Health Benefits of Singing

Scientists say singing boosts immune system. - Singing strengthens the immune system, according to research by scientists at the University of Frankfurt in Germany, published in the latest edition of the US Journal of Behavioral Medicine. The scientists tested the blood of people who sang in a professional choir in the city, before and after a 60 minute rehearsal of Mozart's Requiem.They found that concentrations of immunoglobin A - proteins in the immune system which function as antibodies - and hydrocortisone, an anti-stress hormone, increased significantly during the rehearsal. A week later, when they asked members of the choir to listen to a recording of the Requiem without singing, they found the composition of their blood did not change significantly. The researchers, who included Hans Guenther Bastian from the Institute of Musical Education at Frankfurt University, concluded singing not only strengthened the immune system but also notably improved the performer's mood.

Singing is good for you. - Many studies done over a number of years have focused on the health benefits of singing, and the evidence is overwhelming.

o   Singing releases endorphins into your system and makes you feel energized and uplifted.  People who sing are healthier than people who don’t.

o   Singing gives the lungs a workout,

o   Singing tones abdominal and intercostal muscles and the diaphragm, and stimulates circulation.

o   Singing makes us breathe more deeply than many forms of strenuous exercise, so we take in more oxygen, improve aerobic capacity and experience a release of muscle tension as well.” — Professor Graham Welch, Director of Educational Research, University of Surrey, Roehampton, UK.

Singing can help prolong life. - Graham Welch, director for advanced music education at London’s Roehampton Institute, states “Singing exercises the vocal cords and keeps them youthful, even in old age. The less age-battered your voice sounds, the more you will feel, and seem, younger.” He says that when you break into song, your chest expands and your back and shoulders straighten, thus improving your posture. Singing lifts moods and clears the “blues” by taking your mind off the stresses of the day, as well as releasing pain-relieving endorphins. As you sing along, the professor adds, your circulation is improved, which in turn oxygenates the cells and boosts the body’s immune system to ward off minor infections. And “it provides some aerobic exercise for the elderly or disabled,” Welch says. A recent German study has shown that active amateur group singing can lead to significant increases in the production of a protein considered as the first line of defense against respiratory infections, and also leads to positive emotional changes. “Given that every human being is, in principle, capable of developing sufficient vocal skills to participate in a chorale for a lifetime, active group singing may be a risk-free, economic, easily accessible, and yet powerful road to enhanced physiological and psychological well-being.”

Sing yourself happy and fit! If you have ever wondered why choral singers look to be on a high, here are some of the reasons. The health benefits of singing are well documented:

·      Singing improves your mood. It releases the same feel-good brain chemicals as sex and chocolate!

·      It is very effective as a stress reliever and improves sleep

·      Singing releases pain-relieving endorphins, helping you to forget that painful tooth/knee/whatever

·      Your posture improves

·      Lung capacity increases

·      Singing clears sinuses and respiratory tubes

·      Your mental alertness improves

·      Singing tones your facial and stomach muscles

·      It boosts your immune system, helping to fight disease and prolonging life expectancy

·      Your confidence increases 

Source: Barbershop Harmony Society

For those of you who would like to record your singing for your own personal sense of achievement, do visit  MY Voice.

Stop the homosexual witch-hunt | Free Malaysia Today

Stop the homosexual witch-hunt | Free Malaysia Today

The Internal Dialogue: Mastering the Unseen Forces That Shape Our Destiny

Though a positive, successful, and engaging person, Pam avoided prolonged looks into her mirror. When she was brushing her hair or applying make-up, she stayed focused on the activity – but would intentionally not make eye contact with herself. Except sometimes. On those occasions a tirade of negative judgments erupted in her thoughts.

If she didn’t avoid the negative assessment machine in her mind by distraction or busyness, the stream of thoughts that flooded into Pam’s awareness would chide her, “Your nose is too crooked. Your skin is a mess. You’re getting wrinkles under your eyes. You’re too fat. Nobody would give you a second look. You need surgery to look better.” In these moments, Pam would cringe and feel the familiar black pit in her stomach suck the positive energy right out of her. And she would begin to doubt herself and her ability to create a rewarding life.

