Ageing is inevitable, and as much as we want to escape, there is no way out. All organs, whether obvious or not, undergo gradual degeneration and deterioration. The brain is no exception, and memory being one of its main function also begins to decline with age. There are various factors which determine how quickly this ageing sets in and how rapidly it progresses. These are dictated by a person s lifestyle, activity levels, and overall body changes. Dementia also has a strong family history, and if you know someone who has a family history, there are some early signs that you could watch for. This will help in both empathizing with the person, as well as to help in arresting progression. Read on to know the signs that need to be watched out for.

Mood changes: Sudden changes in mood, especially going into short periods of depression without an obvious reason, is one of the first symptoms of dementia. If it is happening repeatedly, this can help identify dementia.
Personality changes: If a shy person suddenly becomes outgoing or vice versa, this could be an early indicator of dementia. They either develop or shed inhibitions, which is a new change for them.
Memory loss: Sudden short-term memory loss for a person who had a very strong memory is a definite indicator of dementia. They might clearly remember the distant events but forget small things like where to find their medicines, where things are in the kitchen or bathroom, etc. Because of this, you might see them repeating what they just did. This could be like washing a glass again, saying or asking the same thing again, etc.
The difficulty with regular tasks: Short-term memory loss causes difficulty with regular tasks like laying out the dinner table, finding regular medicines, paying utility bills, etc. There is also difficulty in learning new tasks, which further complicates things.
Feeling lost: Due to sudden memory loss and difficulty with regular tasks, they suddenly feel lost, which in turns adds to their depression.
Apathy: This also leads to a general lack of interest in things and people around them. They could have had hobbies, which no longer interest them.
Disoriented: They find it difficult to be aligned to time and space. Directions which they clearly know could seem difficult.
Not able to connect the dots: While the elderly people are generally good at telling stories and anecdotes, with dementia setting in, this becomes difficult.
These are some symptoms which can help identify if a near one is slowly developing dementia. Identifying in the early stages can help in arresting progress and extending support.

Dementia - How To Know If Someone Is Suffering From It?

When you hear the word  schizophrenia , the first thing that comes to mind are those serial killers shown on the TV or you call it split personality. But that is not the true meaning of it. It is not split personality or some kind of violent illness. Schizophrenia is a severe chronic mental illness which makes it difficult to differentiate between what is real and what is false.

As this is a mental illness, you will not be able to see any changes physically. You need to understand the symptoms of schizophrenia in order to know if a person is suffering from this problem. There are different kinds of symptoms that are used for diagnosing schizophrenia, but they all differ from person to person. Also, the symptoms that you see now, may not be seen later as the disease progresses. There are different types of schizophrenia and each has different symptoms.

Here is a list of the different types of schizophrenia and the most predominant and significant symptoms of each type.

Paranoid Schizophrenia: People suffering from paranoid schizophrenia are characterized by strong auditory hallucinations and of being persecuted. However, they are very normal and function normally. But they are not ready to discuss their feelings openly and the symptoms are not observable. Other symptoms include anger, hostility and disorganized speech.
Disorganized Schizophrenia: As the name suggests, people with disorganized schizophrenia exhibit disorganized thoughts. Delusions and hallucination may not be seen in this type of schizophrenia. The behavior of the affected person is quite disorganized or it is difficult to understand what they are saying. In fact, some emotions exhibited by the affected person are hard to understand or they are not at all relevant to the current situation. Their daily routine and activities will also be affected.
Catatonic Schizophrenia: People with catatonic schizophrenia are characterized by increased or decreased movement. This symptom actually varies from person to person. Some people stay at a place for a long time without any kind of movement and some people keep moving for hours and do not stop. They do not speak for hours and sometimes they keep repeating the same thing over and over again. This has to be treated immediately as they will not be able to manage even their daily routine with this kind of behavior.
Undifferentiated Schizophrenia: Undifferentiated schizophrenia is a condition where the symptoms do not fall into any of the above three types. You will also be able to observe hallucinations, delusions, anger, disorganized speech or catatonic behavior.
Residual Schizophrenia: As the name suggests, it is the residue of schizophrenia behavior, but it is less severe as compared to the past. Delusions, hallucination and disorganized speech may still be present but compared to the past, the patient would be doing better. 

