Dr. Milind Barhate

Sleep is the most essential part of our lives because it is the time when our body gets rejuvenated and recharged. However, due to numerous reasons, quite a few individuals fail to achieve proper sleep or any sleep at all. This condition in which a person is unable to sleep at night can be termed as insomnia.

Causes of insomnia
There can be varied reasons for different people that can cause insomnia.

• Unhealthy lifestyle i.e. improper sleep cycle, improper food habits, untimely naps, substance abuse etc.
• Medical conditions like sinus allergies, gastrointestinal problems, endocrine problems, arthritis, asthma, neurological condition like Parkinson’s disease, chronic back pain etc.
• Psychological conditions like depression and anxiety
• Certain medications aimed to cure other health problems

In case of the treatable medical reasons, insomnia is gone once the problem is treated. However, for people who have no idea as to why they suffer from insomnia, here are certain tips that can help in fighting it.

Lifestyle changes to cure insomnia
Starting with a significant lifestyle change can be a great way to change one’s sleep cycles and get a good night’s sleep.

• Maintain a proper and healthy diet, with more fruits and vegetables and less carbs and fat.
• Try to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday (despite the fact that you may not feel sleepy). This will train the body and regulate the body clock.
• Avoid afternoon naps or any short naps during the day.
• Exercise daily for at least 30 minutes.
• Avoid caffeine as it has contains properties that keeps a person up for long hours.
• Avoid intake of alcohol and nicotine. Although alcohol is associated with fun and partying, it is actually a depressant and causes improper sleep.
• Avoid any meal right before bed time.

Tips that can help

• Take a good, warm shower right before sleep.
• Ask your partner to give you a nice massage before bedtime.
• Restrict bed activities to sleep and sex only, nothing more.
• Make a really comfortable and inviting sleep environment.
• Try and get rid of all your worries before going to bed.
• Reduce stress using a number of stress reduction therapies like meditation, deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation techniques, etc.

Apart from the lifestyle changes and the tips that will help you gain a better sleep, there is another therapy, which may be useful. It is called the cognitive behavioural therapy. This therapy can give essential knowledge about sleep and help achieve normal sleep routines. Consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

While sex is an important part of an adult’s life, it may also come with a number of problems for certain people. Sexual addiction is a problem faced by many and includes a wide range of behavioural patterns when it comes to sex and excessive indulgence in the same. This condition may impact the life of an individual in a significant and even debilitating manner. While many people may confuse this with mere addiction to porn, this is not true. Let us find out more.

Types of Sexual Addiction: There are a number of ways in which sexual addiction may be characterised. As mentioned above, it does not merely include addiction to pornography or any other aspect of sex. It may include an addiction of one or multiple aspects, which include pornography as well. The various forms of sexual addiction include pornography addiction, addiction to fantasy or masturbation, addiction to sadistic behaviour, addition to prostitution, and other excess sexual activities and pursuits like exhibitionism.

Symptoms and Signs: There are a number of physical and emotional symptoms and signs of this condition. The patients suffering from this condition may end up isolating or alienating their partners, which is one of the most common giveaways of this condition. They may also go from one relationship to another in no time at all, with multiple partners in many cases. Also, they will not really have healthy relationships with their partners because of their fantasy based perceptions when it comes to sex. The physical symptoms of this condition include falling prey to venereal diseases and infections on a frequent basis, as well as the exposure to unwanted pregnancy in at least 70% of the cases, as per many medical reports. Anxiety, depression and substance abuse are also some of the common outcomes of this kind of addiction.

Treatment: Sexual addiction and sexual dependency can be treated by first of all treating the physical manifestations of this condition and its symptoms like infections and other ailments. This will be done with the help of medication in most cases. Further, the patient will be put through CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy as well as other forms of sex therapy so that the evaluator or psychologist may find the root cause behind the condition.

This kind of therapy usually follows the route of exhaustive discussions in which the patient will be asked to talk about his or her emotions and problems. These will then be used in order to reprogram the attitude and thinking of the patient. In such cases, the patient will also be encouraged to invest time and effort in the emotional side of a committed relationship so that the dependency on sex may reduce. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor and ask a free question.

How Mental illness affects Your Physical Health?