The strange part of this internal conversation going on in her mind was that Pam knew there was no truth to the accusations. Pam has a dancer’s body and is a highly accomplished dancer. In addition, she teaches dance to serious students. She also is a sought-after model due to her beauty and flawless complexion. Over the course of time, she has attempted to debate the negative voice and has tried thought stopping, positive affirmations, and positive thinking. And for awhile these techniques worked – then, like a thief in the middle of the night, the character assassinations would creep back into her thoughts and cast seeds of doubt in her mind.

Pam’s current stategy, common for many people, for dealing with this discomfort was to avoid the discomfort of this internal dialogue by busying herself with work, activities, or friends – anything to distract herself from listening to the critical Judge living within her.

The Internal Dialogue: You and Your Thoughts are Different From One Another

What Pam is experiencing in the example above is her internal dialogue masquerading as thoughts in her mind. This particular conversation is between a harsh critical voice and her self doubt. And like Pam, all of us have some variation of this internal struggle, whether we like to acknowledge it or not. The key is whether we identify with it as who we are.

If you have ever been conflicted about something and were of two minds about it, you have experienced the internal dialogue first hand. Most of us simply pay it no mind and believe that “it is only our thoughts running through our mind”. However, not being aware of it or not understanding it does not stop the force it exerts over your life. It drives our lives. It is like driving on a freeway while looking through binoculars. You are at the mercy of chance to see and understand the world you are attempting to negotiate.

The Internal Dialogue Goes Underground

Most of us are aware of this internal dialogue, but we push it away (much like Pam in the example above). We never mention it to others because of what they might think. This is our loss. Gaining a window into this internal dialogue is essential if we want to discover a deeper purpose, meaning, and joy for our lives. As we learn to observe the voices that lie beneath our thoughts, the transformation of body, mind, and Spirit becomes possible. Learning about these voices within the self is crucial for creating lasting transformation.

There is a lot at stake in this inner struggle going on within the internal dialogue. Staying mindless keeps Pam (and us) aimlessly drifting in the currents of life. Things happen repetitively that we do not understand. What is revealed in Pam’s internal dialogue is that the self is composed of a number of voices – some good, some bad. Let us explore this further.

Like Pam, many of us don’t even realize that an internal dialogue is happening in our mind. This is what I call “mindlessness”. To be blind to the internal dialogue of the mind is to be swept along on the unseen currents of life. Those who are swept along are blind to it – and to its power. Others hear an almost inaudible whisper that is moving too fast to comprehend. Still others hear the internal dialogue and it makes them uncomfortable and they do not understand it. So they avoid listening to it, and this limits their lives.

The Internal Dialogue Creates the Box of Our Comfort Zone

Instead they will distract themselves so that they are not aware of it. They busy themselves with work, conquest, exercise, drugs, sex, the latest toy, or whatever is necessary to distance themselves from the discomfort of getting out of their comfort zone. Others come to live in fear of the negative assessment machine in their mind and shrink their lives into a comfort zone so that they will not be noticed. The comfort zone locks them into familiar, habitual ways and they get stuck in old repeating patterns. This is called a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Very few people learn how to observe the internal dialogue, question it, and explore the design of its nature. It is through the exploration of these voices within the mind that we set ourselves free of their control over our lives and tap into the potential that lies buried within us. There are some negative aspects of the self that have to be observed and confronted, and there are some powerful parts of the self that we need to awaken. It is in awakening these empowering parts of the self that we change the historical script of our life and find new life.

We have to become aware of the war being waged in our minds. Once we grasp that thinking is simply a biological activity, a powerful question can surface – who, or what, is in control of the perception and thinking apparatus of our mind? The answer will surprise you. Thought is important, but it is the voice (or aspect of the self) that controls the thought that keeps us from becoming who we were born to be and transforming the potential of our lives.

