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What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a very serious and chronic mental illness that affects close to 1% of the world population. Patients with schizophrenia often experience episodes leading to distortions of reality which ultimately leads to delusions and hallucinations. 

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

The most common symptoms of schizophrenia that can be seen early in life include:

• Isolating oneself from friends and family
• Having trouble focusing or concentrating and getting easily distracted
• Developing the habit of changing friends or social groups frequently
• Change in sleep pattern or difficulty sleeping
• Being easily agitated or irritated
• Poor academic performance and having trouble with school work
• Facing difficulty with personal relationships

Schizophrenia Diagnosis and Treatment 

• During the initial appointment checkup, the doctor needs to know the entire medical history of the patient and their family, followed by their normal mental health, mood patterns, and substance abuse problems. They may also ask for school or work performance reports to get insights into the cognitive abilities of the patient. 

• For the next step, the doctor may prescribe several blood tests, physical exam and imaging tests like Computed Tomography (CT) scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
• Even psychometric assessments are essential to establish the diagnosis.

• For the final step and confirmed diagnosis, the patient should have experienced symptoms of ‘positive’ schizophrenia in a one-month period. These symptoms are hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech.

Cadabams is India’s leading Mental Health Rehab for Schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. Get schizophrenia treatment in india. 

Call us on our mental health helpline +91 96111 94949 for further details or Schizophrenia related emergencies. 

What does a Clinical Psychologist Do?

A clinical psychologist is a health care professional who has been trained in psychological assessment, psychological evaluation and diagnosis of emotional, behavioral and mental illnesses.

Clinical psychologists usually cannot prescribe medicines unless they have a degree in psychopharmacology as well. Clinical psychologists usually treat patients by using therapy techniques involving behavioral interventions such as psychoanalytic therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. 

They are trained to help people through various ages experiencing myriad psychological problems that hamper their lives and relationships. The psychologists provide a supportive and confidential environment for individuals or a group of individuals to discuss and diagnose the possibility of any mental health issues. 

In this article, we will learn in detail about the role of clinical psychologist in helping patients cure depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

When to see a Clinical Psychologist?

In many cases, people are not sure if their symptoms are serious enough to see a psychologist. Everytime you feel that you are having trouble dealing with situations that you could easily handle before, it means that you might be in need of therapy. Therapy helps clear the mind, letting the patient think clearly and hence make better informed decisions.

Here are some of the instances on which the patient should consider treatment from clinical psychology doctors. 

Feeling overwhelmed in terms of taking decisions, in career or in life. 

1. Difficulties in relationships with family as well as issues with body image
2. Depression or anxiety about illness, treatment or any medical procedures or future
3. Feelings of grief and bereavement 
4. The failure to get over the death or loss of a close family member or a friend

Importance of clinical psychology 

There are a multitude of benefits of clinical psychology as it helps solve the most complex human problems. They aim to treat mental, psychological and emotional distresses with the goal to promote the overall well-being of the patient. 

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that revolves around the mental well-being of a child. It is the study, analysis, and treatment of the emotional, mental and behavioural disorders of childhood. Child Psychiatry consists of the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and rehabilitation of behavioural disturbances and psychiatric and developmental disorders in the young.

Importance of Child Psychiatry

Mental health is an essential part of a child’s overall health. It’s a very complex interactive relationship with physical health and the environment. As a parent, you play a very crucial role in your kid's mental health. 

You, as a parent, must create a safe environment at home, while helping them build strong, caring relationships. You must help children and young adults develop self-esteem and confidence. However, children often get triggered by certain external factors and develop child psychological problems which ultimately ruin their mental health; this is where Child Psychology helps. 

Everyone wants their child to have a healthy development, both physically and mentally. but often parents fail to understand why a child behaves the way they do. Sometimes they are too shy to play with others, or sometimes they are hyperactive and out of control.

They often behave aggressively without any proper reason. A child's behaviour is a symptom, either of a normal stage in development or a sign of an abnormality.

Be patient with your children while dealing with such symptoms. If your child is struggling, then it is crucial for you to adopt the traits of compassion and patience.

Be empathetic to calm their temperament. In case your child's behaviour is too disruptive and holds back their education or day to day activities or if they become violent, then it is time to talk to a professional child psychiatrist. 