Myself Dr. Milind Barhate, psychiatrist practicing in Mumbai since last 10yrs. Mental illness is the most common illness in the world.

Stress is one of the most important factor for causing psychological illnesses. People believe that stress is not a psychiatric problem and it is a part of life. That's why most person donot come for treatment. Some misbelieves about stress are there. Stress effects everything, it effects your mind, your body from head to toe, it effects everywhere. When it effects your mind it causes migraine, headache, vomiting, nausea, paralytic attack, heart diseases, blood pressure, diabetes, acidity, stomach problems, restlessness, muscle cramps, sexual dysfunctions and a lot of illnesses like constipation, diarrhoea, anxiety problems. It effects every part of your body, and not only the body but it also effects your mind, it effects your emotions.

When the emotions are effected the person becomes irritable, he remains in a sad mood, and gradually other faculties of mind get effected and the person goes in depression or other problems like anxiety, sleep problems, psychosis, mood disorders and addictions. People believe that stress is not a problem, and when it becomes a big problem they come to us for treatment with a disease like depression, anxiety, mood disorder, psychosis or with suicide attempts. At that time the treatment becomes dfficult and the person has to take treatment for a longer period.

There are a lot of factors causing stress. Most of the people, they blame others for their own problems like inflation and job problems. Most of the time the person himself is responsible like his character depicts irresponsible behaviour, suspiciousness , not taking responsibility of family, child or at work place, unmanagebility, procastination, there are a lot of character defects that lead to problem either at home or work place or in society that leads to stress. So when it comes to stress management most of the people either go for changing their lifestyle, starting exercises, pranayam, moving around or reading some books, listening to music or going outside.

It relieves your stress but only for a couple of days or couple of weeks and again after those couple or days or weeks it becomes as it was before because the reason for your stress was character defects. Until and unless you change yourself the problem is not going to reduce. So when the management of stress comes, initially the most important character defect that leads to stress has to be managed.

It needs a long and tough behavioural therapy, counsellings, and if the problem arises again then you may need psychiatrist help. For more details you can contact me on Lybrate.com. Thank you.

A depressive disorder is not just a passing phase of the mind; it is a condition which involves your body, mind, and thoughts. It comes in the way of your daily life, thereby preventing you from carrying out your regular routine, even making it harder for you to concentrate or work properly. The exact causes are still not known, but as certain studies suggest, it might be hereditary, due to changes in the neuroendocrine functions, or due to other psychological and social factors.

Some of the depressive disorders are:

- Major depressive disorder
- Persistent depressive disorder
- Other specified or unspecified depressive disorders

Others are classified by their causes:

- Premenstrual Dysphoric disorder
- Another medical condition induced depressive disorder
- Substance/Medication-induced depressive disorder

Depressive disorders can set in at any point in time, but primarily, symptoms are visible in your late teens, 20's or your 30's.

Symptoms

For major depression the symptoms are:

1.Feelings of depression throughout the day
2.Significantly diminished interest in all your activities. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Psychiatrist.

Each and every person on this planet has to deal with the loss of a loved one at some point of their life or the other. It is an undeniable and unavoidable part of the human existence. However, at times, the grief can affect the person so much that their psychological, emotional and physical health may be affected. Their normal day- to-day functioning may be affected as a result of their extreme reaction to the loss of their loved one. In such a case it is ideal to seek treatment from a certified medical professional such as a counselor or psychologist. If the condition is even more serious and the patient requires help to treat him or her, then it is advisable to go to a psychiatrist.

However, the following tips commonly given by mental health professionals may help to deal with such a loss:

• Accepting one's emotion: Sometimes an individual may remain in denial about the loss of the loved one or about his or her own reaction to it. This increases the negative emotion as it does not find a medium of expression. The person withdraws into himself or herself, and is slowly unable to conduct the usual daily activities. The first step therefore is to fully accept the reality of the event and one's own response to it. It can help to speak to a friend or family member about one's own response, or even release the grief by crying. Such cathartic avidities are the first step.
• Taking care of oneself: Often after the death of a loved one, an individual may become wary of his or her own condition and fail to look after himself or herself. This should be avoided. Normal diet, exercise and activities are required.
• Channeling grief into productive activity: Constantly focusing on the loss of the loved one can increase the trauma and stress. Sometimes it helps to focus on helping others, e.g. Volunteering at a charity or assisting others in some way. Even taking up artistic pursuits or any productive hobby proves to be beneficial. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Psychiatrist.

