All about Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD).

What Is Internet Addiction?

Do you play video games on the Internet in excess? Are you compulsively shopping online? Can’t physically stop checking Social chatting websites? Is your excessive computer use interfering with your daily life – relationships, work, and school? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be suffering from Internet Addition Disorder, also commonly referred to as Compulsive Internet Use (CIU), Problematic Internet Use (PIU), or iDisorder.

What Causes It?

Like most disorders, it’s not likely to pinpoint an exact cause of Internet Addiction Disorder. This disorder is characteristic of having multiple contributing factors. Some evidence suggests that if you are suffering from Internet Addiction Disorder, your brain makeup is similar to those that suffer from a chemical dependency, such as drugs or alcohol. Interestingly, some studies link Internet Addiction Disorder to physically changing the brain structure – specifically affecting the amount of gray and white matter in regions of the prefrontal brain. This area of the brain is associated with remembering details, attention, planning, and prioritizing tasks. It is suggested one of the causes of Internet Addiction Disorder is structural changes to the prefrontal region of the brain are detrimental to your capability to prioritize tasks in your life, rendering you unable to prioritize your life, i.e., the Internet takes precedence to necessary life tasks.

What are the Symptoms?
Signs and symptoms of Internet Addiction Disorder may present themselves in both physical and emotional manifestations. Some of the emotional symptoms of Internet Addiction Disorder may include:
• Depression
• Dishonesty
• Feelings of guilt
• Anxiety
• Feelings of Euphoria when using the Computer
• Inability to Prioritize or Keep Schedules
• Isolation
• No Sense of Time
• Defensiveness
• Avoidance of Work
• Agitation
• Mood Swings
• Fear
• Loneliness
• Boredom with Routine Tasks
• Procrastination

Physical Symptoms of Internet Addiction Disorder may include:
• Backache
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Poor Nutrition (failing to eat or eating in excessively to avoid being away from the computer)
• Poor Personal Hygiene (e.g., not bathing to stay online)
• Neck Pain
• Dry Eyes and other Vision Problems
• Weight Gain or Loss

What are the effects of Internet Addiction Disorder?

If you are suffering from this disorder, it might be affecting your personal relationships, work life, finances, or school life. Individuals suffering from this condition may be isolating themselves from others, spending a long time in social isolation and negatively impacting their personal relationships. Distrust and dishonesty issues may also arise due to Internet addicts trying to hide or deny the amount of time they spend online. In addition, these individuals may create alternate personas online in an attempt to mask their online behaviours. Serious financial troubles may also result from avoidance of work, bankruptcy due to continued online shopping, online gaming, or online gambling. Internet addicts may also have trouble developing new relationships and socially withdraw – as they feel more at ease in an online environment than a physical one.

Some of the more common psychological treatments of Internet Addiction Disorder include:
• Individual, group, or family therapy
• Behaviour modification
• Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Equine Therapy
• Art Therapy
• Recreation Therapy
• Reality Therapy

Feel free to reach out to us and we are always waiting to help you. Please tell us your views about this article at your next visit to our clinic.

Stay Blessed!!!

Myths about Psychiatry Medication

Dear Friends,

We have very interesting topic this week and on request from many people we putting up the Myths behind the Psychiatric Medication. We are here to help you and please meet us before taking any decisions. Below are few Myths about the Psychiatry Medications.

MYTH: Medication can’t really help a “mental” problem.

FACT: The illness of depression may have symptoms related to emotions and thoughts but it is nonetheless a very physical illness with often-disabling bodily symptoms. Antidepressants help alleviate those symptoms as well as work on the neurotransmitters that influence both the physical and psychological symptoms.

MYTH: Even if they can help, antidepressants are a “quick fix” or a “crutch” which don’t get at the root of the problem.

FACT: While it is true that antidepressants won’t do much to alleviate the environmental circumstances that cause situational depression, they can be “enabling” medicine that alleviate symptoms of major depression enough to enable a person to pursue and receive more benefit from lifestyle changes, support groups, and counselling techniques.

MYTH: Antidepressants are addictive.

FACT: No. Unlike sleeping pills and some anxiety medications, antidepressants are not addictive. However, you should never just stop a course of antidepressants on your own without the supervision of a treating physician; while your body will not crave the medicine, it will be affected by a sudden stop, particularly at higher doses.

MYTH: Once on antidepressants, I’ll be on them for life.

FACT: Not true. A general rule clinicians often use is that a person should be treated with antidepressants at least one-and-a-half times as long as the duration of the depressive episode before they can begin to be weaned off. Longer-term antidepressant usage is considered only for a smaller percentage of people who have two or more relapses of major depression.

