Dr. G.P.S.Dhingra Dhingra

Depression follows the trajectory opposite to contentment. It has adverse effects on a person's mental and physical health. Being depressive is not a choice; it is a condition. The fact that despondency is not an elected way of life is a mystery to many. People surrounding a depressed person should make conscious efforts in treating them with love and dignity. Subjecting a person to strict deadlines, stringent rules or excessive pressure could worsen their situation.   

Ways to tackle a depressed family member:

1. Create occasions to enjoy a hearty laugh: If you have a family member suffering from depression you should probably share the benefits of laughter with him or her. Laughter is the best medicine to remedy acute depression. Look for opportunities to crack a joke or make the concerned person play with a pet. You can also take the person to watch humorous movies.
2. "You are impossible" is the worst way of approaching a problem: In many cases a depressed person is reported with instances of negativity. Though the expressed negativity makes you feel morbid, do not give up on your family member. The person involuntarily finds reasons to feel hopeless. You should never think the case is beyond any kind of betterment.  
3. Keep them in a positive environment: Positive ideas can counter dejection. Help the person plan for a great future. Lay stress on how important that person is to you and to the world in general. Keeping one's mind creatively occupied can prove to be effective. Music or any other passion for that matter can help a person get over phases of depression.
4. You should not associate depression with perpetual sadness: Depression can have plenty of symptoms. The symptoms vary from one person to another. While some people lack in motivation some might want to harm themselves or others. Many become a recluse. The minute you associate depression with sadness you limit your overview of the actual problem.  
5. Help the family member take his or her medicines diligently: While counseling helps a few patients of depression some others require medication. A bout of depression will dissuade a person from sticking to his or her medical routine. As a loved one it is your due responsibility to persuade him or her to take medicines regularly. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a psychiatrist and ask a free question.

Is your child refusing to grab anything other than chicken nuggets? When your child’s nutrition is an aching subject to deal with in your household, remember you are not the only one. Many parents are actually worried about the fussiness of their children over food. But your child’s food preferences would also mature with age. Until then, you can consider trying out these following tips to avoid any kind of mealtime hassles.

1. Respect your child's appetite or lack of one: Respect your child’s level of appetite and never force a meal, if your child is not hungry. Rather, serve small portions to give them an opportunity to ask for more, on their own.

2. Stick to the routine: Maintain a routine and serve snacks and meals at about the same time every day. Also, keep a check on the number of times you serve those mid meal snacks and try to stick to that count.

3. Be patient with new foods: Have patience with new food. Take time in introducing it to your child by talking about the food’s shape, color, aroma and texture, if not the taste.

4. Make it fun: Try out innovative ways of garnishing your food so as to make the whole eating experience a fun and a thrilling one for your child.

5. Recruit your child's help: At the grocery store, ask your child to help you select vegetables, fruits and other healthy foods. But keep off those foods which you would not want you child to eat.

6. Set an example: Set an example by yourself by eating all kinds of nutritious and healthy foods, in order to set that perfect example for your child.

7. Cut Distractions: Make sure to switch off from any sort of a distraction, such as the television or the washing machine and other electronic gadgets while feeding your child.

8. Don't offer dessert as a reward: Do not reward your child with desserts at the end of the meal as this sends them an indication that the dessert is the best dish among all.

9. Do not cook a separate meal: Do not cook a separate meal for your child after he/she has refused the original one as this might encourage picky eating even more.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is also known as OCD. It is a mental ailment that causes specific changes in the brain as well as the behaviour of the patient. It can also cause severe anxiety and lead the patient to consume a lot of time for completing even the most normal tasks. These obsessions are like thoughts, images and even videos playing where the cause of a certain action becomes more profound with the number of imagined risks if it is not done in a specific way, as per the mind of the patient. These turn into repetitive actions undertaken by the patient, where these actions are known as compulsions.

Hence the term: obsessive compulsive disorder. Washing, cleaning, losing control, contamination fears and more are only a few of the thoughts that plague patients suffering from this disorder. While this disorder may not have a specific cure, there are various ways in which it can be managed. Let us look at some of these methods.

Causes of OCD

The exact cause of OCD is unknown. It is generally considered unlikely that OCD develops purely psychologically as a consequence of the way we are brought up.

1. Genetics and Physiology: It is generally accepted that OCD arises from differences in the physiology of the brain in people with the condition.
2. Serotonin: Lack of serotonin activity appears to be involved in causing OCD. Serotonin is a calming and inhibitory neurotransmitter, one of its main actions is to control and put the brakes on painful, worrying or anxious thoughts.
3. Traumatic Life Events: Traumatic emotional events such as bereavement may trigger or worsen OCD in people who already have a tendency to have the condition.

Treatment of OCD

For best results in treating this troublesome anxiety disorder combine brain-chemistry balancing approaches with psychotherapy techniques.

1. Nutritional Therapy: Try tryptophan and St John's Wort to increase serotonin. Rhodiola has been shown to help generalised anxiety disorder however Rhodiola has the ability to raise 'brain energy' and therefore hypothetically may exa-sperate OCD symptoms. 
2. The Inositol Treatment of OCD: Inositol, one of the B vitamins, has been found effective in treating OCD. Inositol is used in biochemical processes that affect serotonin receptors.
3. Psychotherapy: This is also known as discussion or talk therapy where the patient is allowed to engage with a therapist who is usually a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist. The doctor will help the patient in first of all, becoming aware of the problem by helping the patient carry out various tasks in a controlled environment. These tasks will be timed and then relayed to the patient before the exposure therapy begins, where the patient will be taught to build a better quality of life. This a long term and time taking process which can also involve group sessions and sessions with the family members. Also, this method takes a lot of practice so that the patient learns how to regulate the obsessions and stop the compulsive behaviour gradually.
4. Exercise: Numerous studies have shown the benefits of exercise upon mental health. So, a minimum of 20mins of daily exercise can help you a lot.
5. Relaxation Training & Meditation: Learning meditation and relaxation techniques may enhance one's ability to control anxiety and one's thoughts in general.
6. Medication: There are various kinds of medicines that can be prescribed for these patients. Anti-depressants can help the patient in overcoming the fears and anxiety that a person feels when the wheels of one's imagination begin to turn towards obsessive thoughts. This will also help in tackling the hopelessness that the person feels when faced with the so called depressing outcome of not bowing to the compulsive habits.

