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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

उदासीनता और अवसाद दोनों एक-दूसरे से अलग हैं। हालांकि इनके बीच फर्क करना काफी मुश्किल है। यदि कोई लंबे समय से दुखी है तो अकसर मान लिया जाता है कि वह अवसाद में है।

जबकि दुखी होना, खुद को व्यक्त करने का एक भाव है और अवसाद एक मानसिक बीमारी है। कभी-कभी दुखी होना आपको किसी बुरी स्थिति से निपटने में मदद कर सकता है। लेकिन इसके उलट अवसाद एक ऐसी मानसिक बीमारी है जो आपको रोजमर्रा के कामकाज करने में बाधा पैदा कर सकती है। उदासीन होना या दुखी होना एक सामान्य भाव है, लेकिन निरंतर यानी दो हफ्तों तक लगातार दुखी रहने से आप अवसाद में आ सकते हैं।

हर किसी के लिए दुखी होने के अपने-अपने कारण हो सकते हैं। इसे कोई नकार नहीं सकता। जबकि दूसरी ओर अवसाद होने के कुछ निश्चित मानदंड और निश्चित लक्षण होते हैं। नियमित इलाज की मदद से इससे बचा जा सकता है।

यदि आप अब भी यह नहीं समझ पा रहे हैं कि अवसाद और उदासीनता के बीच क्या फर्क है तो इस लेख को आगे पढ़ें।

क्या मैं अब भी उन चीजों का आनंद ले सकता हूं जो मुझे वाकई पसंद हैं?

उदासीनता: दुखी होने के बावजूद आप उन चीजों का भरपूर मजा ले सकते हैं, जो आपको पसंद हैं।

अवसाद: अवसाद होने पर उन चीजों से रुचि खत्म हो जाती है, जो आपको पसंद हैं। यह अवसाद का एक लक्षण भी है।

क्या मेरी भावनाएं किसी निश्चित इवेंट या चीज को लेकर है?

उदासीनता: दुखी होने के कुछ निश्चित वजहें होती हैं जैसे किसी के द्वारा रिजेक्ट होना, होमसिकनेस, किसी नजदीकी की मृत्यु या फिर ब्रेकअप।

अवसाद: इस बात को स्पष्ट कर दें कि अवसाद बेशक किसी कारण की वजह से होता है, लेकिन अवसाद होने पर व्यक्ति नकारात्मक सोच से घिर जाता है। वह किसी भी बात पर नकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया करता है। ऐसा करने की वजह से व्यक्ति और ज्यादा अवसाद महसूस करता है।

क्या मैं सामान्य खाने और सोने के तरीके को फाॅलो कर रहा हूं?

उदासीनता: बेशक आप उदास हैं, लेकिन इस वजह से आपके सोने और खाने के पैटर्न यानी तरीके में कोई बदलाव नहीं आता है। आपकी जीवनशैली भी सामान्य रहती है।

अवसाद: अवसाद होने पर आपके खानपान की शैली में काफी बदलाव होने लगते हैं। मसलन आप अवसाद के कारण या तो ज्यादा खाने लगते हैं या फिर कम खाते हैं। इसी तरह आपको बहुत ज्यादा नींद आती है या आप अनिद्रा के शिकार हो जाते हैं। ये अवसाद के कुछ गंभीर लक्षणों में से एक हैं। जिन लोगों को अवसाद होता है, उनमें ऊर्जा की काफी कमी होती है और हमेशा थके-थके नजर आते हैं।

क्या मैं खुद का नकारात्मक आलोचक हो गया हूं?

उदासीनता: उदास होने की स्थिति में हो सकता है कि अपनी कुछ गलतियों के लिए खुद को जिम्मेदार ठहराएं, लेकिन इसके लिए आप अपराध-बोध या आत्मग्लानि जैसी भावना में नहीं आएंगे।

अवसाद: अवसाद, एक ऐसी स्थिति होती है जिसमें आप खुद के सबसे बड़े आलोचक बन जाते हैं। निरंतर अपराध बोध में रहते हैं और खुद को निरर्थक महसूस करते हैं। यही नहीं आपको यकीन हो जाता है कि आप किसी भी चीज में अच्छे नहीं हैं।

क्या मैं खुद को नुकसान पहुंचाने के बारे में सोचने लगा हूं?

