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Pornography seizes your brain’s reward circuit and it weakens your brain’s ability to exercise willpower over your addiction to porn.

I hear you asking “what is this reward pathway now?”

Well, our brains are full of neural pathways. Anytime we learn something new, a new neural pathway is created and every time we practice it more and more, the circuit grows stronger. Unfortunately, this also happens with porn addiction, it rewires your brain by creating a new neural pathway and it is growing stronger each time you watch more porn.

Now breaking this neural pathway is difficult and it requires a lot of willpower. However, for someone to move on from this vicious circle of porn addiction there has to be an insight into their problems faced and identify symptoms.

Signs and Symptoms of Pornography Addiction

• Excessive viewing of porn, so much so that there is a loss of track of time.
• Unable to quit watching porn and compulsive masturbation.
• Consumed with thoughts of porn throughout the day, causing distraction and an inability to concentrate.
• Feelings of guilt and shame after viewing pornography, or viewing porn in secret.
• Irritability, anger and urge to watch porn are some of the withdrawal symptoms.
• Spending an increasing amount of time and needing more explicit material to reach the same high from porn suggest the presence of tolerance in addicts.
• Porn is affecting your normal daily functioning, it has a negative impact on your personal, work and social aspects of life.

Why and Where of Porn Addiction

Approximately 28,258 users are viewing porn per second and not all viewers are addicts to porn. To differentiate between healthy viewing and at-risk viewing it is important to be aware of unhealthy porn consumption patterns. Once the signs of porn addiction are discovered, it is best to address the underlying issue of ‘why’ and ‘where’ this pattern is arising as soon as possible.

If you think you are unable to quit porn even after a lot of efforts, reach out to an experienced psychologist for help.

To learn more about Dr. Prerna Kohli click here 

All images courtesy Pixabay

Porn itself is not bad, rather, it is a matter of preference. Nevertheless, how you engage with it, can be catastrophic.

Dr. Prerna Kohli – PhD

With porn being easily accessible, more people are checking it out, and it is removing the taboo and allowing for discussions about sexuality. It is helping in normalizing desire and self-exploration. While the majority of people who watch porn can do so in a healthy manner, it can be a cause of concern for some.

The debate of the decade.

Is excessive viewing of pornography, an addiction? Porn addiction is not directly defined by diagnostic books as a true addiction. But an increasing number of researches shows, excessive viewing of porn as a symptom of porn addiction.

Porn taps into primitive instinctual drive- sex and is very reinforcing and hence, it can easily lead to addiction. Experts say the brain activity of porn addicts shows reward, memory and motivation circuit similar to people with drug or alcohol addiction.

Generally, an addiction is defined as a behavior that is repeated over and over again despite its negative consequences. Once a person becomes addict to pornography, they are unable to control the urge to watch pornography and despite the negative consequences they continue to view porn.

Porn Addiction and Rise in Anxiety

Anxiety in people with porn addiction increases when they are away from porn and also causes cravings. To relieve stress, addicts watch more and more porn to achieve the same dopamine levels, also known as tolerance.

Definition about how much porn is “too much porn” vary. But most experts agree when porn comes to interfere with day-to-day activities, it could be excessive viewing of porn. If pornography habits are causing you problems or someone you know, getting help is important. 

To learn more about Dr. Prerna Kohli please click here

All images are courtesy Pixabay

Online gaming disorder is a serious Mental Health situation. Often parents are seen worrying about their children who cut off themselves from daily life, school, studies, eating food, playing, socializing with others.

Gaming disorder can be called a disorder when a child is seen playing video games instead of participating in age-appropriate activities such as attending school, sports, and other extra-curricular activities. It has been observed that in extreme case children play up to 8 hours a day leaving all other activities a child is supposed to do in a day.

Parents need to understand it’s their fault and not the child’s fault for this addiction. Unsupervised children devoid of parental attention tend to be addicted to online activities.

Some parents succeed and some fail; parents experiment with “trust the child” philosophy, others have flat out given up on breaking this addiction. It is practically impossible to monitor the children around the clock nor can parents disconnect them from electronics in today’s world. What is needed is discipline. Here is some tips for game addiction

Here are the few tips for parents on what can be done if their child is addicted to online gaming.