Schizophrenia - 5 Types & Their Signs!

Children should be brought up with utmost care. A child should not be your centre of attraction only because it is incapable to fend for itself, but also because it is not half as aware as you are or could be about its problems. Parents punish their children for the slightest of their mistakes; they at times even threaten children to bring home a lesson. Patience and observation are two key things in good parenting. The foibles of your child might indicate at an underlying medical condition. Instead of fixating over the mistakes try and locate the root cause. Early diagnosis of autism can save your child from a bleak future.

The following are a few symptoms of autism in children:

Social interaction is a huge challenge: Children suffering from autism are usually noticed to live in a world of their own. They hardly listen to people around them or hardly talk. The presence of many people can scare them or make them conscious. When spoken to, they look away. They do not feel comfortable in revealing their joys or fears. Autistic children like to play alone; they are not interested in group activities with friends.
Difficulties in communicating their needs: Communication is the biggest problem autistic children seem to face regularly. They are not able to express their needs and emotions. If they are hungry they might scream or break things but not ask for food. They even fail to comprehend instructions and seem confounded by simple situations. Their speech could comprise of mumbling. Autism in children could make them develop a condition popularly known as echolalia under the effect of which they mouth words without knowing their meanings in an extremely strange tone.
An obsessive, repetitive behavior: Children with autism could be persistent in some of their actions. Their body gestures could be repetitive; for instance, they can continue flapping their arms for hours together. Children in certain cases are also very particular about routine. Quite strikingly, objects affect them and they might scrutinize an object meticulously.
Sensory problems: Light sound and touch can have a huge impact on children suffering from autism. Patches of light and shade intrigue them whereas high pitched sounds could depress or intimidate them. They usually prefer deep pressure touch and might not respond to anything else.

Autism in Children: Prevalent Symptoms

The feeling of instability is the crux of borderline personality disorder. This condition usually begins in early adulthood and is worst at its onset. As a person ages, borderline personality disorder usually improves and becomes easier to handle. For a person with borderline personality disorder, everything from their relationships to their moods, thinking and behaviour is unstable and constantly changing. This can be frightening but thankfully, this condition can be treated.

As with any other personality disorder or health issue, the earlier a condition is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat. Hence, it is important to understand the signs and symptoms of this disorder. This disease manifests itself in different ways in each person but some symptoms are commonly experienced. These include:

Fear of abandonment: No one likes to be alone, but people suffering from borderline personality disorder are terrified of being abandoned. Even something as simple as being stood up at a meeting, can make such a person extremely anxious. It can also lead to relationship problems by making the person seem clingy and jealous about their partner.
Unstable relationships: For a person suffering from this disorder, relationships are either perfect or failures. Hence their relationships are extremely passionate but very short lived and they often feel disappointed by their partners.
Unstable self-image: People suffering from this disorder may feel very confident one day and feel the opposite on the next. Though everyone has shifting views of their identity form time to time, for people suffering from this personality disorder, theses shifts are extreme. It can often lead to frequent changes in jobs, friend circles, relationships, goals and values. It can also cause changes in their understanding of sexual orientation.
Impulsive behaviour: People who display self-destructing and attention seeking behaviour may suffer from this condition. This disorder has been often associated with alcoholism, drug abuse and recklessness.
Suicidal behavior: People suffering from this disorder may often be associated with behaviour that physically harms them. They are also capable of following through on suicidal threats.
Mood swings: Extreme fluctuations in emotions and moods are a common experience or people suffering from borderline personality disorder. These mood swings usually start only a few minutes of a few hours unlike depression and other anxiety disorders.
Suspicion about everyone around: Borderline personality disorder can make a person struggle with suspicious thoughts about everyone around them and make them paranoid. They often feel out of touch with reality and can feel spaced out when under stress.