Internal Dialogue:
Conversations in the Mind that Shape Our Perception of the World

To wake up to the internal dialogue opens the door for you to become an active participant in the creation of your life. We are all born into and adapt to a world of established patterns of perception. This is how we come to know our world. These perceptual patterns govern how we understand the world and what we see as possible in our lives. These historical patterns of perception are called conversations or narratives and become our comfort zone.

These conversations become us long before we develop the capacity to become aware of them. Once established, they become the world we live in. We don’t have patterns and internal conversations that govern our perception, they have us! If you want to transform your world, you have to have to learn how to identify the conversation that controls the thinking in your mind. And you have to learn to break free from the hold the narrative has over your life.

Breaking Free of the Narrative of the Comfort Zone Creates New Possibility

Let me give you an example of how this works. I work with an attorney who is employed by a large, high powered, litigating law firm and he is very unsatisfied with his life. In fact, he has become “depressed”, and feels hopeless. Yet if he could look at depression as a conversation, rather than a condition, a new world would show up ripe for transformation.

He feels like a victim (is consumed by a conversation of victimhood where he has always had to sacrifice his needs to win approval). With his wife and kids accustomed to an affluent lifestyle, he speaks to me as if he is trapped by his job. This produces his despair. He sees no escape from his dilemma and beats himself up for even wanting to change his life. He lives all week for the weekends when he can live his dream of having a small scale farm. Yet on Saturday afternoons, he begins to despair that he will have to go to work on Monday.

As he developed the ability to observe the internal dialogue and woke up to the conversation of victimhood going on in his mind, he also began to realize that these did not have to be the thoughts that controlled his life. He was able to label the participants of this internal dialogue as the Prosecuting Attorney (who wanted conviction) and a Victim (that beat himself up for not being good enough).

Simply becoming mindful of these two different conversations in his mind – and no longer identifying with them as who he was – gave him a new freedom. In that freedom he discovered that he could awaken other voices that could contribute to his internal dialogue. He found a Courageous Self and a Confident Self that, with practice, he could invoke to be part of the internal dialogue in his mind. He also discovered a Divine Voice living within him that (to his amazement) he had never connected to even though he was a practicing Christian.

As he developed these aspects of himself (voices within the self), his internal dialogue shifted. He no longer was trapped in a “victim conversation”. Discovering he could call up courageous and confident elements of himself into the thoughts of the internal dialogue created new possibilities for his life. Now, instead of drifting mindlessly in the currents of life, he began to learn how to navigate its currents. In doing so, he became a participant in the creation of his life. And yes, he is moving from being stuck in unseen patterns (comfort zone) to consciously designing the patterns that create his life.

Transforming the Conversations of the Self

This opportunity, this choice, to become a participant in the design of your life is available to all. What is required is the motivation, skill development, and discipline needed to learn how to observe the patterns and internal conversations that drive your life, disrupt them, and begin consciously developing new patterns and conversations.

As a human being, it is the greatest gift we have been given. The criterion is to recognize that the gift was not designed to serve the Ego. Rather it is built to serve a purpose greater than the self. Our job is to accept the gift, nurture the gift, and to bring forth the light that lives within us into the world.

It is at this moment that we begin the journey to becoming fully human. In the words of Nelson Mandela from his 1984 inaugural speech:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…. Your playing small does not serve the world…. We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us….. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. We are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Rande Howell is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain. He writes about Igniting the Spark of Your Potential and Creating a Lasting Transformation at www.randehowell.com

Source: http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/the-internal-dialogue-mastering-the-unseen-forces-that-shape-our-destiny/

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Definition:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions), or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something (compulsions).Often the person carries out the behaviors to get rid of the obsessive thoughts, but this only provides temporary relief. Not performing the obsessive rituals can cause great anxiety. A person's level of OCD can be anywhere from mild to severe, but if severe and left untreated, it can destroy a person's capacity to function at work, at school or even to lead a comfortable existence in the home.