MYTH: Antidepressants are “happy pills”

FACT: Antidepressants are often called “drugs” in slang but they have no relation to amphetamines (“uppers”) or euphoria-inducing recreational drugs. Antidepressants are designed to correct imbalances in certain brain chemicals and get you back to feeling like yourself, not merely a happier self. A person without those imbalances, who is not depressed, will feel no effect from antidepressants and may even feel ill.

MYTH: Antidepressants will change your personality or prevent you from feeling “normal” moods

FACT: Many people are nervous when taking any kind of psychotropic medication (medication for a mental illness) because they feel anything affecting the brain—the very heart of our humanity—may interfere with their identity and feelings. Actually quite the opposite: antidepressants are designed to return you to your former demeanour or personality, not create a different one.

MYTH: If the first antidepressant I try doesn’t work, others won’t work either.

FACT: There are currently a few dozen antidepressants on the market, and while they have a lot in common they’re not all identical. Add to that varying dosage levels and combinations of antidepressants and it is clear that there are countless variations within antidepressant treatment. Finding the right one is largely a process of trial and error. Many people have to try several different medications before they find one that works. Augmenting antidepressants with another mood stabiliser (e.g., lithium) or augment agent (e.g., thyroxin) may also help.

MYTH: If someone I know has done well with one type of antidepressant, it’ll probably work on me too

FACT: Everyone’s body is unique—including the way our brains are wired. Therefore, medication targeted at chemical messengers will work differently in each person just like the same perfume can smell nice on one person and not quite right on someone else. Trial and error is still the best process we have to find out which medicine will work for someone. Patience during this process is key.

MYTH: Antidepressants have horrible side effects

FACT: Like other medications, antidepressants carry the risk of side effects. These range from fatigue to dry mouth to sexual side effects. Fortunately, newer brands of antidepressants have relatively few or mild side effects. Many of these lessen or disappear with time, or can be corrected in other ways. Be sure to talk to your doctor and pharmacist to learn more about what you can expect.

MYTH: I’ll probably know right away if the antidepressant is working.

FACT: Unfortunately, no. It takes about four to six weeks at a clinically effective dosage to be able to determine if the antidepressant is alleviating symptoms. You’ll feel the side effects much sooner, however. Stick it out the six weeks though before you pass judgement.

MYTH: Once I start feeling better, I can stop taking the antidepressants.

FACT: The evidence is clear: just like you shouldn’t prematurely discontinue a course of antibiotics even if you feel better, clinicians recommend that you stay on antidepressants for the prescribed amount of time, even when you’re already feeling recovered. This will prevent a relapse. Then your doctor will instruct you on how to gradually wean off the medicine.

Myth: It’s no problem to stop treatment with antidepressants

FACT:A Danish professor of psychiatry said this at a recent meeting for psychiatrists, just after I had explained that it was difficult for patients to quit. Fortunately, he was contradicted by two foreign professors also at the meeting. One of them had done a trial with patients suffering from panic disorder and agoraphobia and half of them found it difficult to stop even though they were slowly tapering off. It cannot be because the depression came back, as the patients were not depressed to begin with. The withdrawal symptoms are primarily due to the antidepressants and not the disease.

Myth: Psychotropic drugs for mental illness are like insulin for diabetes

FACT: Most patients with depression or schizophrenia have heard this falsehood over and over again, almost like a mantra, in TV, radio and newspapers. When you give insulin to a patient with diabetes, you give something the patient lacks, namely insulin. Since we’ve never been able to demonstrate that a patient with a mental disorder lacks something that people who are not sick don’t lack, it is wrong to use this analogy. Patients with depression don’t lack serotonin, and there are actually drugs that work for depression although they lower serotonin. Moreover, in contrast to insulin, which just replaces what the patient is short of, and does nothing else, psychotropic drugs have a very wide range of effects throughout the body, many of which are harmful. So, also for this reason, the insulin analogy is extremely misleading.

Myth: Psychotropic drugs reduce the number of chronically ill patients

FACT: This is probably the worst myth of them all. US science journalist Robert Whitaker demonstrates convincingly in “Anatomy of an Epidemic” that the increasing use of drugs not only keeps patients stuck in the sick role, but also turns many problems that would have been transient into chronic diseases.

If there had been any truth in the insulin myth, we would have expected to see fewer patients who could not fend for themselves. However, the reverse has happened. The clearest evidence of this is also the most tragic, namely the fate of our children after we started treating them with drugs. In the United States, psychiatrists collect more money from drug makers than doctors in any other speciality and those who take most money tend to prescribe anti-psychotics to children most often. This raises a suspicion of corruption of the academic judgement.

