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CATHARSIS
You might have heard this expression a number of times yet may not know what exactly this means. If dust goes into our nose, we will immediately sneeze. Often the sneezing is quite violent. The whole body participates in the action. After all should we need all that force and fury to throw away the dust? Yes, the body reacts this way. In fact these are reflex responses of the body and they are usually very forceful if not violent. The moment our body feels that a foreign material has entered, it reacts strongly in such a way as to oust it at the quickest possible manner.
Imagine that we happen to take food that contained some poisonous substance. Will the body go on thinking for days together as to whether the poison should be thrown out or not? No. On the other hand the body reacts immediately with all the force at hand. We develop severe diaohrrea and vomiting. These body mechanisms are aimed at survival and thus the social appropriateness of these reactions are not taken care of. The body reacts instantaneously and does not care for the society or other external norrms of behaviour. It behaves as if the safety of the body is more important than any thing else.
Well, now let us come to the level of the mind and examine a similar situation. We may be surprised to note that poison getting into the mind remains beneath the mind for years together. Often there are no automatic mechanisms like the reflex action to cleanse the mind. Not only that poisons in the form of undesirable thoughts lie deep in the mind and manifest as disorders. This is because we suppress them if our mind feels that it is socially inappropriate to express. If the suppression is strong and goes to the unconscious, Psychologists call it as ‘Repression’. Suppressed and repressed thoughts do not lie dormant in the mind forever. They often try to come out. The threat of these surfacing creates tension and anxiety to the person concerned. The reemergence of these suppressed and repressed materials can also shape itself into other disorders. In fact the celebrated Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud argued that our entire Neurotic, Psychotic and Psychosomatic disorders are due to suppression and repression.
HOW TO OVER COME THESE?
Psychologists have discovered that Hypnosis, Psychoanalysis and Catharsis are the ways through which we can overcome the difficulty. If the material has already gone to the unconscious mind we may require Hypnosis or Psychoanalysis to bring it back to the conscious mind and to externalise it. However, if the suppressed material is still in the conscious mind we need Catharsis. Catharsis is a technique through which we talk to a professional Psychologist anything and every thing that comes to our mind. The Psychologist tells us to express our thoughts as and when they come to the mind without any inhibition. In the all-accepting atmosphere of the clinic one would be able to express one’s thoughts which are forbidden by the society. As the free flow of thoughts start we might experience emotional out bursts. It is not uncommon for people to cry or show anger etc. during Catharsis. A couple of good sessions of Catharsis makes the person feel free from the disturbing thoughts and emotions, which the person has suppressed early. Many people report a feeling of unloading and relief immediately after a session of Catharsis. Catharsis is a mental purging technique and is effectively used by Psychologists. Many Psychologists use this technique as part of Supportive Psychotherapy.
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STRESS: NATURE, CONSEQUENCES AND MANAGEMENT
What is Stress?
An executive of a large firm developed high blood pressure (hypertension) at the age of 35. A 27-year-old housewife developed recurrent Bronchial Asthma. When consulted, the physicians told them that they were suffering from disorders due to ‘stress’.
The executive had to take frequent quick decisions all alone for about one year. Each decision could have resulted in heavy losses to the company. After each decision, the executive used to worry about it till the decision proved right. It was his constant worry and anxiety which made him end up with hypertension.
The housewife had a nagging mother-in-law and her husband was not supportive. Every time when her mother-in-law nagged her, she wanted to give back but never did so. Instead, she suppressed her anger and used to feel choked. Eventually, the choking became breathlessness and ended up with attacks of asthma.
This is what stress does to us. There are thousands of examples like these. One of the recently diagnosed stress induced disorders is ‘chronic fatigue’. If stress is so powerful shouldn’t we know more about it? Yes, what is it then?
Stress is an experience. When demands of a physical, psychological or sociological nature make us react to it we are under a stress. Those which demand a reaction and force us to mobilize our resources are called ‘Stressors’. Stressors make us experience stress. Increased temperature of the room, demands of people around us and societal norms are examples of stressors. When we mobilize our resources to meet these demands, psychologists say we are under stress.