Borderline Personality Disorder - Signs and Symptoms!

Obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd) is a disorder that causes anxiety. It is also called as anxiety disorder. The main characteristics of this disorder are uncontrollable, unpleasant thoughts, which are continuing. Ocd causes the mind to get stuck on a specific thought or inclination. For instance, you may repeat a task forty times to ensure that it has been done properly. You will not be able to get it out of your mind. Ocd is characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior patterns.

Some obsessive thoughts include:
1. The fear of being defiled by germs or soil and also of contaminating others.
2. The fear of losing control and hurting yourself or others.
3. Having sexual or brutal thoughts on the mind.
4. Extreme focus and devotion to religion and religious activities.
5. A sense of fear of losing or not having things you need.
6. Having the assumption that everything would go fine.
7. The person will become very superstitious.

Some compulsive behavior patterns include:
1. Inordinate double checking on things like locks, apparatuses and switches.
2. Over and over monitoring of friends and family to ensure they're safe.
3. Counting in the head, mumbling nonsense words without meaning.
4. Devoting a lot of time for washing and cleaning.
5. Praying without reason and taking part in religious ceremonies.
6. Accumulating junk material.

Here are some common ways to deal with ocd:
1. Regular exercise: exercise is the best natural remedy to prevent anxiety, which leads to ocd. Exercise checks your ocd symptoms. It makes your nerves stronger and hence you can focus your mind out of obsessive thoughts by yourself, when they arrive. Get at least thirty minutes of exercise regularly.

2. Connect with friends and family: social isolation is one of the common early symptoms of ocd. Social isolation can lead to ocd as well. Therefore, you must always stay connected to your friends and family so that you never get lonely and anti-social. Share everything with family.

3. Sleep sufficiently: lack of sleep or troubled sleep may lead to anxiety disorders. You need to sleep enough to be away from obsessive thoughts.

4. Perform relaxation techniques: simple practices like yoga, meditation, pranayama help you grow spiritually, relax your mind and keeps ocd away from you.

5. Tackle your fears: instead of avoiding fearful thoughts, let them flow and tackle them face to face. This will help you overcome the fear. Adopt measures so that you can focus on other things and ignore the obsessive thoughts. Distract yourself away from the obsession.

Ocd is a harmful disorder, and you should take all measures possible to keep away from it.

Ways to Deal With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Body pain and Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is an effective way to reduce various kinds of body pains. Physiotherapy includes massages, exercises, and heat treatments to relieve pain. This treatment is often recommended as the first option to treat back and neck pain. Physiotherapy is also used to rehabilitate patients after surgery. Different kinds of exercises included in this treatment are also useful to treat sports injuries.  Here are some steps that you can take to relieve your body pain incorporating physiotherapy.

Get appropriate help

It is important to properly diagnose your condition before going for physical therapy. Seek help from a professional and if he/she recommends physiotherapy then only opt for the treatment.

Reduce your severe pain before exercising

If you are in immense pain, work to alleviate the pain before engaging in exercises. Cold/ hot therapy, massage, manual manipulation are some of the methods that can slowly reduce the pain. These are all part of physical therapy.

Exercise

Exercising has numerous health benefits including relieving back pain. As you age, your back tends to get weaker; it is important to workout to prevent future backaches. Stretching, strengthening and low- impact aerobics are ideal for this issue.

You can also try water therapy as water has a therapeutic effect on pain and makes your movements much easier than on land.

Observe your body's reaction to physical therapy

When you have just had a back or neck pain episode and try physical therapy you will feel some initial discomfort, it is expected. After you acclimatize yourself with the routine all kinds of pain will gradually diminish. The initial pain due to physiotherapy is caused because your muscles are stiff and they are being stretched the way they are not used to. However if the pain gradually increases you are probably not right for that particular kind of physical therapy.



Body pain and Physiotherapy

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