OCD affects about 2.2 million American adults, and the problem can be accompanied by eating disorders, other anxiety disorders, or depression. It strikes men and women in roughly equal numbers and usually appears in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood. One-third of adults with OCD develop symptoms as children, and research indicates that OCD might run in families.

Although OCD symptoms typically begin during the teen years or early adulthood, research shows that some children may even develop the illness during preschool. Studies indicate that at least one-third of cases of adult OCD began in childhood. Suffering from OCD during early stages of a child's development can cause severe problems for the child. It is important that the child receive evaluation and treatment as soon as possible to prevent the child from missing important opportunities because of this disorder.

Symptoms:

People with OCD:

• Have repeated thoughts or images about many different things, such as fear of germs, dirt, or intruders; violence; hurting loved ones; sexual acts; conflicts with religious beliefs; or being overly neat.
• Do the same rituals over and over such as washing hands, locking and unlocking doors, counting, keeping unneeded items, or repeating the same steps again and again.
• Have unwanted thoughts and behaviors they can't control.
• Don't get pleasure from the behaviors or rituals, but get brief relief from the anxiety the thoughts cause.
• Spend at least an hour a day on the thoughts and rituals, which cause distress and get in the way of daily life.

Obsessions:

Unwanted repetitive ideas or impulses frequently well up in the mind of the person with OCD. Persistent paranoid fears, an unreasonable concern with becoming contaminated or an excessive need to do things perfectly, are common. Again and again, the individual experiences a disturbing thought, such as, "This bowl is not clean enough. I must keep washing it." "I may have left the door unlocked." Or "I know I forgot to put a stamp on that letter." These thoughts are intrusive, unpleasant and produce a high degree of anxiety. Other examples of obsessions are fear of germs, of being hurt or of hurting others, and troubling religious or sexual thoughts.

Compulsions:

In response to their obsessions, most people with OCD resort to repetitive behaviors called compulsions. The most common of these are checking and washing. Other compulsive behaviors include repeating, hoarding, rearranging, counting (often while performing another compulsive action such as lock-checking). Mentally repeating phrases, checking or list making are also common. These behaviors generally are intended to ward off harm to the person with OCD or others. Some people with OCD have regimented rituals: Performing things the same way each time may give the person with OCD some relief from anxiety, but it is only temporary.

People with OCD show a range of insight into the uselessness of their obsessions. They can sometimes recognize that their obsessions and compulsions are unrealistic. At other times they may be unsure about their fears or even believe strongly in their validity.

Most people with OCD struggle to banish their unwanted thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Many are able to keep their obsessive-compulsive symptoms under control during the hours when they are engaged at school or work. But over time, resistance may weaken, and when this happens, OCD may become so severe that time-consuming rituals take over the sufferers' lives and make it impossible for them to have lives outside the home.

The course of the disease is quite varied. Symptoms may come and go, ease over time, or get worse. If OCD becomes severe, it can keep a person from working or carrying out normal responsibilities at home. People with OCD may try to help themselves by avoiding situations that trigger their obsessions, or they may use alcohol or drugs to calm themselves.

Causes:

The old belief that OCD was the result of life experiences has become less valid with the growing focus on biological factors. The fact that OCD patients respond well to specific medications that affect the neurotransmitter serotonin suggests the disorder has a neurobiological basis. For that reason, OCD is no longer attributed only to attitudes a patient learned in childhood -- inordinate emphasis on cleanliness, or a belief that certain thoughts are dangerous or unacceptable. The search for causes now focuses on the interaction of neurobiological factors and environmental influences, as well as cognitive processes.