Addiction can be considered as a behavioural change where a craving for something specific intensifies to such an extent that the consequences are ignored. Addiction controls the brain by diverting it in such a way that it registers only pleasure and does not give any importance to other standard drives like motivation and learning. In general, breaking up an addiction is difficult, but it is not impossible and with strong determination, addiction can be broken.

Effects of Addiction
In general, people are subjected to addiction will not have self-control over what they do. If addiction is not treated or diagnosed on time, it may reach harmful proportions. Addiction is not only related to consumption of alcohol and drugs. It may include other habits too, that cannot be controlled. Sometimes even having a particular craving for a fruit or a vegetable can be termed as an addiction. Among other things, the most harmful can be the usage of drugs, sexual pleasures and other effects that over a period of time can become uncontrollable.

How a person can get addicted?
A human brain registers all types of pleasures in the same way they register a joy from a psychoactive drug, sexual encounter, monetary rewards or a satisfying meal. When any of these things happen, the human brain releases a neurotransmitter dopamine in the nerve cells. If these habits become regular, the enzymes will be released in high quantities leading to the addiction problem.

Drugs usage leads to addiction within a short period of time. Consumption of almost all types of drugs, starting from nicotine to heroin leads to a powerful surge of dopamine in the nucleus accumbency leading to high addiction. Addiction is not exactly a disease, but it is a condition that can occur at any age. It is likely to occur more during the young age where the required maturity is yet to be gained. So it is advisable to be careful during your adolescent period as this is the time when you are more vulnerable.

Various medical tests can diagnose addiction. People subjected to addiction can be treated easily by proper medications and therapies. If addiction is in the initial stage, it can be quickly addressed by counselling process, and if it is severe, then the counselling sessions along with certain medications are needed to curb the addiction habit. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a psychiatrist.

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.

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.

He/she experience Doubt

Here's how it works. The person experience an unwanted thought which suggests the possibility of a catastrophic problem. For instance:

1. What if I left the stove on, and the neighborhood burns?
2. What if I got insecticide on my hands, and my family gets poisoned?
3. What stops me from taking the carving knife and stabbing my spouse?
4. What if I got poked by a needle infected with HIV?

These are thoughts about catastrophes. Naturally, you want to set them aside, and assure yourself that all is well.

And you try. You try very hard, very repetitively, to persuade yourself that all is well. You probably recognize that the thoughts are pretty exaggerated, even silly. But you keep trying to get rid of them. You try to feel absolutely sure that they're false. Even though you've never experienced these problems in the past, you want somehow to be certain that they will never happen in the future.

Here are some Tips that can help you in overcoming OCD

1. Consult a qualified Psychiatrist: A qualified Psychiatrist is the only person who can diagnose and answer your question “Do I have OCD?” Fortunately, effective medicines are available now that can certainly help you overcome OCD. One important thing is, even if the medicines are taking time to work, consult your psychiatrist. Inform your Psychiatrist and he will make necessary changes in the prescription.   
2. Educate Yourself about OCD: There’s no substitute for being an informed patient. Your understanding of OCD, and of the treatment method, will be a key to your progress. If you’re going to overcome OCD, you need to become an informed consumer.
3. Don’t be alone: OCD sufferers tend to do some compulsions to overcome their anxiety and these rituals are silly and awkward, that is why to avoid embarrassment such personally prefer to stay indoors. But staying indoors makes your mind locked in an OCD viscous cycle and it becomes difficult to break the cycle.
4. Meditation: Meditation is an ancient relaxation method that can do wonders for you in overcoming OCD.
5. Never neglect 3 practices: Regular Exercise, Healthy Diet and Sound sleep. 
6. Stop comparing yourself with others: it’s human nature to compare ourselves with others. Everyone has problems, difficulties. But they might be hiding there their sorrows, worries behind a mask, conveniently. Do not judge their quality of their happiness by looking at their external appearance. 
7. Find the cause: Find the real hidden reason for your anxiety, and take measures to reduce it. Sometimes chronic depression, childhood trauma, lack of sufficient sleep, etc. might be the reason. 
8. Help others: You will feel the satisfaction when you help others and see their smile. 
9. Don’t control your thoughts: Rather, control your reactions. And, Be happy, remain positive. 
10. Listen to music: Music has the tremendous power of healing and it diverts your mind. 
11. Do believe in the theory of KARMA: do your duties, don’t worry about results.

Manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder in recent days, is a major mood disorder characterized by hypomanic or manic episodes (deviation from one's usual mood along with abnormally high energy levels). Mania involves sleeplessness, along with psychosis, hallucinations, rage, grandiose delusions or paranoia. Mania or hypomania isn’t usually harmful to the patient and they might exhibit increased capacity for work and creativity. Depressive episodes however, can be debilitating and often life threatening as the person becomes self-destructive and suicidal in many instances. 

The extent of mood swings can vary from extreme to very mild. They can occur progressively or suddenly and might last for few days to weeks. Patients affected by bipolar disorder may experience disturbances in thinking apart from depressive or manic episodes. Distortions of perception and impaired social functioning are also not uncommon. The cause of bipolar disorder is not fully understood like most mental health conditions and is often thought to be hereditary.

The extent of the seriousness of the bipolar symptoms varies from person to person. In some people, the disorder is not full blown and they don’t exhibit all the symptoms. Others who aren’t that lucky might have to be hospitalized multiple times in their lives as the symptoms creep into their work and personal life and make living a normal life a tough challenge. 

Psychotic symptoms such as disorganized thinking, hallucinations and delusions might make a person do things that demand the urgency of hospitalization to keep them safe from their suicidal impulses. These symptoms might need to be urgently addressed by a psychiatrist and with the help of medications, the person might be able to regain control of their lives.

The symptoms of bipolar disorder are many and can be mainly categorized into two (sometimes overlapping) categories of mania or hypomania and depression:

Manic symptoms include: 

1. Grandiose delusions (delusion of grandeur) 
2. Racing thoughts which are often disconnected
3. Sense of euphoria or false elation
4. Irritability without cause
5. Hampered social functioning
6. Increased sexual inclination and risky sexual behavior
7. Hyperactivity
8. Increase in talking volume or speed
9. Impaired judgment
10. Reduced sleep requirements owing to extra energy levels
11. Increased productivity and creativity

Depressive symptoms include:

1. Abnormal eating patterns like over or under-eating to the extent of severe medical complications accompanied by drastic changes in weight
2. Difficulty in concentration, making decisions and remembering
3. Lack of energy or fatigue 
4. Contemplating about death for prolonged periods of time and suicidal behavior
5. Oversleeping, insomnia or early awakening
6. Persistent pessimism 
7. Irritability and restlessness
8. Feeling of hopeless and negative attitude

Mood stabilizers, such as lithium are commonly employed to treat bipolar disorder. Anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines and anti psychotics can also be used in the treatment. Along with medications, support from family and friends is of the utmost importance as they need to help provide all the support required in making the person functional and healthy. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a psychiatrist.

Hello, I am Dr. Milind Barhate, psychiatrist practicing in Varli and Mumbai area. Now we discuss about the addiction.

Addiction is a disease and it is different from other disease. Most of the people believe that addiction is the only habit. They do not  accept that it's a disease. Most of the other disease patient accept whatever this is, whether it is fever, malaria dengu, heart problem, diabetes, problem cancer etc. Patient accepts and go for the treatment. But in case of addiction, patient believes that he/she is normal. Even after there is a liver problem or because of addiction multiple problems arises. Some people requires only one quarter at night to fall asleep, it's not his problem and that's why they do not get it treated and it's a common issue.

Addiction now is increasing. Initially people goes for only alcohol, tobacco, smoking. Nowadays teenagers and children are getting drug addicted like Kaname, Ganja marijuana, charas, brown sugar and cocaine etc. Chemical addiction is also common addiction of the medicines or tablets or syrup.