The consequences are damning. In 1987, just before the newer antidepressants (SSRIs or happy pills) came on the market, very few children in the United States were mentally disabled. Twenty years later it was over 500,000, which represents a 35-fold increase. The number of disabled mentally ill has exploded in all Western countries. One of the worst consequences is that the treatment with ADHD medications and happy pills has created an entirely new disease in about 10% of those treated – namely bipolar disorder – which we previously called manic depressive illness.

Leading psychiatrist has claimed that it is “very rare” that patients on antidepressants become bipolar. That’s not true. The number of children with bipolar increased 35-fold in the United States, which is a serious development, as we use anti-psychotic drugs for this disorder. Anti-psychotic drugs are very dangerous and one of the main reasons why patients with schizophrenia live 20 years shorter than others. I have estimated in my book, ‘Deadly Medicine and Organised Crime’, that just one of the many preparations, Zyprexa (olanzapine), has killed 200,000 patients worldwide.

Myth: Happy pills do not cause suicide in children and adolescents

FACT: Some professors are willing to admit that happy pills increase the incidence of suicidal behaviour while denying that this necessarily leads to more suicides, although it is well documented that the two are closely related. Suicides in healthy people, triggered by happy pills, have also been reported. The companies and the psychiatrists have consistently blamed the disease when patients commit suicide. It is true that depression increases the risk of suicide, but happy pills increase it even more, at least up to about age 40, according to a meta-analysis of 100,000 patients in randomised trials performed by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Myth: Happy pills have no side effects

FACT: At an international meeting on psychiatry in 2008, I criticised psychiatrists for wanting to screen many healthy people for depression. The recommended screening tests are so poor that one in three healthy people will be wrongly diagnosed as depressed. A professor replied that it didn’t matter that healthy people were treated as happy pills have no side effects!

Happy pills have many side effects. They remove both the top and the bottom of the emotions, which, according to some patients, feels like living under a cheese-dish cover. Patients care less about the consequences of their actions, lose empathy towards others, and can become very aggressive. In school shootings in the United States and elsewhere a striking number of people have been on antidepressants.

The companies tell us that only 5% get sexual problems with happy pills, but that’s not true. In a study designed to look at this problem, sexual disturbances developed in 59% of 1,022 patients who all had a normal sex life before they started an antidepressant. The symptoms include decreased libido, delayed or no orgasm or ejaculation, and erectile dysfunction, all at a high rate, and with a low tolerance among 40% of the patients. Happy pills should therefore not have been marketed for depression where the effect is rather small, but as pills that destroy your sex life.

Myth: Happy pills are not addictive

FACT: They surely are and it is no wonder because they are chemically related to and act like amphetamine. Happy pills are a kind of narcotic on prescription. The worst argument I have heard about the pills not causing dependency is that patients do not require higher doses. Shall we then also believe that cigarettes are not addictive? The vast majority of smokers consume the same number of cigarettes for years.

Myth: The prevalence of depression has increased a lot

FACT: A professor argued in a TV debate that the large consumption of happy pills wasn’t a problem because the incidence of depression had increased greatly in the last 50 years. I replied it was impossible to say much about this because the criteria for making the diagnosis had been lowered markedly during this period. If you wish to count elephants in Africa, you don’t lower the criteria for what constitutes an elephant and count all the wildebeest, too.

Myth: The main problem is not over-treatment, but under treatment

FACT: Again, leading psychiatrists are completely out of touch with reality. In a 2007 survey, 51% of the 108 psychiatrists said that they used too much medicine and only 4 % said they used too little. In 2001–2003, 20% of the US population aged 18–54 years received treatment for emotional problems, and sales of happy pills are so high in Denmark that every one of us could be in treatment for 6 years of our lives. That is sick.

Myth: Anti-psychotics prevent brain damage

FACT: Some professors say that schizophrenia causes brain damage and that it is therefore important to use anti-psychotics. However, anti-psychotics lead to shrinkage of the brain, and this effect is directly related to the dose and duration of the treatment. There is other good evidence to suggest that one should use anti-psychotics as little as possible, as the patients then fare better in the long term. Indeed, one may completely avoid using anti-psychotics in most patients with schizophrenia, which would significantly increase the chances that they will become healthy, and also increase life expectancy, as anti-psychotics kill many patients.

Please visit a Doctor before using any medications. If you think you are getting addicted to the medication speak your doctor. Take care and Stay Blessed !!!