OCD is sometimes accompanied by depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, a personality disorder, attention deficit disorder or another of the anxiety disorders. Coexisting disorders can make OCD more difficult both to diagnose and to treat. Symptoms of OCD are seen in association with some other neurological disorders. There is an increased rate of OCD in people with Tourette's syndrome, an illness characterized by involuntary movements and vocalizations. Investigators are currently studying the hypothesis that a genetic relationship exists between OCD and the tic disorders.

Other illnesses that may be linked to OCD are trichotillomania (the repeated urge to pull out scalp hair, eyelashes, eyebrows or other body hair), body dysmorphic disorder (excessive preoccupation with imaginary or exaggerated defects in appearance) and hypochondriasis (the fear of having -- despite medical evaluation and reassurance -- a serious disease). Researchers are investigating the place of OCD within a spectrum of disorders that may share certain biological or psychological bases. It is currently unknown how closely related OCD is to other disorders such as trichotillomainia, body dysmorphic disorder and hypochondriasis.

There are also theories about OCD linking it to the interaction between behavior and the environment, which are not incompatible with biological explanations.

A person with OCD has obsessive and compulsive behaviors that are extreme enough to interfere with everyday life. People with OCD should not be confused with a much larger group of people sometimes called "compulsive" for being perfectionists and highly organized. This type of "compulsiveness" often serves a valuable purpose, contributing to a person's self-esteem and success on the job. In that respect, it differs from the life-wrecking obsessions and rituals of the person with OCD.

Treatments:

Clinical and animal research sponsored by NIMH and other scientific organizations has provided information leading to both pharmacological and behavioral treatments that can benefit the person with OCD. One patient may benefit significantly from behavior therapy, yet another will benefit from pharmacotherapy. And others may benefit best from both. Others may begin with medication to gain control over their symptoms and then continue with behavior therapy. Which therapy to use should be decided by the individual patient in consultation with his or her therapist.

Medication

Clinical trials in recent years have shown that drugs that affect the neurotransmitter serotonin can significantly decrease the symptoms of OCD. The first of these serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SRIs) specifically approved for the use in the treatment of OCD was the tricyclic anti-depressant clomipramine (Anafranil). It was followed by other SRIs that are called "selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors" (SSRIs). Those that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of OCD are citalopram (Celexa), flouxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil) and sertraline (Zoloft).

Large studies have shown that more than three-quarters of patients are helped by these medications at least a little. And in more than half of patients, medications relieve symptoms of OCD by diminishing the frequency and intensity of the obsessions and compulsions. Improvement usually takes at least three weeks or longer. If a patient does not respond well to one of these medications, or has unacceptable side effects, another SRI may give a better response. For patients who are only partially responsive to these medications, research is being conducted on the use of an SRI as the primary medication and one of a variety of medications as an additional drug (an augmenter). Medications are of help in controlling the symptoms of OCD, but often, if the medication is discontinued, relapse will follow.

Behavior Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be the most effective type of psychotherapy for this disorder. The patient is exposed many times to a situation that triggers the obsessive thoughts, and learns gradually to tolerate the anxiety and resist the urge to perform the compulsion. Medication and CBT together are considered to be better than either treatment alone at reducing symptoms.

A specific behavior therapy approach called "exposure and response prevention" is effective for many people with OCD. In this approach, the patient deliberately and voluntarily confronts the feared object or idea, either directly or by imagination. At the same time the patient is strongly encouraged to refrain from ritualizing, with support and structure provided by the therapist, and possibly by others whom the patient recruits for assistance. For example, a compulsive hand washer may be encouraged to touch an object believed to be contaminated, and then urged to avoid washing for several hours until the anxiety provoked has greatly decreased. Treatment then proceeds on a step-by-step basis, guided by the patient's ability to tolerate the anxiety and control the rituals. As treatment progresses, most patients gradually experience less anxiety from the obsessive thoughts and are able to resist the compulsive urges.

Psychotherapy can also be used to provide effective ways of reducing stress, anxiety and resolving inner conflicts.

