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July 24, 2014 admin

More than sadness?

Ordinary sadness

The normalcy of unhappiness is less acknowledged by our society that strives for perfection (which itself is a myth of perception). Dissatisfaction, sadness, frustration and discontentment are all customary reactions to anomalous events. What one chooses to do with them takes them on the path to personal growth and transformation versus depression and melancholy. Nonetheless awareness of the direction of emotions is imperative to understand one’s own psychological processes. There are things we know; and thenthere are the masked and unknown subtleties that escape our eye. Identification of trouble is the first most important step for solving it. Clarifying the myths to bask in the warmth of reality…

No one is immune

Often prevalent are the self-preserving thoughts of immunity to psychological troubles. These apparently protective instincts eventually lead to destruction of the self with the over compensation effort.

  • I’m too strong to be depressed
  • I do not need help; I can handle it
  • Seeking help is cowardly and irrational
  • If I seek help I’ll feel worse that I’m so weak
  • These are my troubles I have to deal with it myself

There is no vaccine that assures protection from psychological weakness. Positive attitudes and appropriate coping defenses do safeguard, but if one feels the symptoms, it is prudent to manage it wisely.

The mind and body are connected

Few realize the connection between the mind and the remainder of the human body. All physiological impacts in the body are linked with psychological processes in the emotional brain of every individual.

  • I’m tired so I have tremors
  • That food is giving me acidity
  • My head hurts daily due to fatigue
  • I have an upset stomach; I’m not nervous
  • I have lost stamina, my stress is unrelated to this

Sleep, appetite, fatigue, laziness, stomachache, indigestion, diarrhea, and headache; even osteoporosis and cancers are linked to diminished immunity owing to depression and stress. The mind and body work in synch; to get the best outcome, both need to be nurtured and nourished else one or both of them give way and sanity get out of hand.

Everyone is fighting a battle

Most people have problems, some fail to show them to others. Abraham Lincoln fell into deep depression after the death of his first love. He is claimed to have suffered depression all his life; he nonetheless did run for presidency and did impact the world in irrevocably positive ways.

  • She’s just simply lucky
  • She has it all sorted for her
  • She would never have problems
  • He has it laid out on a carpet for him
  • Others were born lucky, somehow I wasn’t

Investing in luck is a big gamble. Creating your own luck is more plausible. Everyone is fighting a battle; some hide their wounds and offer smiles. It is wise to be sensitive to the pain of others as well as ones own.

Time doesn't heal all

Of all healers, time has frequently received the award of excellence. Time does ease the pain of a physical wound, however it leaves a nasty scar if there was no medical or surgical intervention offered. Likewise, psychological trauma needs time only in addition to appropriate medical or behavioral intermediation.

  • I’ll get fed up of crying
  • It must be my hormones
  • I’ll be better once I move out
  • Children outgrow their problems
  • It will be OK when I go to the next class

It is acceptable to find reasons for ones sadness and correct them; however if they persist, there is more that ought to be intervened here.

Depression is not OK!

Living to the optimum seems unnecessary to some; sub maximal existence is acceptable to them. They are unaware of their own potential; thus failure to attain it is not a matter of concern.

  • I am only a little bit sad
  • Depression is not a big deal
  • It’s OK to be a little it depressed
  • There are worse off medical illnesses
  • Malignancy, tuberculosis and AIDS are killers

By 2030, depression will be deadliest killer disease only second to HIV/AIDS. One in every 4 individuals has a chance of developing depression at least once in their lifetime. We only live once, why not try to make it happy and fulfilling? And if there are diversions that have taken one away form that joyous path, one must try and find the way out of it.

Help is sometimes just a click away…

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Case Study: Schizophrenia
BackgroundAnupama (name changed for anonymity) 27 year old unmarried female, working as a helper in an office was brought to the clinic by her family members for evaluation of abnormal behavior that they had been noticing in her over the past few months.

Symptoms

Off late Anupama had stopped talking much to her family (parents and sister) and seemed to be lost in her own world. She stayed awake in the night because she believed the neighbors were plotting against her family and were keeping a watch on their moves so she stayed up at night in the fear that they’d break into the house. She kept windows locked and always suspected that she was being watched and reacted with tremendous fear and apprehension.

Loss of reality

Anupama could constantly hear the voices of neighbors as a running commentary 24 hours a day. (This was not real, the neighbors were not talking to her; it was imagined.) She also believed there were invisible video cameras installed in her house with which they kept constant vigilance over her family. At one instance she also tried to hammer the wall to break the imaginary camera that had been installed within it by the neighbors (so she suspected)

Effect on her life overall

She refused to eat food, as she believed these persecutors (neighbors) had poisoned it. She survived on biscuit and wafer packs which she would open by herself, to make sure that it was not tampered with, or poisoned by her perceived tormentors, of whom she was extremely fearful. Anupama received a memo from her workplace since she couldn’t take orders or instructions well. She was always sitting by herself and gesticulating as if she was talking continuously to some unknown invisible person around her. When questioned by someone, she would invariably look away and pretend as if nothing had happened.

Management

Anupama had frank delusions and hallucinations. Her suspiciousness was coloring her functioning and performance in all areas. She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and started on medication. Cognitive techniques were used a while after some suspiciousness had gone down. This was targeted at breaking her false belief about the neighbors. The family and friends were getting very worked up, hence they were given psycho-education that this was not pretense or a supernatural force; it was a mental illness which could be treated.

Progress and recovery

Anupama took her medication regularly. She showed some improvement within a month’s time and the hallucinatory behavior stopped. She stopped suspecting the neighbors although the thought crossed her mind sometimes. She resumed work and is now on regular medication. She does get stressed at times but it is within her logical control and she is in touch with reality now.
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