Dr. Milind Barhate

One of the emerging psychiatric disorder that has significant medical and psychiatric consequences is compulsive sexual behaviour or hypersexuality, is an obsession with sexual thoughts in which people cannot manage their sexual behaviour. It may involve a commonly enjoyable sexual experience as self-stimulation which becomes an obsession. The person suffering from the condition may also get involved in sexual behaviours that are outside the bounds of commonly accepted conduct like paying for sex or having extramarital affairs.

Untreated compulsive sexual behaviour damages one’s self-esteem, health, job, relationships and career. However, with treatment and self-help, one can manage compulsive sexual behaviour and learn to manage one’s urge. Males are more likely to be unfaithful than females because they have stronger sexual impulses and weaker self-control. Compulsive sexual behaviour symptoms vary in type and severity. During intense sexual impulses, one feels as if they're beyond control. This is the first and the most common symptom as the patient uses compulsive sexual behaviour as an escape route for problems like loneliness, depression, anxiety and stress. One has trouble establishing and maintaining emotional closeness, even if one is married or in a committed relationship.

The treatment for compulsive sexual behaviour involves psychotherapy and medications. A primary goal of treatment is to help one manage urges and reduce excessive behaviours while maintaining healthy sexual activities. If one has compulsive sexual behaviour, one may need treatment for mental health condition. People with compulsive sexual behaviour often have alcohol or drug abuse problems or a mood disorder such as depression.

Sleep is one such time when people usually are expected to lie down still and get rest. However, we have all heard of sleepwalking, a condition where a person walks during the sleep. Though it may sound strange, there is a deeper explanation for it both from a causative point of view and from managing it.

Things you should know-

1. Sleepwalking happens when a person moves back from a deep sleep to a light sleep or awakening state.
2. The person who is sleepwalking is usually not aware of it.
3. Activities may range from simply getting up and sitting up in bed to walking around the room. They could also open the door and walk out to the neighbourhood. Moving furniture, changing dresses or driving a car, may also be some of the actions Most of these activities happens completely without their knowledge.
4. Mostly happens in children up to the age of 12, but can be seen in adults also, where it assumes a more severe form.
5. The person who is sleepwalking has a fixed stare with glassy eyes. They may appear dazed and lost when they are awakened.
6. They may not respond when they are actually sleepwalking, or respond very slowly
7. They can be brought back to bed and put back to sleep without being disturbed. Most children would go back to sleeping when this is done
8. Though the parents can be very worried when they see children sleepwalking, reassurance is required, as it usually disappears as they cross teenage.
9. There could be chances of small injury like tripping or fall during the sleepwalking episode
10. Sleepwalkers may be more restless compared to other children during their waking hours
11. Bedwetting is also quite common in children who sleepwalk

Causes:

1. Inappropriate sleep pattern with lack of sleep for prolonged periods is one of the main reasons for sleepwalking
2. Stress
3. Excessive drinking
4. Medical conditions like heart rhythm problems, acidity, gastric reflux, and seizures
5. Psychiatric conditions like panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder can also lead to sleepwalking

Management:

1. For a parent to see their child walking around in their sleep can be quite disturbing.
2. Reassurance is required stating that it is just a temporary phase and will not stay beyond the teenage years
3. Most people do not require any intervention unless accompanied by severe symptoms like going out of the house or driving
4. Once established, it is advisable to avoid by not drinking too much alcohol, avoiding stress and anxiety and taking precautions like extra-secure locks to prevent sleepwalking and/or other side effects.

Nowadays, drug abuse is a universally condemned action such that selling certain drugs are illegal. Children are not allowed to take drugs until they reach a certain age such as 21 for most states in India. Lots of problems start occurring when you are addicted to a certain drug. It is also nearly impossible to stop since the nerve cells change the way they function due to drugs. These nerve cells overstimulate the 'reward circuit' of the brain. This means that your brain constantly needs to be 'rewarded' and this reward comes in the form of drugs. There are many reasons why people become addicts and here are some of them.

1. People want to get high: This is perhaps the most common reason why people become drug addicts. The moment they take in one drug, they love the feeling they get so much that they keep wanting to go back to it.
2. People want to fit in: This is also a very common reason. When all your friends and perhaps even your bosses and other superiors are taking drugs, you do not want to feel left out or ostracized by your friend group. This is why many people start taking drugs.
3. Unintentionally taking drugs due to injuries or medical conditions: Sometimes a doctor prescribes a medicine for a certain time period but it does not work or works too well and so you keep taking the drug so that you will feel better. This happens more often than you think.
4. People take drugs to relieve stress: This is another very common reason why people take drugs. You may easily rationalize with them thinking that taking drugs is a good way to relax from work and family pressures. However, the long term effects of taking drugs are much worse than the stress.
5. Boredom from daily life: In young teens and adolescents especially, life can be so boring that they want to try something new and thus resort to drug abuse.

Symptoms for Bipolar disorder varies from patient to patient. Bipolar 1 and bipolar 2 can vary in terms of signs and symptoms. Both diseases have a different set of symptoms and they are diagnosed according to the merit of the symptoms.

Bipolar 1
Bipolar 1 is characterised by a manic episode. This may be followed by a hypomanic or depressive instance. Symptoms of mania can cause major impairment in life and extreme cases may require hospitalisation. Bipolar 1 patients can suffer from psychosis as well.

Bipolar 2
Bipolar 2 is characterised by a hypomanic instance that lasts for at least four days and one depressive instance lasting for a minimum of two weeks. Bipolar 2 doesn’t involve a manic episode. Frequent mood swings and violent behaviour can be major challenge in a patient’s life.

