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What are the Personality Disorders?

You would be suffering from a Personality Disorder if you have unhealthy and rigid patterns of Thinking, behaving and functioning. It is difficult to diagnose if you have a personality disorder because the way you behave and think is very natural to you. Since,You often find that the problems you have to face are due to other people around you and not due to your specific actions. Hence,You find it difficult to adjust to your work and interpersonal relationships.

These are relatively permanent patterns in the way you behave and experience inner emotions. The pattern is seen in areas of your thoughts, emotions, interpersonal functioning and impulse management.

What is Narcissistic Personality Disorder(NPD)?

The classic description of NPD in one word is the pattern of “Grandiosity”, either in behavior or fantasy. You will have a longing desire for admiration from everyone and a complete absence of empathy towards other people. If you suffer from NPD, you will have an unshakable belief about your being of primary importance to anyone and everyone you meet.

People with NPD  generally have patronizing and snobbish attitudes. If you find yourself or a friend of yours complain about most of the people around themselves and finds faults about them; It could be an indication of NPD.

People with this Personality disorder believe that they are superior or special and like to bond with others who they believe are unique and special. When they associate with special people,their self-esteem is boosted, which is generally fragile in their cases. In addition,people with NPD cannot stand criticism or rejection in any form.

Specific symptoms of NPD

• You feel yourself to be “Very Important”
• Fantasizing about power, success, beauty, ideal romance or Intelligence
• You believe yourself to be unique and hence can only be understood by a few special people
• Need constant admiration and attention from others
• You always have unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment from others
•  Do not hesitate to take advantage of others to reach your goals
• You have no empathy for the feelings of other people
•  Think others are jealous of you and You are jealous of others
• You always show an arrogant attitude and behavior

Possible causes and Treatment

The cause of NPD, like most of the personality disorders, are not very clear and absolute;However, But both genetic and environmental factors are responsible for the development of this condition. Early life experiences play a major role.

Hence, Treatment of NPD is difficult due to the pervasive underlying low self-esteem and hence the defensiveness and projected grandiosity. Also, It is very difficult for such people to acknowledge vulnerability. Although, Individual Therapy and Group Therapy can help them in relating to others in a more empathetic way and understand their patterns of behavior.

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Telepathy is a phenomenon under the broad Umbrella term of Extrasensory Perception(ESP) as defined in Parapsychology.

Clairvoyance, clairaudience,  are similar to the phenomenon of Telepathy.

Telepathy is communication of a message from one mind to another without any medium. For example, you get a call from a friend the moment you think of him; Though you were out of touch with him since long. This is beyond your learned knowledge and intellect.

Research cannot establish the occurrence of  Telepathy; but science has confirmed that you are made up of frequencies, vibrations, and molecules. Your frequency can be transmitted to another person provided you have shared a physical space at some point in your life.

It is not possible to measure, control or observe an event like Telepathy and hence the limitation in Research.

These could be some of the possible explanations of Telepathy:

• You have Neurons in your brain, called Mirror neurons which act as mirrors;  hence you would have noticed some people can read other people’s mind better. Research has shown that you can even understand the emotions and intentions of the other person automatically. If you have higher levels of oxytocin, the chances are that you would be better at understanding and reading these social cues.

• Research in this area has also demonstrated that you might be more Telepathic than your friend. A brain-imaging study done on a Telepathic person’s brain showed more activation in the right parahippocampal gyrus(Area of the brain).
• The more dopamine you have in your brain, the greater are the chances of unfounded beliefs ( this is not an indicator of any pathology). Studies have indicated a genetic difference in dopamine transmission of Telepathic people.

Although, we do not have any substantial research in this area, It is interesting enough to explore and know more about Telepathy.

If you need Psychologist click here

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Stuttering is a  childhood-onset disorder of speech in which the person repeats sounds, words, syllables, takes time to utter a sound and has an interrupted speech known as ‘block’.The person is aware of what he has to say but has trouble producing the normal speech flow.

The speech distortions are often accompanied with problem behaviors like lip tremors or rapid eye blinking. Stuttering makes your communication difficult with others and can affect your quality of life and interpersonal relationships. Stuttering often becomes worse when speaking to a group, talking on the phone and might reduce while reading, singing or speaking alone.

Speech production process

When you speak, there is a series of precisely coordinated muscle movement which involves voice production, breathing, movement of throat, tongue, palate, and lips. The entire process is controlled by the brain.