Myths about Psychiatry

1. MENTAL ILLNESS DIAGNOSES ARE LABELS FOR NORMAL BEHAVIOR
We have been asked quite often over the years, where Psychiatrists draw the line between normal behaviour and mental illness. Where someone who is a little shy, becomes a case of anxiety, or where someone who gets sad, has depression. Much like a benign tumour, vs. cancer, we determine a diagnosis when the behaviour becomes debilitating and the patient can no longer go about their daily lives as they have in the past.

2. PSYCHIATRISTS WILL FORCE MEDICATION ON YOU
Every patient is different, as are his or her needs. A good Psychiatrist will never force medications on their patient. Patients should have a treatment that is completely unique to them, and a practiced Psychiatrist will work with them to find that exact treatment they need.

3. PSYCHIATRY ONLY INVOLVES ‘CRAZY’ PEOPLE
Actually, the majority of patients we see have an actual illness or imbalance (much like diabetes), that with the proper treatment, the imbalance is corrected and they are no longer ill. Another large portion of patients for Psychiatrists are people who have a mental illness as a side effect to another condition, like Asperger’s causing a diagnosis of anxiety. While we can not treat the Asperger’s, we can work with the patient to manage and treat their anxiety.

4. PSYCHIATRISTS DON’T OFFER ‘TALK THERAPY’
‘Talk Therapy’ can arguably be one of the most effective treatments used by Psychiatrists. In fact, many Psychiatrists, our staff included, use this method of treatment – sometimes solely, and other times in conjunction with other forms of therapy and treatment.

5. THE MENTALLY ILL WILL NEVER RECOVER
As we discussed in our 3rd myth, many patients that see a Psychiatrist actually have an illness or imbalance that is causing a mental discrepancy. Once this imbalance is corrected, they are, in fact, cured of their mental illness. However, there are still some cases that involve life-long treatment and monitoring.

6. MENTAL ILLNESSES ARE PURELY BIOLOGICAL
While there are some mental illnesses that have a high chance of reoccurring in your gene pool, like schizophrenia, not all mental illnesses are spurred by genetics. Environment, trauma, and other illnesses are just a few of the many factors that can bring forth mental illness in an individual.

7. ASKING FOR HELP MEANS YOU ARE ‘CRAZY’ OR ‘WEAK’
We want to be abundantly clear here to begin; you are never weak or crazy by acknowledging that you can’t go through a mental illness or debilitating issue, alone. Asking for help is actually a very brave and empowering thing because you are acknowledging your own human, natural limitations (which we all have) and are looking for ways to better cope with them.

8. MENTAL ILLNESS CAN BE TREATED BY A PREFERRED MEDICAL DOCTOR
We have actually gone over this topic in more depth in a past blog, and it is true, a PMD has vast knowledge and treatment options for the body. However, they do not have the extensive years of training, or the background in the ‘science’ of prescribing medications to be able to properly help a patient with a mental illness.

9. MENTAL ILLNESS IS UNCOMMON
This is one myth we wish were true. However, one in every five Americans will be diagnosed or touched by a mental illness in their lifetimes, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

10. PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS WILL CHANGE YOUR PERSONALITY
Any medication out there can cause negative effects for a patient if taken too long or given the wrong dosage. The way we see it, is this; if someone with depression overcomes it through their medication, their personality will be changed, yes – they will be free from negative thoughts, anti-social behaviour, and feelings of defeat, which is a definite change in personality – a positive change. The same can be said for an illness like Schizophrenia, with the right treatment plan, their minds will become less consumed by hallucinations, delusions, and irrational anxieties – another healthy and positive personality change.

-By,
Dr. Kiran's Mind Center.

Myths about depression

 
 Below are few of the myths that are linked with Depression. Please read them careful.

1. Myth: Depression is not a real medical illness.

Clinical depression is a serious medical condition that affects not only an individual’s mood and thoughts, but also the individual’s body. Research has shown that depression has genetic and biological causes. Individuals coping with depression have a higher level of stress hormones present in their bodies, and the brain scans of depression patients show decreased activity in some areas of the brain.

2. Myth: Even if depression is a medical illness, there’s nothing that can be done about it.

Depression is treatable, and more than 80 percent of individuals with depressive disorders improve with treatment. As new medications and treatments are discovered, the number should continue to rise.

The first step to finding effective treatment is to get a physical examination by a doctor to rule out other causes for your symptoms, such as thyroid problems. Once you’ve been diagnosed with depression, you and your doctor will decide on a course of treatment, which will include medication, psychotherapy or a combination of both.