Due to inappropriate usage, the word stress has assumed bad connotations. In its original sense a stress is neither good nor bad. It becomes good or bad, desirable or undesirable, healthy or unhealthy depending upon what it does to us. For example, the demands of an examination could make one child work hard and pass creditably. In the case of another child the very same examination could appear very demanding and he might end up in a break down, as his resources are poor. Thus by itself a stressor or a stress is neither good nor bad. They are neutral in nature.
Distress
When a stressor becomes too demanding or when we do not have adequate resources to meet the demands, we get ‘stressed up’. The stressed up experience is called a ‘Distress’. Distress is bad and unhealthy. Prolonged distress initiates a number of reactions at the level of the body and mind. As it depletes our resources we become impoverished and susceptible to diseases and disorders. The child who has poor resources to write an examination falls ill. The executive who went on worrying depleted his resources and developed hypertension. The housewife spent a sizable portion of her resources to suppress her constant anger and ended up with bronchial asthma. Thus any stress that becomes distressing is unhealthy.
Eustress
When a stressor puts demand on our resources and we experience stress that need not always lead to distress. If the stressor is within limits and we have enough resources we will be able to cope up with the stress. When a stress makes us cope up with it, there is a feeling of satisfaction and joy. Stresses that make us cope up with them culminate in better integration of our personality. Such stresses are called ‘Eustress’ or useful stress. The child who prepared well for the examination, wrote it effectively and came out successfully experiences better self worth and increased self-esteem. The examination though a stress had indeed beneficial effects on him. Such beneficial stresses are required for our motivation and growth. No wonder it is then called a useful stress.
Perception of Stress
Psychologists have noticed that to a large extent, it is our perception ( the way we look at things) which determines a stress to be a ‘eustress’ or a ‘distress’. For example, people who are trained as in military combat, perceives a threat to be as simple whereas some one who is new to it sees it as a matter or life and death. Thus psychologists have shown that perception determines the magnitude of stress. They also feel that perception can be changed through training. This contribution of psychologists is very important as in our modern times already existing stress assumes greater magnitude and also newer and newer stresses are being added day by day. The training to reorganize our perception has become very useful in bringing down the intensity, frequency and duration of many stress related disorders. So also future stresses could be anticipated and perception regarding it could be altered through training. Such training is known as ‘Stress Inoculation’. As we get inoculated against diseases, now we can strengthen people to face stresses with Stress Inoculation. Isn’t it wonderful?
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RUN AWAY SYNDROME
Dr.Krishna Prasad Sreedhar
This is a symptom seen in children when they are under some form of conflict which Psychologists call STRESS. This occurs predominantly in male children. This involves sudden or preplanned running away from one's own home to the house of a relative or a of friend or to some distant place the child has once visited, or to a place which is totally unknown to the child. Having reached the place or on his way, the child realises that he cannot sustain for long without the emotional and economic support of the parents. At that point, the child decides to return and tries to come back home or would let the parents inform his hideout. The disappearance usually does not prolong for more than a week.
When the child returns, he is most likely to appear shy, guilt ridden, submissive and silent. At that point those who receive the child back should not find fault with him nor scold or punish him as the child expects the worst. Slowly some one in the family with whom the child has good emotional link could start exploring the reasons for the running away. Such a child is best eased back into the main stream of the day to day family life with pieces of advice that it is not healthy to run away and that he should muster courage to face situations of stress. A close relative without any tint of black mailing may meaningfully counsel one-time runners. However, habitual runners need counselling or psychotherapy from a psychologist.
Why Do Children Run Away?
All children are basically insecure, as they are emotionally immature. This immaturity is part of the growing process. Each day they become more and more secure if the family is a close knit one with enough freedom for communication and emotional expression.
Thus children run away because of the following reasons:
- Constant quarrels of parents, causing severe insecurity in the child.
- If they feel unloved.
- Sibling rivalry or arrival of a new child.
- Fear of physical danger like the father beating them for a certain wrongdoing.
- Fear that there will be withdrawal of emotional support for wrong doings.