Ways to Make Treatment More Effective

Many people with anxiety disorders benefit from joining a self-help or support group and sharing their problems and achievements with others. Internet chat rooms can also be useful in this regard, but any advice received over the Internet should be used with caution, as Internet acquaintances have usually never seen each other and false identities are common. Talking with a trusted friend or member of the clergy can also provide support, but it is not a substitute for care from a mental health professional.

Stress management techniques and meditation can help people with anxiety disorders calm themselves and may enhance the effects of therapy. There is preliminary evidence that aerobic exercise may have a calming effect. Since caffeine, certain illicit drugs, and even some over-the-counter cold medications can aggravate the symptoms of anxiety disorders, they should be avoided. Check with your physician or pharmacist before taking any additional medications.

The family is very important in the recovery of a person with an anxiety disorder. Ideally, the family should be supportive but not help perpetuate their loved one's symptoms. Family members should not trivialize the disorder or demand improvement without treatment. When a family member suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder it's helpful to be patient about their progress and acknowledge any successes, no matter how small.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Last reviewed 06/01/2010
Sources:
Archives of General Psychiatry
British Journal of Psychiatry Supplement
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition
National Institutes of Mental Health
National Library of Medicine
Psychiatric disorders in America: the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study
Psychopharmacology Bulletin

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder

Wrestling with Bipolar Disorder

It's one of the most missed diagnoses in psychiatry. Bipolar disorder, involving moods that swing between the highs of mania and the lows of depression, is typically confused with everything from unipolar depression to schizophrenia to substance abuse, to borderline personality disorder, with just about all stops in between. Patients themselves often resist diagnosis, because they may not see as pathologic the surge in energy that accompanies the mania or hypomania that distinguishes the condition.

But on a few points consensus is emerging. Bipolar disorder is a chronically recurring illness. And the age of onset is dropping—in less than one generation it has gone from age 32 to 19. Whether there is a genuine increase in prevalence of the disorder is a matter of some debate, but there does seem to be a genuine increase among the young.

What's more, the depression of manic-depression is emerging as a particularly thorny problem for both patients and their doctors.

"Depression is the bane of treatment of bipolar disorder," says Robert M.A. Hirschfeld, M.D., head of psychiatry at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

It's what is most likely to motivate patients to accept care. People spend more time in the depression phase of the disorder. And unlike unipolar depression, the depression of bipolar illness tends to be treatment-resistant.

"Antidepressants don't work very well in bipolar depression," says Dr. Hirschfeld. "They are underwhelming in their ability to treat the depression." In fact, a shift away from antidepressants is formally recognized in new treatment guidelines for bipolar disorder just released by the American Psychiatric Association.

As physicians gain experience in treating the disorder, they are discovering that antidepressants have two negative effects on the course of the disorder. Used by themselves, antidepressants can induce manic episodes. And over time they can accelerate mood cycling, increasing the frequency of episodes of depression or of mania followed by depression.

Instead, research points to the value of drugs that work as mood stabilizers for the depression of bipolar disorder, either alone or in combination with antidepressants. If antidepressants have any use at all in bipolar disorder, it may be as acute treatment for bouts of severe depression before mood stabilizers are added or substituted.

Even in cases of severe depression, the new guidelines favor increasing the dosage of mood stabilizers over other strategies.

Not so long ago, mood stabilizers could be summed up in a single word—lithium, in use since the 1960s to tame mania. But research has additionally demonstrated the effectiveness of divalproex sodium (Depakote) and lamotrigine (Lamictal), drugs that were initially developed for use as anticonvulsants in seizure disorders. Divalproex sodium has been approved for use as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder for several years, while lamotrigine is undergoing clinical trials for such an application.

"Optimizing the dose of lithium or divalproex has good antidepressant effects," reports Dr. Hirschfeld. "We also now know that divalproex and lamotrigine are very good for preventing recurrence in bipolar patients." A study showed that lamotrigine not only delays the time to any mood events but is notably effective against the depressive lows of bipolar illness.