1. Talk to the child: Explain to the child how game is affecting his/her life. How studies are affecting or may affect if the situation isn’t curbed now. Give some realistic examples with their results by showing concern about them. Most importantly don’t be abusive and aggressive. Start slowly and be patient.
2. Engage their day: Very often it is seen that both parents are working and the child is all alone at home and hence engages in video games. Engage the child with any other activities he/she enjoys like dancing, any sport, singing class (anything of the child choice, kindly do not force)
3. Devote time to children: Working and non-working parents both have to spend quality time with children. Spending time creates a bond between you and your child, it also diverts the attention away from gaming.
4. Set up a specific time for gaming: Refraining the child from gaming completely would create deadly results, hence set up a time in a day and stick to it. Let the child know that he/she would only be able to play for an hour.
5. Be good role models for kids: Children imitate elders/parents. So if parents themselves are seen glued to laptops and mobiles, parents lose the right to say or scold children.
6. Set up a time table: Parents along with the child should set up a time table. Right from waking up, school, studies-homework, food, playing, helping in household activities, gaming, and sleeping. All should be time-framed. Reward the child for adhering to the timetable. Slowly condition the child for good habits.
7. Monitor the behavior: Sometimes the impact of video games can result in an aggressive child, watch out their behavior and nicely explain the difference the real world and online gaming. Gaming desensitizes an individual from gore and death. An aggressive child is a product of dysfunctional parenting.
8. Real vs Unreal: Explain to the child that what he/she enjoys or whatever feels is virtual and not real. Instead, make more friends, play outside. Frequently indulge in outdoor activities to create a synergy with nature.
9. Play video games with your child: It is okay to play online games with your children. “It gives them a sense of understanding that my parent isn’t so bad and just keeps yelling at me but shows some interest in the game I play”. It gives an understanding to the parent too of what and why the child plays and is addictive to?
10. Physical exercise: Engage the child in any kind of physical exercise, yoga/karate/martial art, any sport. This will help the child to exert and sleep early.
11. Express Gratitude: Encourage your child to express gratitude for five positive incidents during the day. It could be as simple as a meal of their choice or the fresh air that they breathe.

Video game isn’t completely negative, it helps a child in developing decision-making capabilities and hand-eye coordination. It only needs to be done in moderation and not at the expense of other social interactions.

To learn more about Dr. Prerna Kohli click here

All images courtesy Pixabay

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.

Learn More about Dr Prerna Kohli

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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Alcohol addiction affects both personal and professional lives of people. It hinders with the person’s family as well as friends. But, it comes down to the person only when he/she wants to actually stop alcohol addiction. But, the loved ones can still take certain measures to at least highlight the problems. Thus, helping them in their fight with addiction.

Hence, below are few ways to help someone overcome Alcohol Addiction:

Communicate:

It’s very important for you to communicate with your loved one who is the addict. If you are concerned about the person the only way to let them know is to have a conversation with them. It may be difficult for both of you, but it is necessary. Hence, with proper and concrete examples you can let the person realise the damage it is doing. If the person understands your concerns then it will be the first step.

The Underline Cause:

Most of the time, people drink because there are some other reasons behind. These reasons can be depression, anxiety, fear etc. Hence, it is important for you to make them comfortable to talk about these reasons. But, you shouldn’t accuse them of their problem or not judge them. You should listen and acknowledge the issue gently and understand it with empathy.

No Ultimatums:

Often when we try to confront someone with addiction we have a tendency to provide them with ultimatums. But, a person who is an addict will always choose alcohol over the ultimatums. This happens because the ultimatums will increase their stress, hence they will start drinking more. Instead of ultimatums, you can provide them with solutions or programs that you think will help them recover.

Present with Resources:

One of the most difficult steps is the first step in stopping any kind of addiction. The person doesn’t know where to start with. Hence, it is important for you to help them take the first step. You can either enrol them in different programs or group therapy sessions. Also, you can make them meet people you know who have successfully quit any kind of addiction. Thus, by using your own resources you can present them with different resources for the first step.

Don’t Drink Around them:

It is important for you to not drink around them, especially when you have voiced your concerns. It will give them mixed signals along with wanting them to drink more. Also, they might think that your concerns were not meaningful. Thus, they will resume their habit.

Tough Love:

It is difficult for anyone to show tough love. But, it is necessary. Instead of defending them in situations and bailing them out you need to show a boundary. Hence, making them understand what they are doing is harming themselves and others around them. Also, if you constantly keep helping them with their daily chores which they can do themselves, they will always stay dependent on alcohol. This behaviour is also known as enabling them. Hence, instead of enabling them one needs to show some tough love.

Continue to Be Supportive:

It is always a tough battle against an addiction. Sometimes it takes years to fully recover from it. But, if you show that you have stopped caring about them they will understand it and stop the process. Hence, it is important to be supportive of the person throughout. If the person receives proper care and support throughout the period, then the person will be able to recover faster.

Alcohol addiction is a long battle within oneself and the people around them. If you or someone you know is an addict then along with the above steps please take them to a mental health professional immediately.

Learn more about Dr Prerna Kohli