उदासीनता: उदासीनता होने पर आमतौर पर आत्महत्या जैसे ख्याल दिमाग में नहीं आते।

अवसाद: जिन लोगों को अवसाद है, वे कई बार आत्महत्या के बारे में सोचते हैं और खुद को नुकसान भी पहुंचाते हैं।

यदि आपको अवसाद से संबंधित कोई भी समस्या है तो इससे निपटने के लिए विशेषज्ञों की राय लेना बहुत जरूरी है। इस संबंध में विशेषज्ञ आपकी सही मदद कर सकते हैं।

डॉ। प्रेरणा कोहली के बारे में अधिक जानने के लिए, यहां क्लिक करें

सभी चित्र सौजन्य Pixabay

What is Anger

Anger is one of the basic emotions found amongst all individuals in any part of the world. In other words, it can be said to be a human emotion which is completely normal and healthy. Nonetheless, when it gets out of control, it can lead to destruction, and havoc results. For example, it may lead to problems at work, in your personal relationships and can have a negative impact on your quality of life.

7  Forces of Anger

It is interesting to know that anger as an emotion is felt due to several underlying forces or reasons. Some of the underlying forces behind anger are:

• Anger is often felt when we think of something we desired but did not get at the childhood stage.

• when we are exhausted, stressed out and our body resources are down the tendency to have the emotion of anger is high.

• When we are angry, we lack the power of logical reasoning. In other words, we are rarely ever angry for the reasons we think.

• We often become angry towards an individual who possesses the trait which we cannot tolerate even within ourselves.

• Astonishingly, anger felt today may be a result of old disappointments, traumas, and triggers.

• Past events may act as a trigger for generating the emotion of anger. For example, at times we get angry because we were hurt as a child.

• We get angry when a current event brings up an old unresolved situation from the past.

Thus, although the emotion is strongly felt, we try to find out different ways which may be a conscious or an unconscious method to reflect or deal with it.

To learn more about Dr. Prerna Kohli, click here

All images courtesy Pixabay

We are aware of the religious significance of celebrating Diwali.   Diwali is a celebration of the return of Ram, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshman after defeating Ravan and returning home after an exile of fourteen years. The Diyas are lit to illuminate the path for Lord Ram and to signify the triumph of good over evil.

Diwali is also the time to worship Lakshmi the Goddess of wealth. So, along with Lakshmi, devotees make offerings to Ganesha, who symbolizes ethical beginnings and fearless remover of obstacles; Saraswati, who embodies music, literature and learning and Kuber, who symbolizes book-keeping, treasury and wealth management.

Below are the seven Psychological benefits of celebrating Diwali:

Cleaning of homes: cleaning the house, de-clutters the mind. Clutter increases stress in contrast de-cluttering is a stress releaser.

Spending money: Spending money causes happiness, and especially when buying gifts for loved one increases your joy

Spending time with loved ones: During Diwali we end up spending quality time with loved ones, whether it is your parents, children, siblings or friends and family. Thus, this results in creating a stronger emotional bond and allowing for better communication between family members and friends

Cooking Diwali Food: Cooking is a known anti-depressant, and a treatment for depression. Thus, as the family gets involved in cooking together there is bonding and happiness

Wearing new clothes: The clothes you wear and the way you groom yourself will change the way other people react to you. As you dress sharply during the Diwali season and wear new clothes on Diwali day, the positive reaction from friends, family and strangers will boost your well-being.

Gifting: When you give a gift, it makes you feel generous, it makes you feel in control, it’s good for your self-esteem and it’s good for the relationship

Praying: the psychological benefits of prayer may help reduce stress and anxiety, promote a more positive outlook, and strengthen the will to live.