So addiction is a disease it affects your brain and your body. After certain period of time, your brain and body gets dependent on such substance and because of  this reason people generally take the substance repeatedly. There is a change in your brain. Chemical changes occur that causes impulsive inability, frustration, depression, psychosis, a lot of mood changes. In addition to it, it affects everywhere. It affects your body from brain to toe. When it affects your brain it causes lot of diseases like dementia, seizures. When it affects your lung it causes bronchitis lung diseases. When it affects your liver it also affects your liver for the coc's or cancer of the liver, or vomiting of the blood. It also causes blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and erectile dysfunction, reducing sperm count, reducing weight and appetite. It also causes change in behavior, change in sexual behavior, change in sleep and at appetite and also changing driving.

Because of addiction the chances of an accident can increase. It also affects your family also. We'd also affect at occupation also, at your economy also. So it affects almost all parts of your life like body, family, at occupation, at your economy social life and spiritual life. So it's a disease, but different from other diseases, and it may harm oe's life severely. Still the person believes that he is okay. It becomes habit and because of this attitude, most of the  patients left untreated which ultimately end up to late stage for the treatment. They come with the mouth cancer and that stage even after if you stop the alcohol, it may ultimately result death. There is a treatment available for it. Treatment is little bit difficult and different from other diseases. So medicines are important to treat the problem.

There are medicines to control the withdrawal features. There are a medicine for sleeping problems, the treatment for constipation is also available as most of the tobacco smokers they're suffering from constipation. Early morning they do not get the pressure. That's why they are regularly taking tobacco and alcohol. Tobacco and smoking, so there are medicines for that problem. Tension and even if you are suffering from anxiety, depression or psychosis there is a medicine. Some anti craving medicines are also there to control your mood and craving for substance.

At the same time along with medicines, family counseling, accounting also necessary. Individual counseling also necessary. Social counseling also available for alcoholism. Alcoholic for Drugs Narcotics Anonymous is there, if a person takes a treatment for a longer time. If we take it, it went for only one day, there is no chance. If we took a treatment for one month, there is a little chance and if it continued treatment for 1 year, he's having 25 percent of the chances to come out from the alcohol or drugs. At the same time if he continues the medicines, counseling and social counseling and social support, family support for the longest, wait more than five years there are chances more than eighty percent to come out of this problem. Its lifelong business. There are well known relapses. Even after stopping for alcohol or drugs for five years or ten years there are chances of relapses. The long treatment is needed to prevent the relapses. Cure is not possible treatment because it is a disease of personality. When we counsel the patient, when we are doing individual counseling, we enforce the patient initially, we tell the patients about the disease model and and to make them accept so that they can overcome through it.

Alcoholism and drug is a disease. After accepting, the second part is to identify the character defect, because alcoholism and drug is not a major problem, the major problem is character, habit and a  behavior. So second stage is to identify that character defect or behavior deface leading to addiction. After identifying that character defects, we focus that character defect and we work on that with the help of small step program and as the time continues if the patient is ready and motivated to work on it, there are the good chances to come out from this situation. The only thing is, first admit that you are an addict. Second come forward for a treatment and be patient for a longer treatment.

 For more information you can contact me on lybrate.com from Dr. milind Barhate. Thank you.

What are mood swings?
Mood swings are defined as sudden and abrupt changes in mood. These mood swings can sometimes help promote problem solving abilities, but a stronger form of these can be associated to a more complex disorder namely, bipolar disorder that is characterised by the cyclical shift from manic to depressive and vice versa.

What causes mood swings?
There are several things that can trigger mood swings starting from your brain chemistry to substance abuse. The most common cause of moods swings can be-

1. Abnormal levels of neurotransmitters (NTs) in the brain (ex. Serotonin is majorly responsible for change in moods, changes in emotional state and sleep)
2. Anabolic steroid abuse
3. Borderline personality Disorder
4. Autism or other pervasive developmental disorders
5. Epilepsy
6. Premenstrual Syndrome
7. Schizophrenia
8. Major depression
9. Post traumatic stress disorder

How to deal with mood swings?
Mood swings can make life difficult for yourself and those around you as well. It is advisable to keep your mood swings under control in order to get along with your life normally.