3. Myth: Depression is no different from getting the “blues” – and this is just a normal part of life.

Equating depression with the blues is like saying that a common cold is the same as pneumonia. Everyone gets the blues or blahs from time to time, usually in reaction to disappointment or an upsetting event, or sometimes in reaction to something as simple as a rainy day. But the blues only last a day or two. Depression, on the other hand, can last a lifetime, and the illness is much more pervasive and disabling. No one commits suicide because they have the blues.

4. Myth: People who think they have depression are just feeling sorry for themselves.

Depression affects about 19 million people annually in the U.S. alone. Some of the most prominent and well-known individuals who have suffered from a depressive disorder include Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, George Patton, abolitionist John Brown, Robert E. Lee, Florence Nightingale, Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, J.P. Morgan, Barbara Bush, Ludwig von Beethoven and Michelangelo. Not exactly people who just sit around feeling sorry for themselves.

5. Myth: You can will depression away. If you can’t, then you’re weak.

Depression cannot be willed away any more than heart disease or diabetes can. It’s caused by chemical changes in the body, which cannot be overcome simply by positive thinking and grim determination. Given how much stigma is still attached to mental illness, seeking help for depression is an act of courage and strength — not weakness — on your part.

6. Myth: Depression will go away by itself.

For extremely fortunate individuals, depression may go away by itself. But for the rest of us, depression can hang on for months, years or indefinitely. Depression can go away on its own, only to return in the future; once an individual has one episode of depression, they are predisposed to have more. Clinical depression is a potentially fatal disease – and suicide could be the end result of waiting for it to go away without any help.

7. Myth: Depression is a normal part of getting older.

Depression is not a normal part of aging, but seniors do generally experience more of the events that can trigger depression: loss of family and friends, ill health, isolation and financial worries. Furthermore, people over the age of 60 grew up in an era in which mental illness was not discussed, and they may feel more shame about asking for help than someone from a subsequent generation. The highest rate of suicide of any age group occurs in that of people 65 and older, with men being more vulnerable than women. It’s imperative that seniors with depression seek help.

8. Myth: Depression only affects women.

Although women report being affected by depression twice as much as men, depression certainly affects men as well. Often, clinical depression is underreported in men, particularly in cultures that discourage them from asking for help or showing any weakness. Furthermore, men have a higher rate of successful suicide attempts than women, so it is crucial that men seek help for their symptoms.

9. Myth: Depression does not affect children or teenagers — their problems are just a part of growing up.

We’d like to believe that all children experience a happy, carefree childhood, but that’s simply not the case. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, studies show that 1 in 33 children and 1 in 8 adolescents are depressed in any given year. Children are not as practiced at articulating their feelings as adults, so adults must take the initiative to look for and notice symptoms of depression in children.


10. Myth: If someone in your family suffers from depression, you will inherit it.

In the same way that you can be genetically predisposed to high blood pressure or diabetes, you can be genetically predisposed to depression. This does not mean, however, that if a family member has a history of depression, you are fated to suffer from it as well. Just be aware that your chances of having depression are higher than if you had no family history of the illness, and seek treatment if you start to develop symptoms.

Types of Parenting Styles and How to Identify Yours

In psychology today, there are four major recognized parenting styles: authoritative, neglectful, permissive, and authoritarian. Each one carries different characteristics and brings about different reactions in the children which they are used on. It is important to keep in mind that every parent child relationship is different, so there is not one sure fire way to go about parenting. This is a simple guide to help decode your parenting style and provide general suggestions on how to raise a happy, responsible, productive member of society.

Authoritative

Authoritative parenting is widely regarded as the most effective and beneficial parenting style for normal children. Authoritative parents are easy to recognize, as they are marked by the high expectations that they have of their children, but temper these expectations with understanding a support for their children as well. This type of parenting creates the healthiest environment for a growing child, and helps to foster a productive relationship between parent and child.

How to recognize if you are an authoritative parent:

·         Does your child’s day have structure to it, such as a planned bedtime and understood household rules?

·         Are there consequences for disrupting this structure or breaking the household rules?

·         Does your child understand the expectations that you have for their behaviour, and are these expectations reasonable?

·         Do you have a healthy and open line of communication with your child? That is, does your child feel that they can speak to you about anything without fear of negative consequence or harsh judgment?

The traits described in the above questions mark a healthy household with an authoritative parent. Of course, parenting styles will naturally need to differ in order to accommodate different children, and you may find that this style does not work for you if your child has behavioral problems or other traits you have difficulty handling. In this case, it is best to adjust your parenting appropriately, and to seek out help from a licensed therapist if you feel overwhelmed.

One of the most important traits to emulate in the authoritative parenting style is the open communication style with the child. If a parent can foster the ability to speak to their child without judgment or reprimand, they will be more likely to have insight into the child’s life and understanding, providing the child with a deeper understanding of the world around them.