Warning signs of manic and hypomanic behaviour:

1. Quick passing thoughts
2. Unusual talkativeness
3. Distraction
4. Increased social activity
5. Inflated sense of self-esteem

Symptoms of bipolar disorder

1. Anxious distress: Apprehensions about not finishing a task on time, feeling of restlessness, feeling of losing control, difficulty in concentrating due to distress, fearing an awful event will occur in the near future, etc., are key symptoms of anxiety distress.
2. Melancholic features: Patients suffering from bipolar disorder like to be left alone. They may not seek pleasure in any activity and even good things may not have much effect on them.
3. Catatonia: This is a condition wherein, a person stops reacting to the environment. Not speaking and holding unusual body positions are some signs of these symptoms. There might be a tendency of mimicking too.
4. Psychosis: This is one of the classical symptoms of bipolar disease. It is characterised by hallucination, constant depression and delusions.
5. Seasonal pattern: There is a pattern of manic, hypomanic and depressive episodes throughout the year. The pattern might change within a month or season.
6. Rapid cycling: The number of mood swings can exceed four or more times in a single year.
7. Peripartum onset: This is a condition where bipolar disorder symptoms are witnessed in a pregnant woman during pregnancy or within the four weeks following delivery.

Symptoms in children: It is difficult to find symptoms of bipolar disorder in children and teens. Along with bipolar disorder, kids are most often diagnosed with other mental health problems as well. The problems can result from stress, trauma or chemical imbalance of the brain. Perhaps the biggest symptoms of bipolar disorder in children and teens are their frequent mood swings, chronic depression and feeling of despair. There might be a tendency of oversleeping as well. Reaching out to a doctor or professional help is very necessary for cases related to children and teens. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

The period around the age of 45 to 50 is very delicate for most women as many changes occur within the body. The changes occur due to menopause or a cessation of the menstrual cycle for a period of at least 12 months or so. Along with a host of physical changes, post-menopausal women tend to suffer from mental problems as well. Some of the factors could be physical changes such as a decline or stop in hormone productions while some of them are psychological effects as well. Some of the common mental problems faced by women are mentioned below:

1. Depression: This is by far the most common mental disorder and affects women while they are going through the process of menopause. After a few years, post-menopausal women tend to recover from this or the symptoms at least taper off. It is estimated that almost 20% of women undergoing menopause suffer from this problem, although the risk of depression is much higher if you have prior history of it.

2. Sleep Disorders: This can be described as not only a mental disorder that affects women but also a symptom of menopause. Sleep disorders can range anywhere between disturbed sleep, insomnia or sleep apnea (breathing difficulty while sleeping), especially in older women. Women undergoing menopause may suffer from this due to hormonal changes which result in hot flashes. These can wake you up in the middle of the night almost daily.

3. Schizophrenia: This is a serious mental disorder and is mostly noticed in women who have a prior history of the disorder. This condition is characterized by delusions and a detachment from reality which often pushes the person to act on their inappropriate imaginations. Schizophrenia usually manifests itself in young adulthood and peaks again at the age of around 45 to 50. If you had episodes of schizophrenia in your early adulthood, then it may resurface during menopause, although most women do see a subsiding of symptoms some time after menopause has occurred.

4. Panic Disorder: Women tend to experience this problem, during or even after menopause, as a new disorder that suddenly develops. This can be quite disruptive in your life. Also, if you have a history of this disorder, menopause may trigger it to show up again.

5. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: This disorder is another mental health issue that can cause you to be overly obsessive, more so among menopausal women. If you already have had OCD in the past, menopause can trigger a relapse or a bad episode.

6. Bipolar Disorder: In this case as well, menopausal women have a higher tendency for a relapse or the start of a bad episode if they already had even mild signs of it.

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

The first question when you greet somebody is 'how are you' and this often refers to our state of well-being. While most answers would be great, awesome or good, we usually think of how we are doing physically. While some of us may talk about physical conditions (say things like feverish, have a cold, etc.), not many would think of talking about mental health conditions. However, mental health is very important for overall well-being.

Can you think of someone who is severely depressed or anxious all the time and have a good physical health? Chances are very bleak, and if you consider the overall health as a mix of mental and physical balance, this is not possible. Read on to understand how important mental health is and why you should start paying more attention to it.

1. Improved physical health: If someone is in a stressed state, it is obvious that they would not be able to do the activities they enjoy. Being affected mentally also leads to reduced immunity and sleep disturbances, making the person prone to infections and other disorders. Stress is one of the main risk factors for chronic medical conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
2. Improved prognosis: Most often, doctors focus on treating the physical aspects of a person’s health. However, with recent emphasis on mental health, more and more doctors are looking at wholesome measures to improve a person’s health. Results show that when a person’s mental health is also addressed, the physical ailments respond very well.
3. Improved productivity: People with unattended mental health disorders often resort to absence from work and/or school, can have financial instability, be homeless and can fall repeatedly. Being mentally healthy provides overall changed perspective of life and therefore improves productivity.
4. Improved personal relationships: Children of people affected with mental illness are prone to neglect, abuse, rejection, and behavioural issues. There is also social isolation, which may lead into adulthood, and these children may also have emotional health problems. Others in the close circle including spouses, siblings, parents, close friends and colleagues would be clearly affected by a person who is mentally unhealthy.
5. Social effects: These people are highly prone to social crimes like rape, murder, theft, violence, etc. They may not be able to afford their treatment and/or resort to these crimes to assert themselves.
6. Improved quality of life: Life expectancy is higher in people who are mentally healthy. Even with mild symptoms of anxiety and depression, this is reduced, and the chances of a happier, healthier life are reduced.

Whatever the effect, mental health needs to be addressed as equally as we do physical problems, using medications, counselling, or lifestyle changes.

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