- Failure or decline in the examination or test paper.
- If prone to impulsiveness.
- To accompany a friend in distress.
REMEDIAL MEASURES
- First and foremost understand that children are immature and impulsive.
- On return do not accuse or punish the child. A person who has good rapport with the child can slowly open up the issue and allow the child to give vent to his emotions and guilt feelings.
- Assure the child that he was not wrong but his action was unbecoming of a brave child.
- Tell the child that every body has periods of insecurity and uncertainty and that squarely facing the situation alone would solve the problem.
- Make the child understand that his was an action of escapism and that it is unhealthy.
- Train the child for healthy coping of similar situations.
- If the above fail, seek the help of a counselor or Psychologist.
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OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
Once in a way all of us have lingering thoughts in our mind. These thoughts keep coming to the mind even though we do not want them to be there. Their repetitive nature bother us to some extend. Some times we notice that the lines of a song keep coming to our mind though we do not want it. So also some of us are compelled to act in a certain way though we know them to be irrational and stupid. Yet we simply cannot escape from doing it as we experience a feeling of dissatisfaction if we do not do them. These are called obsessive ruminations and compulsions. However, they are not considered pathological as the tendency disappears soon. So also if we try to control them we do not feel abnormal levels of anxiety.
There are some people who suffer from an affliction called OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER. This is known as a disorder as the person suffering from it cannot simply escape from the thoughts and actions and cause great misery. For example once a person suffered from repetitive cleaning of his hands as he started feeling that there was dirt in his hands. He also felt that if he did not wash his hands germs would get into him while he ate. Another person suddenly started getting a fear of Rabies. The sight of a dog was sufficient for him to have a chain of very unpleasant thoughts regarding Rabies and all its horrible consequences. When confronted he admitted that his was an irrational fear and that there was no scientific basis for his lingering fear. After the onset of his disorder he read a lot of scientific literature and knew every thing about the disorder. He knew very well that mere sight of a dog would not produce Rabies. But he could not escape from the thoughts. Subsequently he stopped visiting his relatives who had a dog at home. He started wearing a pair of socks even while sleeping to avoid the possibility of getting infected. On the road he would not get out of his car while meeting friends and relatives. Later the disorder became so crippling that he stopped moving out of his house much to the dismay of his wife. From reported cases it is estimated that approximately 20 to 30 percent of people suffer from this affliction. The main categories of this disorder are frequent CLEANING, CHECKING and COUNTING.
CLEANING
As shown above there are many persons who suffer from frequent cleaning of their hands or the whole body. These people get a feeling that they have touched dirt and that they must clean their body parts. One patient went to the extreme of cleaning her hand several times in a day that the skin of her hands became dry. She started using soaps and strong detergents that eventually she had to be treated by a skin specialist. A man with a similar condition started wearing a pair of gloves all the time. He could eat only with the help of a spoon.
CHECKING
Some people suffer from frequent checking. There was a patient who would go to any extent to check whether he had locked his house. After locking and checking for eight times he used to call his wife and make her check and say loudly that the house is locked. Then he would call his two sons and make them check ‘thoroughly’. As the disorder progressed he began to bother his neighbors who should also come and check whether the house is locked!
COUNTING
Some patients develop this disorder in the form of repetitive counting especially when they do certain activities. A student once developed the compulsion to count the number of electric bulbs before going for the examination. He used to count the bulbs at home four times in each room consuming a lot of his precious time. Another student developed the habit of opening and closing his pen twenty one times before entering the examination hall. Children often does not tell these difficulties out side and all that the parents and teachers would notice is that the child’s academic performance has come down drastically. When asked, the first child reported that he counted the bulbs in order to have better clarity in his thinking before the examination. The second child felt that the questions in the examination would become simpler if he closed his pen repeatedly.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is described as frequent repetitive thoughts and or actions occurring in a person, which the person feels it to be anxiety provoking and that he simply cannot stamp them out of his mind though he knows them to be totally irrational and unscientific.
Treatment
Fortunately now there are drug and behavior therapies. Though both can improve the condition to a large extent a combination of these is considered the best.