Child psychologist helps to analyze the subconscious and conscious childhood development, along with different kinds of psychiatric assessments that help to treat mental health conditions. 

What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a mental illness that induces the uncontrollable urge to do specific actions. These intrusive thoughts are repetitive and can cause the patient to do the same actions repeatedly.

Obsessions can be powerful. Sometimes, it can be as silly as washing hands multiple times in short intervals or trying to power off electrical appliances at multiples of even numbers, or continually checking if the doors are locked. Still, sometimes this obsessive behaviour can pose a threat to the quality of life of the individual.

There are several kinds of obsessions, some of the common ones are:

• Being aware of the number of inhalations and exhalations in a minute
• Being aware of the number of times one blinks in a minute
• Doubting partners for adultery without any valid reasons
• Washing hands whenever there is contact with a doorknob, handle, or any other object.
• Extreme fear that loved ones will be a victim to a natural calamity, virus attack, or illness
• Fear of leaving house, car, or office unprotected 

OCD treatment and management of OCD are largely categorized in 2 layers. The first layer is recommended for those who have just been diagnosed with the condition, and a specific combination of psychotherapy and medication can help treat the condition and manage the regressive compulsions.

The second layer is when the doctor recommends an intensive approach when Outpatient methods are not effective. 

What is Biofeedback Therapy?

Biofeedback is a technique that uses visual or auditory feedback to gain control over involuntary bodily functions such as blood flow, heart rate, pain perception, muscle tension, and blood pressure.

These subtle changes result in desired effects like treating migraines, hypertension, headaches, controlling the blood pressure, alleviating digestive disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome; along with aiding with relaxation and stress management. 

Biofeedback is quite useful for various mental health conditions. Here are some of the major benefits of biofeedback therapy to a patient:

Chronic pain – Biofeedback helps you identify any tense muscles and then teaches you to relax them, this will help relieve any discomfort or issues that affect the lower back, abdomen, and joints. Biofeedback techniques are great for people of all ages, from children to senior citizens.

Headaches- Headaches are the most studied ailments that are treated by biofeedback psychology. Migraines are triggered by stress and muscle tension, which also triggers other types of headaches that can make the symptoms more intense.

There is positive evidence that biofeedback pain relief therapy can relax muscles and ease stress; this will reduce the intensity and frequency of headaches as well. A biofeedback specialist will help treat headaches and combine psychological treatment with medications.

Anxiety- Relief from anxiety is one of the most common uses of biofeedback. This form of therapy will help you be more aware of your body and how it responds to stress and anxiety. Once you are aware, you will learn how to control the responses.

Urinary control- When Biofeedback therapy is used properly it can help people who experience trouble controlling the urge to urinate. Biofeedback is beneficial to women, especially after giving birth, because it helps them strengthen their pelvic floor muscles that control the emptying of the bladder.

After many sessions of biofeedback, women will be able to control the urge to urinate. Biofeedback will also help children who wet the bed and patients who are unable to control their bowel movements. Biofeedback therapy doesn’t cause any side effects, unlike prescription drugs that are used to treat incontinence.

In obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD obsessions are the intrusive and repetitive images and thoughts which are extremely distressing to the individual and compulsions are the act the individual ritualistically performs to reduce the distress. The compulsion here is a direct result of the obsession.

The common types of OCD such as cleaning/washing, aggressive type or the symmetry type can be easily detected. They all have an obvious compulsive behaviour the individual engages often engages in. But there is type of OCD that is very hard to notice, they are commonly known as “pure-O” or pure obsessions. Here the individual only tends to have obsessions.

Many a times in pure-O the individual may belief for years that they do not have any obvious compulsive behaviour and in some cases it can be true. But in most cases the individual does have a compulsion, mental compulsion acts. In this mental act the individual pays deep attention to the obsessive thought or image and starts questioning them over and over and try to find possible solutions. Read more about OCD Ruminations here

As per the survey conducted by the National Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS): 3.1 per cent of the population in India suffers from anxiety disorder. It’s pretty normal if a person gets occasionally nervous, what if the same person clutches it more often? 

How to take control of anxiety disorder?

Here are the top 10 best tips from the therapists and the counselors to help cope with anxiety disorder.