1. Try to remain positive: May be you have had a string of heartbreaks off late or failed interviews, but do not let that define a trend in your life. This can lead to depression and make you upset. Keep your mind open to other possibilities and never lose hope. Hope is something that keeps one going; it gives someone a purpose in life.
2. Balance your life: Learn to maintain a balance between work and leisure. Don’t make your life all about work, take small breaks to do what you like (perhaps read a book, or play an instrument).
3. Accept the grey in your life:  “Life is like a box of chocolates”. You will never know what comes your way. It is never just black and white. Learn to accept that life can go a little downhill sometimes, but don’t be too alarmed by that. Enjoy the best and always keep yourself prepared for the worse.
4. Learn to laugh:  Enjoy and appreciate the little things around you. It might surprise you, if you consciously look around with an open mind, you will see the miniscule things that may make you laugh. Maybe that neighbour you find annoying is actually a fun guy to be with or that aunty who is always badgering you with questions is actually concerned about you. And most of all learn how to laugh at yourself! People have made a career over doing that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You are more fun than you expected to be. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a psychiatrist and ask a free question.

Lifestyle Changes to Boost Mental Health

Myself Dr. Milind Barhate, psychiatrist, practicing in Mumbai since last 10 years. Mental illness is the most common illness in the world. Stress is the most common factor for causing most of the psychiatric illnesses. People believe that stress is not a psychiatric problem and it is a part of life. That’s why most of the patients are not coming for the treatment.

Some misconceptions about stress are there. Stress affect everywhere, your mind and body, from head to toe. When it affects your mind it causes migraine, headache, head ache, vomiting, nausea, paralytic attack, heart diseases, blood pressure, diabetes, acidity and stomach problems, breathlessness, muscle cramps, sexual dysfunction and lot of other illnesses like constipation, diarrhea, anxiety problems, it affects every part of this body. Not only body, it affects your mind and emotions, when emotion affects person becomes irritable, he feels sadness, then gradually other faculties of the mind gets affected and gradually the person either goes into depression, anxiety, sleep problems, psychosis or addictions.

People believe that stress is not an problem. When it becomes a big problem they come for a treatment, with a disease, like depression, anxiety, mood disorders, psychosis or suicide attempt. That time treatment becomes difficult and patient has to take treatment for a longer period. There are a lot of factors causing stress. Most people blame others for their own problems like inflations, job problems. Most of the time he himself is responsible like irresponsible behavior, suspiciousness, not taking responsibility of family-child-workplace, unmanageability, procrastination, all these lead to problem either in home or workplace or in society which leads to stress.

So when the issue of stress management comes most of the general people go for changing their lifestyle, starting exercises, pranayam, moving around or reading some books, listening to music or going outside, all these relieves your stress but only for a couple of days or couple of weeks. Again after that the stress becomes as it is, because the reason for stress is your character defects, until and unless you are not going to change yourself the problem is not going to come down. So when the stress management issues come, initially and most importantly the character defects that leads to the stress has to be managed and it needs a tough and long behavior therapy, counseling, and if the problem arises then you may need psychiatric help.

For more details and further contact you can contact me on Lybrate.com. Thank you.

Can psychology help you get better life? The answer is yes. You got to have a proper psychological balance so that you can get a planned and peaceful life. You can now get innumerable benefits by having proper and perfect psychological support. 

10 psychological ways for getting an improved life

1. Get acute motivation: If you are fully motivated towards life, then you will get success in every phase of your life. This is why you must take psychological help from a doctor. 
2. Improving leadership skills: Psychology can improve your leadership skills to a great extent and thus you can influence your team members. 
3. Becoming a better communicator: A better listener is a good communicator and if you want to become a good listener, then you got to have enough patience and this quality can be gained only through psychological help. 
4. Having better understanding about others: You should understand people well, otherwise, you might face great difficulty in interaction or communication with others. 
5. Making accurate decisions: Taking accurate decisions in life is a great necessity, otherwise, you will not be able to lead a comfortable life. You get more confidence and take the right decisions when you take psychological help. 
6. Improving your memory: You can get enhanced memory power and thus can remember things much easily and freely. If you are a student, then psychological help or counselling will be a great help for you.
7. Making wise financial decisions: You can now get the capability of taking independent and wise financial decisions on your own without taking the assistance of others and this is possible only by receiving proper psychological help.
8. Getting better grades: You can concentrate on studies well, as a result of which higher grades can be easily earned. You will face no hindrances and can study with a peaceful mind. 
9. Becoming more productive: you can get higher physical and mental productivity as a result of which all your objectives can get fulfilled. If you remain energetic, then you can perform your duties well. 
10. Healthy living: If you are psychologically strong, then you can lead a healthy life. Depressed or stressed-out mind cannot help you to live properly, and thus you are in need of a stable mental condition. Healthy mind will help you to take proper decisions and these decisions are helpful in staying healthy without inviting any complications.

