, shortened attention span, poor judgment and other such changes in behavior.

All forms of addiction can be prevented and treated. Thus, it is important to not ignore early signs of addiction and speak to the person concerned or his or her caregiver. In some cases, treatment can take the form of outpatient therapy while in others; the patient may need to stay in a treatment facility for a specific duration of time. Even after treatment, relapses are possible. Hence, the patient needs support from this family and friends. It is also important for the patient to continue therapy in some form or the other even after coming out of the treatment facility. 

Drug & Alcohol Addiction - How To Overcome It?

Causes and symptoms of Catatonic depression

Catatonic depression is a kind of depression which is characterized by prolonged periods of speechlessness and motionlessness. It is described as a state of mind that is caused by neurogenic and motor inabilities caused due to dysfunction of various neurotransmitters like glutamate and dopamine. People who suffer from a severe case of this condition, even have difficulty in performing simple regular tasks. For example, the act of eating breakfast may take a span of hours.

Some of the common symptoms of this condition are:

- Feelings of sadness
- A change in appetite causing gain or loss of weight
- Difficulty in concentrating and thinking
- Feelings of restlessness, worthlessness, and guilt
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- A loss of interest in any activity
- Trouble sleeping
- Attempts at suicide
- Cynicism and negativism
- Agitation
- Unusual and abnormal movements
- An inability to move and difficulty in speaking
- A refusal to eat or drink due to extreme anxiety

The major causes of catatonic depression are:

1. Abnormal neurotransmitter production

Irregularities in the production of neurotransmitters are believed to be one of the major causative factors of this type of depression. These neurotransmitters present in the brain help cells to communicate with each other. Serotonin and norepinephrine are the neurotransmitters which are mostly associated with this type of depression.

2. Dopamine irregularities

Another reason for this condition is believed to be the irregularities in dopamine, glutamate, and gamma-aminobutyric acid neurotransmitter systems. Underlying neurological, physical, psychiatric or psychological conditions are accompanying issues.

Administering antidepressants or using electroconvulsive therapy are some of the known ways of treatment which have proved effective for getting relief from catatonic depression.



What Makes Catatonic Depression so Impairing?

OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder, which can be indicated through obsession, having pervasive thoughts or thoughts, which may upset you, having certain compulsions, and practicing certain rituals, which may help to control or manage your obsessions. It is a disorder, which cannot be cured, but can be controlled with the help of treatment. Mostly, OCD is considered to be a lifelong disorder. It often circulates around the fear of germs or sickness and around keeping order and maintaining patterns. A person suffering from OCD can often be extremely annoying. Hence here are a few tips you can use to deal with OCD:

1. Understand OCD: The first step towards dealing with OCD is to know what you have to deal with. Gather as much information as you can about OCD and also read up about how you can overcome it. You need to know the symptoms of OCD so you can identify the disorder. Almost everyone suffers from OCD at one point of their lives. Hence, it is extremely important to understand OCD in order to treat it.

2. Work with your compulsions: Do not get petrified about your compulsions if you are planning to overcome your OCD, instead work with them. Try not to encourage their development. If you are worrying about whether you have switched of the lights, try and develop a mental picture of you doing it. If you are able to get a clear picture, then you have, otherwise you can go and switch it off. Another option is to maintain a list where you tick off the activity once you have done it so that you don't have to worry about it later on. 

3. Maintain a journal: Maintaining a journal will help you curb your fears and negative thoughts. Write down all your obsessive thought and reflect on how they are affecting you and whether they are worth your worry or time. Gradually you will see that you are able to control these thoughts and will be able to push away any negativity which comes along with them.

4. Remind yourself about the good in you: Make this your regular practice. Do not undermine yourself, instead make yourself feel good. This will help you to get over the fact that you have done something wrong in your daily activities (like not turning the gas off when you actually have) and that wrong is going to harm people.

Chronic OCD will require therapy and medical assistance. Hence if you are able to detect the signs at an early level and are able to adopt the above measures to control it, then going to a doctor might not be necessary.

Tips to Deal With Ocd

While some people see tears as a sign of weakness, for others crying is a crucial way of dealing with grief. Though as children we re told not to cry and to  keep a hold  of our emotions, letting go of a few tears can help alleviate grief and emotional distress. 

Here are a few reasons crying could be a good idea when dealing with loss.

Crying can stimulate the release of endorphins: Crying cleanses the mind of negative emotions and allows you to express your emotions. Crying can be described as a reaction to pain and in order to control pain, the body releases endorphins. Endorphins are also known as happy hormones as they block the transmission of pain signals and create a sense of contentment. These chemicals can take a little time to have an effect and hence in most cases, you will notice an improvement in your mood after a good cry.
Crying elevates the mood: Crying can help reduce your body s manganese levels. A higher than normal manganese level can heighten anxiety, irritability, tiredness and emotional disturbances. By lowering manganese levels, the brain is left with enough space for happier emotions and hence crying can help elevate a person s mood.
Crying stimulates the body s parasympathetic nervous system: The parasympathetic nervous system controls a number of functions including heart rate. Crying can stimulate this system and trigger a state of relaxation. For this reason, you may feel sleepy after crying. This gives your body time to relax and deal with the problem at hand with a calmer mind.
Crying helps deal with stress: A stressful experience or emotional situation can cause a build-up of stress hormones known as cortisol. As the levels of cortisol increase in the body, it goes into flight or fight mode as an automatic response to stress. Crying reduces the cortisol levels and helps relieve tension and stress almost immediately.
Crying is cathartic: Every day we are exposed to conflicts and stressful situations that can build up into resentments and leave a person feeling anxious and depressed. Sometimes, giving vent to emotions and crying can help release these pent-up feeling and heap cleanse the mind of these negative emotions. Crying also allows us to open ourselves up to the people around and can improve the levels of intimacy between them. In this way, it can help a person become part of a community.

Crying - Can it Help You Overcome Sadness?

Social interactions and social skills are going to help a child make friends, help to develop hobbies and interests. It helps a child to learn something new. For children with Autism, it is not going to be easy to interact with people, in classrooms, in some simple conversations or on the playground. Being a parent of a child with Autism is not at all easy. You will never want to see your child suffer even when they interact with their friends.
But there are ways to help your child to enhance their social skills.

Here are some of them for you:

Reward them: You need to support your children as much as possible. When you get less time to spend with them, then you can opt for therapy sessions. But therapy sessions alone will not help. When there is something done at the session, practice it at home as well. Reward them if they are able to meet the expected behaviour.
Buy a Pet: Yes, a pet can help them to improve social behaviour. They form an emotional bonding with the pets and that is when they will be able to understand these emotions and feeling. Many studies show that when a child with Autism has a pet, they learn to interact in a much better way.
Help them understand what is expected: At the very beginning, do not try to teach your child what is right or what is wrong. Rather, you should try to help them understand what is expected from them. For example, when someone is talking to them, they tend to look elsewhere. Do not tell them that it is wrong to look elsewhere, rather help them understand that when a person is talking, they expect your attention. Give them some example, some concrete example to make it easy for them.
With right practice and understand, you will be able to help your child improve their social skills. In fact, you play the major role.

Helping Your Child With Autism To Improve Social Skills!

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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