Although stuttering can affect you at any age due to Trauma, head injury, severe stress; It is most common in children from 2 to 6 years of age when human beings enter the language producing age. Almost, all children stutter at some period which could last from a few weeks to years. Some People continue to stutter even after their childhood and throughout life.

Is stuttering Psychological?

Earlier Stuttering was believed to be only a Psychological phenomenon but recent research shows that it is more often a Developmental disorder than a psychogenic problem. Brain images show a difference in the brain of a stuttering and a non-stuttering one. Developmental stuttering occurs when the child’s language abilities do not meet the child’s verbal demands.

Although,if you stutter you will eventually suffer from a lot of related Psychological problems like:

• Shame
• Anger
• Guilt
• Severe Embarrassment
• Confusion
• Panic and Anxiety
• Frustration
• Social phobia
• Social Isolation etc.

Therapy

Therapy could help young children prevent developmental stuttering and increase their speech fluency while maintaining positive attitudes. It could help adults by understanding, acceptance and overcome the psychological side-effects of stuttering. If you find your child stutter for 3-6 month s, take him to a health professional to be evaluated.

Do these for your child:

• Make sure you have a relaxed home environment in which your child can speak freely. Set aside some time for your child to talk one to one with you and make sure you hear when the child is excited and wants to share a lot.
• Pay attention to the meaning of what your child has to say and focus on the message rather than how he is saying it.
• Do not interrupt your child when he/she is speaking
• Speak in a relaxed and slow tone so that the child is not under the pressure of time
• Do not complete the child’s sentences and be patient in hearing him. Make him understand that a person can communicate effectively even if he stutters.

• Talk openly to your child about stuttering if he wants to and let him know that it is alright to have certain disruptions.

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We have all seen the movie Black, where Amitabh Bachchan acts as a professor who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The movie provided us with very good entertainment. But, it also taught us a bit about the illness. It also provided us with a fear, where we start thinking what if we get this illness. The usual response is, that we can hope for the best of not getting this illness. But, there are certain things you can do to reduce the risk of Alzheimer.

Hence, below are few Tips on reducing the risk of Alzheimer:

Regular Exercise:

It’s very important to exercise regularly. Exercising keeps the body and mind engaged and active. It is medically proven that regular exercise reduces the risk of the illness 50%. Exercising keeps the mind co-ordinated with the motor functions. Also, it helps you stay focused and keeps an active engagement with the mind. But, make sure while exercising you don’t receive any head injuries.

Social Life:

It’s important to have a social life. A person cannot live in isolation as human beings are social creatures. Listening to someone and then being heard by someone validates our existence. Isolating oneself from everyone increases the chance of Alzheimer’s. The chances are increased because you are telling your brain to isolate yourself. Thus, it is important to engage with people. You don’t have to be surrounded by people all the time. But, talking with a loved one or a close person is an engagement enough to stimulate the brain.

Eat-Healthy Diet:

In this illness, the brain neurons start losing connections between them. Thus, making communication between the cells more difficult. By having a healthy and proper diet, it is possible to reduce the amount of disconnection between the cells and the brain. Vitamin D, E B12 and other supplements in food reduce the level of disconnection. Eating healthy fruits and green vegetables should comprise in your diet. Try reducing fatty foods and sugar intake.

Mental Stimulation:

Keeping the brain active throughout helps in prevention of the illness. There is always a necessity of mental stimulation. When the mind is constantly challenged and stimulated there is constant activity within the brain. Through which the brains are active and help in preventing the illness. To have mental stimulation, you can learn a new word every day, or start playing sudoku, or start practising writing with the less dominant hand, etc.

Good Sleep:

Having a good sleep refreshes your mind and enables you to accept new information. People suffering from Alzheimer’s illness suffers from a lot of sleep-related problems. Hence, having good and proper sleep helps in the prevention of the illness. Having a good and deep sleep rests your mind and body, which not only helps with prevention of this illness but also helps in prevention and cure of other illnesses.

Also, read our blog on getting a Razor sharp memory

Stress Level Check:

Constant worrying and stress escalate the process of the illness. Thus, it is necessary for you to keep a check on the stress levels. Stress management and relaxation exercises help in reduction and prevention of the illness. Thus, simple exercises like deep breathing, walking in the park etc, reduces stress.

The above tips can help in the prevention of the illness. Also, these tips can actually help you lead a happy and healthy life.