Neglectful

Neglectful parenting is one of the most harmful styles of parenting that can be used on a child. Neglectful parenting is unlike the other styles in that parents rarely fluctuate naturally into neglectful parenting as a response to child behavior. If a parent recognizes themselves as a neglectful parent, or if a friend recognizes that they may know a neglectful parent, it is important to understand that those parents (and the children involved in the situation) need assistance so that they can get back on track to having a healthy and communicative relationship within the family.

If you suspect you or a friend may be a neglectful parent, consider the following:

·            Do you care for your child’s needs—emotional, physical, and otherwise?

·            Do you have an understanding of what is going on in your child’s life?

·            Does the home provide a safe space for the child where they can share their experiences and expect positive feedback rather than negative or no feedback?

·            Do you spend long periods of time away from home, leaving the child alone?

·            Do you often find yourself making excuses for not being there for your child?

·            Do you know your child’s friends and Teachers?

·       Are you involved in your child’s life outside the home?

If the above describe you or someone that you know, a child is at risk of being damaged by a neglectful household. Parents who tend towards neglectful parenting styles can be easily helped through education; this education can be found by talking to the family doctor, or going to a therapist or counselor.

 Neglectful parenting is damaging to children, because they have no trust foundation with their parents from which to explore the world. Beyond that, children who have a negative or absent relationship with their parent will have a harder time forming relationships with other people, particularly children their age. If you suspect that you or a friend of yours may be a neglectful parent, it is important to seek help in a way that does not damage the child further or intrude into their life in a disruptive manner.

Permissive

Permissive parenting, also known as indulgent parenting is another potentially harmful style of parenting. These parents are responsive but not demanding. These parents tend to be lenient while trying to avoid confrontation. The benefit of this parenting style is that they are usually very nurturing and loving. The negatives, however, outweigh this benefit. Few rules are set for the children of permissive parents, and the rules are inconsistent when they do exist. This lack of structure causes these children to grow up with little self-discipline and self-control. Some parents adopt this method as an extreme opposite approach to their authoritarian upbringing, while others are simply afraid to do anything that may upset their child.

How to recognize if you are a permissive parent:

·         Do you not have set limits or rules for your child? Do you often compromise your rules to accommodate your child’s mood?

·         Do you avoid conflict with your child?

·         Do you have a willingness to be your child’s best friend rather than their parent?

·         Do you often bribe your child to do things with large rewards?wards?

The traits described in the above questions mark an unhealthy permissive parenting style. It may seem as though this would be a child’s favorite parenting style as it provides a sense of freedom without consequences, however, children crave a sense of structure to make them feel safe and. It is important in a child’s development for there to be clear cut parental and child roles. Permissive parenting can have long-term damaging effects. In a study published in the scientific Journal of Early Adolescence, it was found that teens with permissive parents are three times more likely to engage in heavy underage alcohol consumption. This is likely do to their lack of consequences for their behavior.

Other damaging effects of permissive parenting include:
       ·         Insecurity in children from of lack of set boundaries
       ·         Poor social skills, such as sharing, from lack of discipline
       ·         Self - centeredness
       ·         Poor academic success from lack of motivation
       ·         Clashing with authority

It is important for the permissive parent to begin to set boundaries and rules for their child, while still being responsive before it is too late. If enacting new structures proves too daunting, it is advised again to seek out the help of a licensed therapist.

Authoritarian

Authoritarian parenting, also called strict parenting, is characterized by parents who are demanding but not responsive. Authoritarian parents allow for little open dialogue between parent and child and expect children to follow a strict set of rules and expectations. They usually rely on punishment to demand obedience or teach a lesson.
Recognizing your authoritarian style
     ·      Do you have very strict rules that you believe should be followed no matter what ?
     ·      Do you often find yourself offering no explanations for the rules other than “Because I said so?”
     ·      Do you give your child few choices and decisions about their own life?
     ·      Do you find yourself utilizing punishment as a means of getting your child to do what you ask?
     ·      Are you reserved in the amount of warmth and nurturing you show your child?

While the structure and rules of an authoritarian parent are necessary for healthy child development, all good things can be overdone. It is important to balance out the provided structure with open communication so the child knows exactly why it is important for them to follow the rules placed in front of them. Children of authoritarian parents are prone to having low self-esteem, being fearful or shy, associating obedience with love, having difficulty in social situations, and possibly misbehaving when outside of parental care. A therapist can once again be contacted if adopting open communication proves to be too difficult to achieve by oneself.

