Dr. Rani Bati

Obsessive compulsive behaviour is form of anxiety disorder in which unreasonable thoughts and fears, which are obsessions that lead one to do repetitive compulsive behaviour. Root causes of obsessive compulsiveness are complex and often deep seated. The underlying emotional states may include the fear of unknown, not being in control, negative outcomes, failure, rejection, shame, annihilation or embarrassment

You can eliminate mild obsessive compulsion easily, whereas, severe obsessive compulsiveness, require support of medical and mental health professionals.

When you start pondering or obsessing over an activity, you must try to stop the negative pattern, and provide control and security. A good anchor code stops an obsessive thought pattern and provides fact-based security for new action. One can get it under control and recover from it, however at the present, there is no cure. It is a potential that will always be there in the background, even when one's life is no longer affected by it.

The treatment for obsessive compulsive behaviour depends on the how much the condition is affecting the daily life of the person. There are two main treatments, firstly cognitive behavioural therapy, which involves graded exposure and response prevention and the second being medication. The cognitive behaviour therapy emboldens one to face one's fear and let the obsessive thoughts occur without neutralising them with compulsions. In second case, treatment is by medication to control one's symptoms by altering the balance of chemicals in brain.

Obsessive compulsive behaviour that has a relatively minor impact on one's daily life is usually treated with a short course of cognitive behavioural therapy. Cognitive behavioural therapy involves exposure and response prevention that is used to help people with all severities. People with mild to moderate behaviour usually need about 10 hours of therapist treatment, combined with exercises to be done at home between sessions. Those with moderate to severe symptoms may need a more intensive course of therapy that lasts longer than 10 hours.

During the sessions, one works with therapist to break down the problems into their separate parts like physical feelings, thoughts and actions. The therapist encourages you to face your fear and let the obsessive thoughts occur without putting them right. It requires motivation and one should start with situations that cause the least anxiety first. These exposure exercises need to take place many times a day, and need to be done for one to two hours without engaging in compulsions to undo them. People with Obsessive compulsive behaviour find that when they confront their anxiety without carrying the compulsion, the anxiety goes away. Each time, the chances of anxiety reduces and last for a shorter period of time. 

Once you have one exposure task, you can move on to a more difficult task, until you have overcome all of the situations that make you anxious.  It is important to remember it can take several months before a treatment has a noticeable effect. It is extremely vital to remember that no one is perfect, nor can anyone recover perfectly.  Even in well maintained recoveries, people can occasionally mess up and forget what they are supposed to be doing.

Menopause is the loss of a woman's natural ability to conceive as she approaches the age of 50. The levels of the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone begin to drop disrupting the ovulation and menstruation cycles. There are also associated symptoms of menopause, such as weigh gain, low sex drive and hot flashes. You can also take the package for Living Healthy - Woman.

Here are 5 other problems you may experience after menopause:

1. Increased level of cholesterol: The human body comprises two types of cholesterol primarily: High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL). The former is known as "good cholesterol". Estrogen helps to keep your HDL high and LDL low. After menopause, the levels of LDL or "bad cholesterol" naturally go up even if HDL levels remain unaltered. Regular physical exercise can prevent the rise in the levels of LDL.
2. Dry skin: Estrogen is responsible for controlling the production of oil in your body. As estrogen levels fall, the oil secretion falls too. This leads to dry and scaly skin, especially skin of the face and arms. You can use moisturizers and creams to prevent flaking of the skin.
3. Hair fall: This is also a result of dry skin. The skin of the scalp dries up and cannot provide nourishment to the hair. This causes hair fall. The variability in the levels of the hormones also causes deficiency of certain proteins that are essential for the nails and hair. Use mild herbal shampoos to deal with the problem. Chemical treatment procedures often do more harm than good.
4. Unsocial tendencies: The irregularities in the production of the female hormones have an impact on your emotional and social behavior. You may want to spend more and more time by yourself instead of socializing with friends and relatives. These are not symptoms of depression or any other psychological condition. It is simply an emotional transference period.
5. Drowsiness: While insomnia is one of the most symptoms of menopause, the situation somewhat reverses after some time. Menopause causes changes in the body weight, hormone cycles and metabolism. All of these, in turn, affect your energy levels. You feel extremely sleepy during the day, especially in the afternoon. However, sleeping during the day can cause sleeping problems at night. So, do not take a nap for more than half an hour during the day.

If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a specilized gynaecologist and ask a free question.

According to a recent study of fertility and diet conducted by the Harvard Medical School, it has been revealed that consuming certain foods and abstaining from some can be easily opted for without any external intervention in order to aid in improving the ovulatory system, even though there are factors that you are unable to control, such as genetics and age. It is important to be aware of the small dietary changes that can potentially make you much more fertile than those who do not go for a healthy diet.

1. Go for complex carbohydrates: Experts suggest eating more of slow and complex carbohydrates and restricting the consumption of processed ones. Your body is able to digest bad carbohydrates in order to turn them into blood sugar, which is harmful to the body. So you must stay away from cakes and cookies, white breads, white rice, junk food and all such items that appear unsurpassable. It is because the pancreas are compelled to release an additional amount of insulin into the blood for controlling the blood-sugar spike. On the other hand, you can go for good carbohydrates, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, which take time to digest and have a much slower effect on the insulin and blood sugar. It is evident that high levels of insulin can inhibit the process of ovulation.

2. Choose Iron-Rich Foods:  A diet rich in iron that comes from vegetables and supplements may lower the risk of ovulatory infertility. Ovulatory infertility is only one cause of infertility and affects 25 percent of infertile couples. Vegetarian foods with iron include all types of beans, eggs, lentils, spinach, fortified cereals, long-grain enriched rice and whole grains. Add vitamin C from citrus fruits, bell peppers or berries to your meals to enhance iron absorption.

3. The "Fertility Diet":  Women should choose the following "fertility diet" -

   • Less animal protein and more vegetable protein
   • Less trans fat and more monounsaturated fat (from foods such as avocados and olive oil)
   • More high-fiber, low-glycemic carbohydrate-rich foods (including whole grains)
   • More vegetarian sources of iron and fewer meat sources
   • Multivitamins
   • High-fat dairy instead of low-fat dairy
4. Get enough folic acid: Folic acid has been proven to reduce a baby's risk of neural-tube birth defects such as spina bifida, and it is linked to a lower incidence of heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and diabetes. A good over-the-counter prenatal vitamin should contain more than the minimum recommendation of folic acid, between 600 and 800 mcg – what you'll need during pregnancy. In addition, you can eat folate-rich foods, such as dark green leafy vegetables like spinach or kale, citrus fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains, and fortified breads and cereals.
5. Dairy: It pays to bone up on dairy (milk, yogurt, and cheese) when you’re trying to conceive. Adding dairy to your preconception diet is good not only for bone health but also — potentially — for your reproductive health. So drink that milk, spoon up that yogurt, sip that smoothie, nibble on that cheese. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a gynaecologist.