ANXIETY

 

We speak about people throwing their tantrums in the form of being loud and trying to be dominant towards others and in that process they often end up giving such unpleasant remarks that it becomes intolerant for their near ones resulting in fights. We talk about anxiety which has become a common name in the dictionary of people and unfortunately that is true. A little of anxiety is good but when we are not able to handle it and it prolongs then it is a matter of concern for us.

Anxiety is uneasy, fearful feeling of constant worry and tension. It has become so common that we won’t even realise that it has become a part of our daily lives. Some of the common anxiety symptoms are – excessive worry, fatigue and sweating, lack of concentration, increased heart rate, insomnia, restlessness, racing thoughts, trembling, weakness, tiredness. A little anxiety can be adaptive – if you weren’t anxious about exam, you may not have been motivated to study as much as you needed.

Anxiety disorders included a group of disorders in which anxiety either is a main symptom or is experienced certain maladaptive behaviors. There are four types of symptoms of anxiety – physiological or somatic symptoms, cognitive symptoms, behavioral symptoms, emotional symptoms. One form of anxiety disorder is gernalised anxiety disorder in which people experience a constant sense of tension and dread. They may be unable to relax or sleep well, and experience constant fatigue, headaches, dizziness and rapid heart rate. They may continually worry about potential problems and have difficulty concentrating or making decisions. Other anxiety disorders like phobias, panic disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders are focused anxiety.

Even seen in students, during exams a little of stress is good which makes them sit study in concentration but when it becomes too much that one cannot handle its effect then it becomes trouble. Most of students are seen having stage fear or performing in front of audience. This form of fear is known as Aroga phobia. This type of fear is common but not negligible. Speaking in front of public also cause panic as for them it is the most difficult talk. Students with this problem in school avoid participating in assemblies, in any activity or function. These students are also seen avoiding reading in class or when asked by teachers they are in great fear and end up ruining things. In obsessive compulsive disorder – there is either obsession or compulsion. For example, persons suffering from OCD he has a compulsive behavior of cleanliness it will be his habit to take bath again and again and clean his surroundings , changing bed sheet twice or thrice a day, taking too long to clean himself in bathroom and still not satisfied , changing clothes many times in a day. Obsession of cleanliness leads to cleanliness compulsive behavior of repeatedly taking bath or cleaning surroundings.

These common external factors can cause anxiety:

·                    Stress at work, school, personal relationship, financial stress

·                    Stress from an emotional trauma such as the death of a loved one.

·                    Stress from serious medical illness.

·                    Side effects of medication

WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH

 

      

    “THE ONLY JOURNEY IS

     THE JOURNEY WITHIN”

 

           

 MENTAL HEALTH

Mental Health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, related to others, and make choices. It is important in every stage of life from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Mental health affects daily living, relationships and physical health. Mental health is a state of well being in which individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

       

    5 components of mental health are

ü  Ability to enjoy life

ü  Resilience

ü  Balance

ü  Self Actualization

ü  Flexibility

STIGMA

Stigma is when someone sees you in a negative way because of your mental illness.

Discrimination is when someone treats you in a negative way because of your medical illness.

Social stigma and discrimination can make mental health problems worse and stop the person from getting help they need.

Listen to the person.

Empathize with that person.

लोग क्या कहेगे…forget what people say. Listen to what is right.

Repetitive thoughts – how to come out?

ü  Share your thoughts to your closed ones

ü  Take professional help because they wont judge you

ü  Stay busy

ü  Drink water- 1L /20 kgs

ü  Eat Bananas

ü  Exercise , walk , dance

ü  Do something to elevate your mood. Occupy yourself with something.

ü  Don’t use too much of your mobile phones

ü  Smile more often

ü  Slow deep breathing always helps

ü  Live in gratitude

ü  There is no stigma – talk with someone.

 

MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS

 

Mental health illness is also called mental disorders. A person gets irritated, and disturbed and always aggressive.  His behavior or emotions have changes. He cannot make his own choices and decisions. When you cannot deal with challenges, deal with stressors. That is the time you need to consult your psychiatrist. Mental illness is associated with distress or problems functioning in social, work or family activities. Mental illness is something one should not be ashamed of. It is like any other disease like diabetes or heart problem. It is treatable and one should talk about it.

 

IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION

Communication has a key role in mental health recovery. You might have heard from many social media expertise or webinars talking to talk about it and speak out what is inside you. What people do is they hide their insecurities and feelings instead of fighting with them. They keep it within themselves and keep on collecting things and keep it in their mind which at the end gets overloaded with lots of negativity and insecurities that  lead to problems arising in the form of extreme behavior changes and cutting themselves  out from the society. A person starts living in isolation and avoids communication in search of peace but unfortunately it gets worse and is of no help to the patient. This leads to irritability, loneliness, aggression or crying. A person won’t stop thinking about the past or about the things which he started hiding from himself.

As a therapist the key role of a therapy is communication with a client. A therapist starts building a friendly relationship with the client so that he starts trusting the therapist and speak his heart out. It is the work of the therapist to see that the client won’t resist in speaking to her and talk to her like a true friend.

 

WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT – PHYSICAL/ MENTAL HEALTH?

 

In terms of health both are equally important. But why doctors ask you to consult a counselor when you have any physical health issue? Why is it that you feel so insecure and full of fear before your surgery of any of your body parts or why is it that during your treatment of cancer you are referred to consult counselor by your oncologist or radiologist. It is because when you are going through any of these issues to deal with your health patients mind is not prepared with the strong treatment he is going through. He starts feeling hopeless and helpless. His mind just thinks about all the negative outcomes coming his way. The role of a therapist or a counselor is to empathize with the patient and bring positivity and hope to deal with his treatment. When you are positively strong with your treatment it works as a medicine to you. The patient responds with the treatment very well and there are more chances for him to get well and healthy. The willingness to live makes the patient respond to the treatment. This is very important and this is what a counselor’s role is to make him fight with the disease through her therapies.

When a person is mentally strong he can fight with any difficulties in his life whether it is physical or psychological.

 

CORONAVIRUS SURVIVING THE LOOMING HEALTH CRISES

During lockdown days we witnessed so many problems taking place in people’s lives. Social isolation, lack of exercise, financial uncertainty will almost certainly lead to deteriorating mental health around the world. But you can take steps to soften the blow.

ü  From today until this is over, you have a new god and his name is ‘ROUTINE’.

ü  Build and repair relationships; you have no excuse now.

ü  Focus on the basics of health and wellness.

ü  Remember you are not alone.

 

REHABILITATION OF THE MENTALLY ILL

Rehabilitation of the mentally ill is necessary to improve their quality of life once their active symptoms are reduced.

 

The aim of rehabilitation is to empower the patient to become a productive member of society to the extent possible. In rehabilitation the patients are given occupational therapy, social skills training, and vocational therapy. In occupational therapy, the patients are taught skills training such as candle making, paper bag making and weaving to help them to form a work discipline. Social skills training help the patient to develop interpersonal skills through role play imitation and instruction. The objective is to teach the patient to function in a social group. Cognitive retraining is given to improve the basic cognitive functions. After the patients improve sufficiently, vocational training is given wherein the patient is helped to gain skills necessary to undertake productive employment.