Go ahead, celebrate Diwali not only for praying to Ram, Lakshmi, Ganesh, Saraswati and Kuber but also for the direct psychological benefits to you and your loved ones.

To learn more about Dr. Prerna Kohli click here

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“You can talk with a close friend or relative about what’s troubling you; but it’s not the same as professionally-trained experienced psychologist who knows exactly what kind of help you need” – Dr. Prerna Kohli.

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About Dr. Prerna Kohli

She is a 100 women Achievers Award Winner (2016) from the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a Clinical Psychologist, a Public Speaker, a Workshop Facilitator and a Holistic Practitioner. She offers Heart-based workshops and lectures that focus on Life Balance, Self-awareness and Inner Peace. Dedicated to sharing her knowledge and compassion with others, Prerna blends intuitive wisdom with solid understanding, creating a powerful holistic approach, specializing in the areas of Emotional change.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a leading Psychologist in India and provides families, individuals, parents and children counselling on being happy.

We keep hearing about the Attitude of Gratitude, but what does it mean, and what is an Attitude of Gratitude?

Attitude of Gratitude simply means “making it a habit to express thankfulness and appreciation in all parts of your life, on a regular basis, for both the big and small things”.

The most important question that then arises is why should you have an Attitude of Gratitude? Below are the top 3 reasons why:

Gratitude shifts your mindset:  

Firstly, as your mindset shifts, things automatically start to happen for you without any additional effort on your part

Gratitude creates solutions:  

Secondly, as you are grateful for what you have, and not “anxious” for what you don’t have, you focus your energies on the positive and negative becomes positive.

Gratitude is contiguous:

Lastly, like a smile even gratitude is contiguous, one person being thankful and appreciate in a family or a business setting, when you are gratuitous it spreads to others around you, and this positive energy quick starts to spread and infect everyone else around you.

As we enter the Diwali season, it is that time of year when sharing, caring and being thankful for everything we have is on top of the mind. The Diwali season, in particular, causes us to think about all of the special things in our lives and express gratitude for them. It is vital to develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. Always remember that gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

 “You can talk with a close friend or relative about what’s troubling you; but it’s not the same as professionally-trained experienced psychologist who knows exactly what kind of help you need” – Dr. Prerna Kohli.

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About Dr. Prerna Kohli

She is a 100 women Achievers Award Winner (2016) from the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

 Dr. Prerna Kohli is a Clinical Psychologist, a Public Speaker, a Workshop Facilitator and a Holistic Practitioner. She offers Heart-based workshops and lectures that focus on Life Balance, Self-awareness and Inner Peace. Dedicated to sharing her knowledge and compassion with others, Prerna blends intuitive wisdom with solid understanding, creating a powerful holistic approach, specializing in the areas of Emotional change.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a leading Psychologist in India and provides families, individuals, parents and children counselling on being happy.

First of all, people fake depression because it allows them to gain sympathy, compliments, pity, attention and many other monetary and non-monetary gains. Wives fake depression due to the fact that they believe it will get a piece of jewelry, girls till they get their personal car, or an agreement from their parents to marry an unsuitable spouse.

Fake depression may not be real, but it still important to find the underlying symptom for the fake depression, whether low esteem, greed, misplaced romantic notions among others.

Hence, below are the seven signs of fake depression:

Creating drama or falling sick when something is refused to them

Self-harm such as  cutting themselves, but the cuts are superficial, more like scratches

The “depression” is short-term

Only depressed about certain things they enjoyed in the past

Blaming others for all their problems

Passive aggressiveness

Acting helpless

Faking Depression – Dr Prerna Kohli, India’s Leading Psychologist

In conclusion, faking depression is in itself a symptom of depression or some other mental issue. Hence, it is important to meet with an experienced Psychologist to determine if your loved one is suffering from clinical depression, or there is some other underlying problem which needs to be addressed. Lastly, never diagnose or treat depression yourself, it mandates meeting a qualified psychologist.

