Change of residence, school, college or workplace; marriage or divorce, loss of a loved one, birth of a child; loss of a job, a new job, promotion or setback; all can act as stressors which can influence individuals in a negative manner. It may seem trivial to adapt to all of these situations, but some find it difficult to accept transitions. It is a form of emotional obstinacy; an unrealistic inexplicable need for consistency. It’s not abnormal to want constancy; it’s simply anomalous to expect it all the time and be unable to accept otherwise.

Change leads to apprehension and worry. Children may develop tantrums; perform poorly in school and may get depressed. Adults may refuse work; stay at home, stop communicating, have trouble sleeping and eating, and many could even develop frank depression or anxiety secondary to the fear of facing the new unwanted situation. Essentially in these cases the demand for adjustment overruns one’s available energies. Defenses get depleted since demand exceeds the supply of optimism and faith; and one finds oneself unable to cope up.

People who are anxious personalities and have high basal tension levels have a greater tendency to develop adjustment problems. Any change tends to tamper with their stress threshold. They feel secure in their stable environment and abhor any modification to it. Sometimes the calamity is enormous and anyone would respond negatively (like death or divorce). However the norm of life is that it goes on. All wounds are supposed to heal; some get all right fast, and others rectify sluggishly. When the healing process seems to be excessively and unreasonably long, there are no signs of betterment in spite of adequate friend and family support; and if signs of depression and anxiety disorder are slipping in, it’s a problem that now warrants expert attention.

At MINDFRAMES the goal of treatment is to intervene to reduce stress and build on the coping mechanisms to deal with the stressor. Cognitions need to change to correct irrational beliefs about the perceived stressor. This helps in reducing the fatality associated with it. Individual concerns and beliefs need to be dealt with and strengths must be built in order to empower oneself to deal with every situation maturely and effectively without fearing the consequences. Rational emotive change helps correct the negative emotions involved. Crisis can always be dealt with by venting emotions with building alternate defenses and coping methods. Life is about change and the more willfully we accept it, less cumbersome becomes the fight and greater the peace in our minds. We only get to live once. It makes most sense to make it peaceful and meaningful the first time around itself!