No one knows for sure exactly how anticonvulsants work in bipolar disorder. For that matter, the condition has been described since the time of Hippocrates, but it is still not clear what goes awry in manic-depression.

Despite the unknowns, medications for treating the disorder are proliferating. In contrast to downplaying antidepressants in the depressive phase of the disorder, clinical research is ramping up the value of antipsychotic drugs for combating the manic phase, albeit a new generation of such drugs, collectively called atypical antipsychotics. Chief among them are olanzapine (Zyprexa) and risperidone (Risperdal). They are now considered a first-line approach to acute mania, and adjuncts for long-term therapy along with mood stabilizers.

In the long term, however, observes Nassir Ghaemi, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard and head of bipolar research at Cambridge Hospital, medication goes only so far. "Drugs are not effective enough. It may have to do with the overuse of antidepressants; they interfere with the benefits of mood stabilizers.

"Medications don't take you to the finish line." There seem to be residual symptoms of depression that don't clear. Even when patients stabilize into a normal, or euthymic, mood state, he says, some troubling signs can appear.

"Sometimes we see in euthymic patients cognitive dysfunction that we didn't expect in the past—word-finding difficulties, trouble maintaining concentration," Dr. Ghaemi explains. "Cumulative cognitive impairment seems to emerge with time. It may be related to findings of decreased size of the hippocampus, a brain structure that serves memory. We are on the verge of recognizing long-term cognitive impairment as a result of bipolar disorder."

He believes there is a role for aggressive psychotherapy for keeping patients well, for keeping everyday ups and downs from becoming full-blown episodes. At the very least, he finds, psychotherapy can help patients resolve the work and relationship problems that often outlast symptoms.

In addition, psychotherapy can help patients learn new coping styles and interpersonal habits. "Many of the ways patients deal with their illness are not relevant when they are well," explains Dr. Ghaemi.

For example, he says, many people develop the habit of staying up late as a way of coping with the manic symptoms. "What they couldn't change before because of the illness needs to be changed after treatment if, for example, it bothers a spouse. People have to learn to change. But the longer one is ill, the harder it is to become completely well, because the harder it is to change the habits of one's life."

And for young people diagnosed with bipolar illness, he considers psychotherapy essential. "The younger patients are, the less convinced they are that they have bipolar disorder," he says. "They have impaired insight. They're especially concerned about the need to take medications. They should be in psychotherapy to get educated about the illness and medication."

He also stresses the value of support groups, especially for young people. "It's another, important layer of validation."

By Hara Estroff Marano, published on May 01, 2002 - last reviewed on July 24, 2007

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200306/wrestling-bipolar-disorder

Client's Letter to Counselor

Although I have received a fair amount of letters and feedbacks from past clients over the many years of practice, I have never considered organizing a more orderly method of collecting these much needed information.

As a start, I'd like to share a short note I received from a client; with her personal consent, of course. I've also deleted her name to protect her identity for privacy reasons. Below is the note she sent me:

salam. kak johana,

thanks for the friend approval.

also, i have to say that i'm very glad you took up psychology and having your own practice because you're really good at it.

its a big relief to have someone to not only understand but to be able to offer solutions.

i'm happy that the chronic fatigue syndrome was pointed out and really happy that the multivitamins/exercises/deep breathing are working out. i also love working at the assignments given.

looking forward to combat the post trauma stress disorder and driving phobia. truthfully still nervous thinking about driving but i hope to get over it.

insya'allah.

here's wishing you all the best and May Allah bless you!

jazakallah.
-xxx-

Any of my past and current clients are most welcomed to write comments here using pseudonyms. Given time, I will create a link specifically designed for feedback purposes only. Meanwhile, to all my clients, past and present; thank you for providing me the opportunity to be useful in your lives. Stay blessed, sweet ones.

Unbearable pain behind suicides | Free Malaysia Today

Unbearable pain behind suicides | Free Malaysia Today