Read other relevant articles

• Depression: It is Real!
• Seven Foods That Help Fight Depression
• Ways to Help a Friend or Family Member Overcome Depression
• Living with someone Suffering from Depression?
• Treatments for Depression

Learn more about Dr. Prerna Kohli

“You can talk with a close friend or relative about what’s troubling you; but it’s not the same as a professionally-trained experienced psychologist who knows exactly what kind of help you need” – Dr. Prerna Kohli.

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About Dr. Prerna Kohli
Firstly, she is a 100 women Achievers Award Winner (2016) from the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Moveover, Dr. Prerna Kohli is a Clinical Psychologist, a Public Speaker, a Workshop Facilitator and a Holistic Practitioner. She offers Heart-based workshops and lectures that focus on Life Balance, Self-awareness and Inner Peace. Dedicated to sharing her knowledge and compassion with others, Prerna blends intuitive wisdom with a solid understanding, creating a powerful holistic approach, specializing in the areas of Emotional change.

In conclusion, Dr. Prerna Kohli is a leading Psychologist in India and provides families, individuals, parents and children counseling on being happy.

When it comes to talking about sex we often shy away, but it is important that we give importance to these problems as they often are indicators of a more serious issue. One reason for the lack of intimacy is impotence, which is the inability to have an erection, which is firm enough to engage in sexual intercourse.

Impotence or the lack of desire may happen from time to time but if it happens very frequently then it is a sign of some other psychological condition that has to be treated. It is most important to meet with a medical doctor to rule out any physical problem, if there is none, then it necessary to meet with a psychologist to help understand the psychological issue.

Impotence can occur due to physical factors like high blood pressure, heart diseases, alcoholism, etc and also due to psychological factors like stress and depression. Thus, it leads to various complications like relationship problems, an unsatisfactory sex life, depression and low self-esteem.

Firstly, discuss your symptoms with your family doctor who will help determine if the problem is physical. If the problem is not physical but psychological then you will need to consult with an experienced Psychologist.

“You can talk with a close friend or relative about what’s troubling you; but it’s not the same as professionally-trained experienced psychologist who knows exactly what kind of help you need” – Dr. Prerna Kohli.

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About Dr. Prerna Kohli

She is a 100 women Achievers Award Winner (2016) from the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a Clinical Psychologist, a Public Speaker, a Workshop Facilitator and a Holistic Practitioner. She offers Heart-based workshops and lectures that focus on Life Balance, Self-awareness and Inner Peace. Dedicated to sharing her knowledge and compassion with others, Prerna blends intuitive wisdom with solid understanding, creating a powerful holistic approach, specializing in the areas of Emotional change.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a leading Psychologist in India and provides families, individuals, parents and children counselling on being happy.

A lot of times, people don’t know how to fully enjoy festivals. Instead of enjoying the festival season they wallow in self pity, envy, and dip into depression. Given below are seven things that you can do to enjoy the festival more:

Diwali Festival – Dr Prerna Kohli India’s Best Psychologist

• Invite people to your home: Don’t worry about cleaning the house or getting it perfect, just make the phone calls and gather good friends over. If you are really pressed for time, order in food or even have a pot luck

• If you can’t bring people home, meet your friends in a club, restaurant, mall or a carnival (mela)

• Dress up for the festival season, even if you aren’t going out

• If nobody is giving you a gift, gift yourself something nice, that you want, but don’t need

• Cook festival foods, ditch the diet, and enjoy rich sumptuous food

• Help the under privileged, nothing boosts the spirits more than helping the unfortunate

• Make yourself busy, make a list of things that need to done, the cleaning, the shopping, the people you want to meet and call

Remember in life you enjoy when you participate. Participate in the festival. Life it is not just a series of calculations and a sum total of statistics, it’s about experience, it’s about participation, it is something more complex and more interesting than what is obvious. This is how memories are made… by actively participating!

“You can talk with a close friend or relative about what’s troubling you; but it’s not the same as professionally-trained experienced psychologist who knows exactly what kind of help you need” – Dr. Prerna Kohli.