Putting It All Together

• Follow the diet for serotonin deficient depression, and GABA deficient anxiety.
• Consult with a qualified therapist using behavioural rather than analytical techniques.
• Do some repetitive mind-occupying/filling as opposed to mind-emptying meditations everyday.

Loss and grief are two unfortunate partners where the latter follows the former. While the type of grief or the nature of the loss may differ from person to person, there are five distinct stages of loss and grief that all people universally go through, when faced with such a situation.

Here are the five stages of this process and the different ways in which one can cope with each stage:

1. Denial and Isolation: In this phase, the patient usually ends up blocking out the words as well as the thoughts and reactions that surround this sad event, which can lead to a numbing action of the brain. While we all do this in some measure during such situations, some people take it especially hard by acting as if nothing has happened at all. If this phase does not come to pass within a short frame of time, then psychological and medical intervention may be required.
2. Anger: When a person begins to acknowledge the loss, there is a sense of unfairness which can lead to frustration and anger that is basically the way the person may be dealing with the re-emergence of the pain and the fact that it is here to stay. Therapy and sedation may be required if this frustration and repeated spells of tantrums carries on for a prolonged period. Do not hesitate to talk things out rather than flaring up at this point, as the unchangeable has already happened.
3. Bargaining: In this phase, desperation enters the mind of the patient where a lot of 'what ifs' come up. The patient begins to question what if things had been done differently and other such aspects. If not dealt with in an engaging manner and with empathy, this phase can lead back to anger and frustration.
4. Depression: Private mourning of the loss and regret to do with the practical aspects like loneliness and the cost of the loss can strike at this stage. Here, the patient must be made aware of rights as well as the people around him or her who can help out to prevent this depression from becoming a full-fledged condition.
5. Acceptance: In this final stage, the patient becomes more accepting of this new reality. Yet, even this must be taken up cautiously as a grief stricken heart may lead to a variety of mental ailments in the long run.

The way to deal with these stages is with therapy and proper guidance where the patient is allowed to channel all the thoughts and anger before accepting the situation. Do not hesitate to ask for counselling and embrace the changes in your life without regret, guilt and depression.

Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental disorder which makes you feel fearful, nervous and suspicious about people or situations around. This disease usually starts to show its signs from early adulthood and is more common in men than women. People suffering from this disorder are unable to maintain close and long lasting relationships with people as they have the habit of blaming and not trusting other people. The most common symptoms of this disorder are:

1. Doubting the loyalty of others
2. Fear of revealing their own personal information
3. A tendency of holding long lasting grudges
4. Inability to handle criticisms
5. Abrupt instances of anger and instant reaction
6. Showing traits of coldness in a relationship
7. Having a feeling of always being right
8. Having problems in relaxing
9. Being stubborn, argumentative and hostile

• Causes: The exact cause behind PDD is still unknown, but according to some medical researchers it happens due to a combination of biological and psychological conditions. Additionally, bad emotional experiences during childhood and having gone through a physical or mental trauma also leads to the development of the disease.
• Diagnosis: This condition cannot be diagnosed at home and is usually diagnosed by a specialist. The first step taken by a doctor in order to diagnose the disorder is an examination of the medical and psychiatric history of the person. Additionally, if the health records of a person do not indicate anything, then the doctors usually go for some expert opinions by a psychiatrist.
• Treatment: Most of the people suffering from this disease are not even aware about it, until someone brings it to their notice. Doctors usually believe that psychotherapy, which is a form of counseling, is the best way to treat PDD.

Social anxiety disorder is a chronic mental health condition in which a person has excessive and unreasonable fear of certain social situations. Anxiety and self-consciousness arise from a fear of being scrutinized, embarrassed or judged by others. The fear may be made worse by a lack of social skills or experience in social situations. This persistent anxiety can build into a panic attack, and the affected person may start avoiding social situations under extreme distress. People with social anxiety disorder also suffer anticipatory anxiety, which is the fear of a situation even before it happens. In many cases, the person is aware that the fear is unreasonable and overblown, yet is unable to overcome it.

Like many other mental health conditions, social anxiety disorder arises from a complex interaction of environment and genes. The possible causes are:
 

• Inherited traits - Genetic factors may contribute to the development of social anxiety disorder if it is present in a first-degree relative (parents, siblings or child).
• Brain structure - Nuclei shaped part of the brain called amygdala may play a role in controlling the fear response. People with overactive amygdala may have a heightened fear response, increasing anxiety in social situations.
• Environmental factors - Social anxiety disorder may be a learned behavior. You may develop the condition after witnessing the anxious behavior of others. Also, there may be an association between social anxiety disorder and overprotective parents wanting to control their children.

Social anxiety disorder is the second most common type of anxiety disorder, which most often surfaces in adolescence or early adulthood. It is more common in women than in men. There is no way to predict what will cause social anxiety disorder, but some steps can be taken to reduce the impact of symptoms by getting help early instead of delaying, managing stress in daily life and avoiding unhealthy substances like alcohol, drugs and caffeine.

'Consult'.

Related Tip: Do People Really Suffer from Mood Disorders?