Of these styles, child development experts have found that the authoritative parent is the most successful in raising children who are both academically strong and emotionally stable.

- By 
Meenal Mishra, Psychotherapist, 20 yrs of Experience.
Dr. Kiran's Mind Center.

Myths and Facts about Stress

What do you mean by stress ?

Stress is simply a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium. In other words, it's an omnipresent part of life. A stressful event can trigger the “fight-or-flight” response, causing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol to surge through the body.

In simple words, Stress is a body's method of reacting to a challenge. According to the stressful event, the body's way to respond to stress is by sympathetic nervous system activation which results in the fight-or-flight response.

How do you respond to stress?

The latest research into the brain shows that we, as mammals, have three ways of regulating our nervous systems and responding to stress:

Social engagement is our most evolved strategy for keeping ourselves feeling calm and safe. Since the vagus nerve connects the brain to sensory receptors in the ear, eye, face and heart, socially interacting with another person—making eye contact, listening in an attentive way, feeling understood—can calm you down and put the brakes on defensive responses like “fight-or-flight.” When using social engagement, you can think and feel clearly, and body functions such as blood pressure, heartbeat, digestion, and the immune system continue to work uninterrupted.

Mobilization, otherwise known as the fight-or-flight response. When social engagement isn’t an appropriate response and we need (or think we need) to either defend ourselves or run away from danger, the body prepares for mobilization. It releases chemicals to provide the energy you need to protect yourself. At the same time, body functions not needed for fight or flight—such as the digestive and immune systems—stop working. Once the danger has passed, your nervous system calms the body, slowing heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and winding back down to its normal balance.

Immobilization. This is the least evolved response to stress and used by the body only when social engagement and mobilization have failed. You may find yourself traumatized or “stuck” in an angry, panic-stricken or otherwise dysfunctional state, unable to move on. In extreme, life-threatening situations, you may even lose consciousness, enabling you to survive high levels of physical pain. However, until you’re able to arouse your body to a mobilization response, your nervous system may be unable to return to its pre-stress state of balance.

While it’s not always possible to respond to stress using social engagement, many of us have become conditioned to responding to every minor stressor by immediately resorting to fight or flight. Since this response interrupts other body functions and clouds judgment and feeling, over time it can cause stress overload and have a detrimental effect on both your physical and mental health.

Effects of stress overload

The body’s autonomic nervous system often does a poor job of distinguishing between daily stress and life-threatening events. If you’re stressed over an argument with a friend, a traffic jam on your commute to work, or a mountain of bills, for example, your body can still react as if you’re facing a life-or-death situation.When you repeatedly experience the fight or flight stress response in your daily life, it can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, speed up the aging process and leave you vulnerable to a host of mental and emotional problems.

Many health problems are caused or exacerbated by stress, including:

-Pain of any kind

-Heart disease

-Digestive problems

-Sleep problems

-Depression

-Weight problems

-Auto immune diseases

-Skin conditions, such as eczema

Signs and symptoms of stress overload

The following table lists some of the common warning signs and symptoms of chronic stress. The more signs and symptoms you notice in yourself, the closer you may be to stress overload.

Cognitive Symptoms

Memory problems

Inability to concentrate

Poor judgment

Seeing only the negative

Anxious or racing thoughts

Constant worrying

Emotional Symptoms

Moodiness

Irritability or short temper

Agitation, inability to relax

Feeling overwhelmed

Sense of loneliness and isolation

Depression or general unhappiness

Physical Symptoms

Aches and pains

Diarrhea or constipation

Nausea, dizziness

Chest pain, rapid heartbeat

Loss of sex drive

Frequent colds

Behavioral Symptoms

Eating more or less

Sleeping too much or too little

Isolating yourself from others

Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities

Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax

Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

Keep in mind that the signs and symptoms of stress overload can also be caused by other psychological or medical problems. If you’re experiencing any of the warning signs of stress, it’s important to see a doctor to help determine if your symptoms are stress-related.

The causes of stress

Isolation and stress

Since social engagement appears to be our best defense against stress, isolation or a lack of positive, consistent human interaction can be both a stress or in itself and exacerbate other causes of stress.

The situations and pressures that cause stress are known as stressors. We usually think of stress as being negative, such as an exhausting work schedule or a rocky relationship. However, anything that puts high demands on you or forces you to adjust can be stressful. This includes positive events such as getting married, buying a house, going to college, or receiving a promotion.

Of course, not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be self-generated, for example, when you worry excessively about something that may or may not happen, or have irrational, pessimistic thoughts about life.