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About Dr. Prerna Kohli
She is a 100 women Achievers Award Winner (2016) from the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a Clinical Psychologist, a Public Speaker, a Workshop Facilitator and a Holistic Practitioner. She offers Heart-based workshops and lectures that focus on Life Balance, Self-awareness and Inner Peace. Dedicated to sharing her knowledge and compassion with others, Prerna blends intuitive wisdom with solid understanding, creating a powerful holistic approach, specializing in the areas of Emotional change.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a leading Psychologist in India and provides families, individuals, parents and children counselling on being happy.

The gut leads to happiness, young and old are rushing to acquire a six pack. Apparently, a six-pack abdomen today is the sign of health and vitality. Thus, young men and women spend hours each day in the gym building those six pack abs. So, I assume if they have such beautiful washboard six packs where you can count each of the pack, the insides of the abdomen must be equally healthy.

So, My focus is on teaching you how to make the inside of your digestive tract healthy leading to a happier you. Firstly, it is well-known fact that a healthy and clear digestive track leads to happiness. Thus, the ability to clear the stomach at a minimum on a daily basis is essential for your well being.

According to Dr. Kirsten Tillisch of the UCLA:

“Time and time again, we hear from patients that they never felt depressed or anxious until they started experiencing problems with their gut. Hence, Our study shows that the gut–brain connection is a two-way street… ‘When we consider the implications of this work, the old sayings ‘you are what you eat’ and ‘gut feelings’ take on new meaning.’”

In my opinion, one of the most significant books on stomach health has been written by Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar. One of the best ayurvedic holistic doctor/author. Thus, reading his book and research has opened my mind. Dr. Kshirsagar has written a book called “The Hot Belly Diet”. It is a very easy to read book, and should be essential reading for anyone who is feeling any discomfort in their gut. Hence, an extremely simple and easy book to follow, of about 300 pages it includes recipes and instructions. I have learnt the following few pointers from his book, and I am sharing them with you

Once in 90 days, it is extremely helpful to clear your digestive track by drinking two table spoons of castor oil mixed with fresh orange juice first thing in the morning. Please be sure to stay at home when you do this, as you will have multiple bowel movements, and a excellent cleansing of the stomach

Ayurvedic supplements Triphala and Trikatu are not habit forming, and should be a part of your daily routine

Eat three meals a day (not 5 or 6 as being suggested these days), with lunch being your heaviest meal of the day

Preferably be vegetarian (or reduce the amount of red meat in your diet)

This book is highly recommended to all my readers, as it contains numerous nuggets of healthy living.

A tip that I learnt from observing my father is to eat at least half a cup of yoghurt twice a day. Make sure it’s either homemade i.e. the healthy bacteria in it alive. If it is store purchased yogurt verify that it has the live probiotic bacteria in it. A research funded by Danone and conducted by the researchers at UCLA (Dr. Kirsten Tillisch et al) indicated that a controlled group of subjects who had yogurt twice a day for four weeks compared to those who were give a placebo or no yogurt had improve emotional reactions. We have seen that yogurt has been a stable in the diets across the Indian and the Mediterranean diets. Incorporate yogurt into your diet and within four weeks you should see your health improve and your happiness index increase.

“You can talk with a close friend or relative about what’s troubling you; but it’s not the same as professionally-trained experienced psychologist who knows exactly what kind of help you need” – Dr. Prerna Kohli.

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About Dr. Prerna Kohli
She is a 100 women Achievers Award Winner (2016) from the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a Clinical Psychologist, a Public Speaker, a Workshop Facilitator and a Holistic Practitioner. She offers Heart-based workshops and lectures that focus on Life Balance, Self-awareness and Inner Peace. Dedicated to sharing her knowledge and compassion with others, Prerna blends intuitive wisdom with solid understanding, creating a powerful holistic approach, specializing in the areas of Emotional change.

Dr. Prerna Kohli is a leading Psychologist in India and provides families, individuals, parents and children counselling on being happy.