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.

An eating disorder, mostly appears when your food habits reach levels of extremity. Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia are two main and the most common eating disorders found in men and women. One is the lower extreme while the other is the higher extreme in terms of food intake.

1. Anorexia: People who are affected with anorexia think of themselves to be very overweight in spite of actually being very slim and thin. Anorexia inflicted people consume less than a thousand calories per day. They exercise rigorously and try to find more ways to lose weight. They vomit a lot due to the insufficient diet and suffer more. The treatment for anorexia nervosa generally includes a mix of mental treatment, and regulated weight gain program. An anorexia patient should seek treatment as early as possible. The best ways to deal with anorexia are:

Psychological Treatment: Various psychological treatments can be used to cure anorexia of different stages. They are cognitive analytic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, focal psychodynamic therapy. A family's response is also an important psychological factor. Proper encouragement and effort should be given.

Weight gain program: This measure will guide an anorexic patient to improve his diet habits and slowly gain weight. A patient is monitored carefully, traits are recognized and a likewise diet pattern is given.

2. Bulimia: Bulimia nervosa is another category of eating disorder. The main characteristic of this disorder is  overeating in the highest level. Binge eating is observed, followed by attempts by the affected individual to lose weight. A bulimic patient is constantly trapped in the cycle of overeating and then thinking about losing weight.

Maybe you do not like the idea of binge eating and fear getting obese, but once affected by bulimia a patient cannot follow this and binge eats. Later, they adopt extreme measures for losing weight. The primary methods to deal with bulimia are:

• Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy, or talk therapy includes examining your bulimia and related issues with an expert. It is proven that these sorts of psychotherapies restrict the symptoms of bulimia. The three modes of psychotherapy include- Cognitive-behavioral therapy, Family-based therapy and Interpersonal psychotherapy.
• Medications: Medicines such as anti-depressants can be taken by bulimia patients along with psychotherapy. Prozac is a recommended and effective medicine.
• Proper diet plan: For bulimia affected patients, having a proper balanced diet is very essential. A diet expert should be consulted, who will make the most essential food pattern for you. Undertaking a weight loss program is also recommended.

Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia should be avoided, and you should know the best ways to deal with them.

Mental illnesses refer to an extended range of health disorders related to the mental condition of an individual which affect the health, mood and behavior of that person. Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addictive behaviors, schizophrenia, etc. are the different types of mental illnesses.
Mental illnesses can create a lot of trouble in the normal functioning of the day-to-day activities of a person's life. Here are some of the common treatment options available for relieving mental illnesses.

1. Medications:  Antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, mood-stabilizing medications, antipsychotic medications are some general types of psychiatric medications prescribed by the doctor, which can be consumed depending on the condition one is going through. Although these medications do not cure the person completely, it helps in improving the condition.
2. Psychotherapy: This type of therapy involves talking to a mental health provider about your condition and other related issues. In other words, it is also called talk therapy. It helps a person to cope up with his/her stress. The duration of such a treatment varies. It may either take a few months or even longer, if required. This therapy can be carried out in a group, with family members or even face to face with the therapist.
3. Brain-stimulation treatments: When the medications and psychotherapies fail to work in treating mental illness, this treatment is applied. It involves procedures such as electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation.
4. Hospital and residential treatment programs: In extreme cases of mental illness when a person becomes a threat to himself/herself, it is recommended that he/she be hospitalized to a psychiatric hospital.
5. Substance abuse treatments: Substance abuse and mental illness go hand in hand. It worsens the condition of mental illness in an individual, if he/she cannot restrict the consumption of alcohol or drugs. In such circumstances, an individual needs to talk to the doctor regarding the treatment options for stopping substance abuse.