Common external causes of stress

-Major life changes

-Work or school

-Relationship difficulties

-Financial problems

-Being too busy

-Children and family

-Common internal causes of stress

-Chronic worry

-Pessimism

-Negative self-talk

-Unrealistic expectations/Perfectionism

-Rigid thinking, lack of flexibility

-All-or-nothing attitude

  

What causes excessive stress ?

It depends, at least in part, on your perception of it. Something that's stressful to you may not faze someone else; they may even enjoy it. For example, your morning commute may make you anxious and tense because you worry that traffic will make you late. Others, however, may find the trip relaxing because they allow more than enough time and enjoy listening to music while they drive.

What determines your ability to manage stress?

We're all different. Some people seem to be able to roll with life’s punches, while others tend to crumble in the face of far smaller obstacles or frustrations. Some people even seem to thrive on the excitement and challenge of a high-stress lifestyle.

Your ability to tolerate stress depends on many factors, including the quality of your relationships and support network, your life experiences, your emotional intelligence, and genetics.

Factors that influence your stress tolerance

Your support network – Social engagement is the body’s most evolved strategy for responding to stress so it’s no surprise that people with a strong network of supportive friends and family members are better able to cope with life’s stressors. On the flip side, the more lonely and isolated you are, the less opportunity you have to utilize social engagement and the greater your vulnerability to stress.

Your exercise levels: Your physical and mental health are intrinsically linked, so the better you take care of your body, the greater resilience you’ll have against the symptoms of stress. Exercising regularly (for 30 minutes or more on most days) can lift your mood and help relieve stress, anxiety, anger, and frustration. It can also serve as a distraction to your worries, allowing you to find some quiet time and break out of the cycle of negative thoughts that feed stress and anxiety.

Your diet:  The food you eat can also have a profound effect on your mood and how well you cope with life’s stressors. Eating a diet full of processed and convenience food, refined carbohydrates, and sugary snacks can worsen symptoms of stress while eating a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, high-quality protein, and healthy fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids, can help you better cope with life’s ups and downs.

Your sense of control – It may be easier to take stress in your stride if you have confidence in yourself and your ability to influence events and persevere through challenges. If you feel like things are out of your control, you’re likely to have less tolerance for stress.

Your attitude and outlook: Optimistic people are often more stress-hardy. They tend to embrace challenges, have a strong sense of humor, and accept that change is a part of life.

Your ability to deal with your emotions – You’re extremely vulnerable to stress if you don’t know how to calm and soothe yourself when you’re feeling sad, angry, or overwhelmed by a situation. The ability to bring your emotions into balance helps you bounce back from adversity and is a skill that can be learned at any age.

Your knowledge and preparation: The more you know about a stressful situation, including how long it will last and what to expect, the easier it is to cope. For example, if you go into surgery with a realistic picture of what to expect post-op, a painful recovery will be less traumatic than if you were expecting to bounce back immediately.

Dealing with stress and its symptoms

While unchecked stress is undeniably damaging, you have more control than you might think. Unfortunately, many people cope with stress in ways that only compound the problem. They drink too much to unwind at the end of a stressful day, fill up on comfort food, zone out in front of the TV or computer for hours, use pills to relax, or lash out at other people. However, there are many healthier ways to cope with stress and its symptoms.

Learn how to manage stress

You may feel like the stress in your life is out of your control, but you can always control the way you respond. Stress management can teach you healthier ways to cope with stress, help you reduce its harmful effects, and prevent stress from spiraling out of control again in the future.

Engage socially. The simple act of talking face to face with another human being can release hormones that reduce stress even if you’re still unable to alter the stressful situation. Opening up to someone is not a sign of weakness and it won’t make you a burden to others. In fact, most friends will be flattered that you trust them enough to confide in them, and it will only strengthen your bond.

Get moving. Physical activity plays a key role in managing stress. Activities that require moving both your arms and your legs are particularly effective. Walking, running, swimming, dancing, and aerobic classes are good choices, especially if you exercise mindfully (focusing your attention on the physical sensations you experience as you move). Focused movement helps to get your nervous system back into balance. If you’ve been traumatized or experienced the immobilization stress response, getting active can help you to become "unstuck."

Lifestyle changes to deal with the symptoms of stress

You can also better cope with the symptoms of stress by strengthening your physical health.

Set aside relaxation time. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the fight or flight stress response.

Eat a healthy diet. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress. Start your day with a healthy breakfast, reduce your caffeine and sugar intake, add plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and cut back on alcohol and nicotine.

Get plenty of sleep. Feeling tired can increase stress by causing you to think irrationally. Keep your cool in stressful situations by getting a good night’s sleep.