• Exercise:

Sweating is often one of the best signs of a healthy mind and body. As per the health experts exercise has been one of the proven technique against anxiety, depression and many other medical conditions. Hence practising exercise daily for at least 20 minutes might control anxiety.

• Minimize digital media usage:

Definitely, digital media is a boon and a productive tool. And yes, there are more positive aspects to address about so as the negative side. Prolonged use of digital media may lead to many ill-health conditions such as internet addiction, smartphone addiction, social media addiction, porn addiction and gaming addiction.

• Accept the fact:

Anxiety disorder often makes a person feel like dying or experiencing heart attack. Remind that have an anxiety disorder is a temporary effect and it won’t harm you unless you react to it. The body is just stimulating fight-or-flight response which is absolutely nature’s call.

• Organise tasks:

Try to systemize all your tasks because procrastination and anxiety go hand-in-hand. Due to the unfinished works, pending tasks or postponing events may lead to unwanted stress and anxiety. To over these situations organise all the task as per priority, maintain deadlines and prepare a to-do list.

• Know about the illness:

Learn and have an idea about the symptoms of anxiety disorder. Anticipating the physical symptoms may reduce the fear of unknown plus bring down the nervousness. Furthermore, it also helps the individual to explain his /her symptoms to the therapist or the counselor.

Online counseling is a relatively new therapeutic service. It has also grown expanding from simple email-based therapeutic communication to also including chat, telephone sessions, and even webcam based live video sessions. Today, video counseling and telephonic counseling are the most popular mediums of counseling.  

With the improvement in the quality and availability of video conferencing software, online counseling has become the preference for many individuals and couples.

Online counseling can be provided to an individual or a couple or a family, in the same way as face-to-face counseling can be. Online counseling is also known as web counseling, e-counseling, E-therapy, and internet counseling. 

The various means through which online counseling is accomplished are- 

• Chat room assistance

• Live calling

• Email 

• Message boards

• Online Chat

• Video Conferencing

• Text messaging

Who can avail Online Psychologist Consultation? 

 

Individuals who deal with the following issues can come forward to seek the best out of online therapy counseling. 

What is Alcohol Addiction?

Alcohol addiction or alcoholism is often considered to be a ‘bad habit’ but it is rather a very serious mental health condition. Psychological, genetics and environmental factors play crucial roles in the development of the disease.

Symptoms of Alcoholism

Alcohol problems are very difficult to recognize. As opposed to substance abuse problems that are clearly visible among people, recognizing alcoholism is tough. One of the primary reasons for such problems is the wide availability of alcohol and how it is an accepted social drink in many cultures.

To diagnose a person with alcohol addiction, doctors need to understand whether the person wants to have a few drinks now and then or has a real problem. Here are some of the symptoms to look out for:

• The increase in alcohol consumption quantity or frequency of use

High tolerance for alcohol, or lack of “hangover” symptoms following consumption

Drinking at inappropriate times or for no particular reason, such as first thing in the morning, or in public or workplaces

Hanging out with friends and in groups that also take part in heavy drinking or a sudden change in friends’ circle

• Avoiding contact with close friends and family
• The increased dependency on alcohol to function normally in life
• Excessive lethargy, wanting to stay home, depression and other emotional issues
• Legal problems and trouble managing work leading to slack in performance

The social consequences of alcoholism only worsen with time, hence the best way to

treat someone of the diseases is by recognizing the early symptoms and committing them to get help.

Read more about Alcohol Addiction Treatment here..

What is Procurement?

Procurement is that the term that is used to refer to the process or the act of sourcing or obtaining services or goods for a business. Some businesses use the term procurement only to ask the particular buying while others refer to the whole process that leads up to the acquisition as procurement.

The word procurement is employed to refer to buying for a business and is customarily performed on an outsized scale. Procurement involves two companies; the customer and the seller. But it's the act of buying that is labeled procurement and not the activities of the vendor .

Procurement is typically a neighborhood of the input to a company that then uses the products or services procured within the making of their own final product. This makes it a really vital function of any business. it's important to the success of the buyer’s business to acquire the simplest quality of products or services procured at the foremost competitive rates.

The activities that procurement entails include:

• Vendor Selection
• Payment Negotiation
• Strategic Vetting
• Final Selection
• Contract Negotiation
• Final Purchase

Read more about the Procurement Guide....