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“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain!” ~Bob Marley

No matter what your emotional state is, I’m sure you must have observed that there is always some kind of music that just perfectly blends with your mood.

Various researchers too now provide a scientific backing to the positive effects of music on mental health that people claim. Not only does music help ease our pain, it has several other mental and physical health benefits as well. Read on to discover them –

• Music helps reduce the perceived intensity of pain.
• Fast and upbeat music increases your workout motivation and endurance. That is probably why a lot of gyms have music playing in them.

  

• Helps the body recover faster after a session of workout.

• Playing soft music in the background while having a meal reduces your speed of eating.

• Consequently, this reduces the amount of food you consume. This can probably be attribued to the fact that when eating slow, one is more mindful of what and how much they eat.

• It makes you feel happier by enhancing the blood flow in your vessels.

• It improves your sleep quality and helps reduce symptoms of insomnia.
• By releasing biochemicals that are meant for stress reduction, music helps you relieve your stress and also deal with symptoms of anxiety.
• Slow rhythmic music can alter brainwave patterns in a manner that produces a state similar to that while meditating.
• While heavy metal music might have an adverse effect on your depression, the right kind of music can uplift your mood and reduce symptoms of depression.
• Not only does listening to music make you more aware and in touch with your feelings, but it also promotes mood regulation.
• It helps improve your performance on cognitive tasks by increasing your ability to concentrate.
• Music helps you stay cool in high-pressure situations by decreasing your respiratory and heart rate. Thus, when stuck in traffic, or when going to play a game under a lot of pressure, turn up the music to calm yourself down.
• Music therapy is used to treat a lot of mental disorders such as Schizophrenia, Alzheimer, Dementia, Autism, Depression, Anxiety etc.

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Protecting Your Brain As You Age

The most dreaded consequence of aging is mental slow-down and this is becoming more and more common-place. It starts with the occasional ‘slip’ in memory all the way through to affecting your speed, perception, reasoning and eventually the size of the brain as we go well into the 70s and 80s.

However, there’s good news. You are in control and this is totally avoidable. You can be as sharp as when you were in your 20s all through your life if that be your choice. We are sure we got all your attention. So, let’s look at the steps on how you can help yourself achieve this:

Control is yours:

It is very important to believe that you have total control over this so-called aging process. That belief helps you seek out activities to make it a reality. Alternatively, believing that you have less control or no control at all creates anxiety and thus negatively affects your performance, thus turning it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Stimulate:

Neural-plasticity is a thing of truth. You can actually grow your brain provided you keep challenging it. Take on those quizzes, puzzles and mentally stimulating or creative activities like painting, arts, craft or formulating and using new strategies at work. Brains are like any tool, it seems. You sharpen and use: It remains brilliant. You don’t use it: It rusts.

Sweat it out:

Exercise increases the number and strength of blood cells that bring oxygen to the brain and also improve the number of nerve cells and the quality of synapses between them. It also lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels, fights diabetes, and reduces mental stress, all of which can help your brain as well as your heart.

Diet:

This forms one other important component in the recipe to brain health. Eat right kind of nutritional. Avoid heavy calorie and low nutritional quality foods like fast-foods and unhealthy snacks. Go for whole meals and focus on the B vitamins (folic acid, B6, B12). These are proven to be effective means of avoiding the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Fortified cereals and green leafy vegetables are good sources of these vitamins.

BP, Sugar, and Cholesterol:

Keep a check on all the three and keep them in healthy balance so as to not go too low or shoot up too high. All the three are proven risk factors for brain-related diseases. and consult with psychologist

Substance-abuse:

Alcohol, tobacco, and drugs must be avoided at all costs if you are starting to see signs of ‘slow-down’. If however, you cannot stop it altogether, it makes sense to bring it under healthy control like 1 standard drink per day etc.

Socialize:

Keep building and renewing and reconnecting with your social connections. No matter what your age, even if children left you etc., you still have space in the world of social connections. Find your tribe and live a life of fun and fulfillment.

Mental health and relaxation:

Proper mental and emotional balance and a body that is well-rested go a long way in avoiding the risk of declining brain functions. Moods and emotions quite literally narrate the quality of our life today and far into the future.

Wear the helmet:

Yes. You read it right. In all cases where you are at risk, protect your head from accidents. Ex: Construction sites, roads etc. Head injuries accelerate the chance for age-related brain disorders so it’s best to be cautious.