The Secret Diary of The Beautiful Mind

  UNLOCK ANXIETY The second wave is finally tiding over and after days and weeks of being stuck indoors, we are breathing a sigh of relief. Even so, many people are still feeling a lingering anxiety, restlessness and apprehension.  It is okay to feel worried. Begin by trying to place your source of anxiety. Worried about getting ill: It is completely okay to worry about your health and it will guide you to engaging in safe and responsible behaviors. However, keep a check on when the health anxiety is out of proportion and disrupting your peace of mind. Body image worries: Gained some weight during the lockdown? Enjoyed indoors in your pajamas? It is okay to be concerned about your weight or health. Instead of worrying and spending more time indoors due to body image issues, make a plan to work on it. Feeling pressured to socialize: You may feel you are not ready to be the life of the party yet. It is okay to wait. Continue virtual connections. Meet for short duration at safe locations

  Elder Abuse seems something that is exclusive to the western world, right? We couldn’t be more wrong.. Elder abuse is way more common than one thinks. 1 in 4 senior citizens is at risk of being abused.  Each year, hundreds of thousands of adults over the age of 60 are abused, neglected, or financially exploited. This is elder abuse. Types of elder abuse:   • Physical abuse: Use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment. • Emotional abuse : Infliction of anguish, pain, or distress through verbal or non-verbal acts. • Neglect: Refusal, or failure, to fulfill any part of a person’s obligations or duties to an elderly person. • Financial/material exploitation : Illegal or improper use of an elder’s funds, property, or assets. • Abandonment : Desertion of an elderly person by an individual who has physical custody of the elder or by a person who has assumed responsibility for providing care to the elder. • Sexual abuse : Non-consensual sexual co

Why masturbation awareness? One may think, why awareness of masturbation. Because it’s not talked about enough. It’s a taboo topic for many and only talked about in hushed tones. This leads to fear, myths, and misconceptions. This makes it necessary to raise awareness and provide effective information around this topic.  Is it okay to engage in masturbation?  I have heard it is unhealthy or wrong  Masturbation is neither morally wrong nor bad for the body. It helps to release tension and stress. It releases adrenaline, oxytocin, endorphins and serotonin - helping you regulate stress and boost your overall mood. The release of endorphins can also help you lower your blood pressure and act as a sleeping aid. Research shows that regular ejaculation helps men have a better body mass index and a lower risk of prostate cancer, be it through sexual intercourse or masturbation. In females, the muscular attention to the area has also been known to relieve menstrual cramps. And it is

  1 crore Indians suffer from Schizophrenia, a serious mental illness. Many do not contribute meaningfully to the family and society. We at The Beautiful Mind - Specialty Psychiatry Clinic, address this part of the illness as well, apart from symptom control. We focus on improving functioning - be it on a personal, social or professional front. Patients with schizophrenia often have issues with associations, misinterpret signals that they get and make incorrect assumptions. This leads to confrontations and arguments in many cases. As the illness progresses, if left untreated, self care, social behavior and professional work gets affected. Right diagnosis and appropriate treatment, reduces the period of untreated psychosis, an important factor in the prognosis of the illness. Rather than focusing only on symptom control, functional recovery is the call of the hour. This is what we do at The Beautiful Mind and this is what brings back the smiles and joy in the lives of our clients and

If you have never heard the word Thalassemia before, it is good news. Those who have seen some of their near and dear ones go through the illness may even tell - you are lucky! The prevalence of Thalassemia in India is 4% - which translates to almost 5 crore individuals at risk of the illness, many of whom will require lifelong blood transfusions to just survive. Just imagine what the child and the parents must be going through dealing with the illness and its complications. The best way to deal with it is to have knowledge about the illness and its treatment and most importantly seek support from experts - haematologists and mental health workers to live a life that is fulfilling. Thalassemia is an inherited illness of the blood, the oxygen carrying capacity of blood decreases in it. It affects the child as oxygen is what we live on, the body compensates for this reduced efficiency of blood cells to carry oxygen by producing more blood cells - causing abnormality in face appearance

As the COVID numbers rise unprecedented in the second wave of the pandemic, there is a definite impact of our mental health and psychological well-being as well. The future has become uncertain with respect to health, finances, and freedom. Stress levels are on the rise, as are other issues such as anxiety, substance use, health anxiety, mental fatigue, and burnout. Securing both physical & mental health is key during these times. The basic "survival anxiety" and worry about contacting the infection is universal. The worry also often extends to our near and dear ones, along with the helplessness fueled by the uncertainty of the disease itself.  Identify and observe your thoughts & feelings: You may feel angry, tired, restless. The worry may also manifest as sleep changes, difficulty in concentration, appetite disturbances, and social withdrawal.  Pause, reflect, connect: You may feel the above feelings are sweeping you away and may get you more worked up &

Know someone dealing with Asthma, then you may have also picked up that stress in their life often brings about worsening of their breathing complaints. One may wonder why? Asthma is one the disorders intricately linked with the psyche. Historically, it was one of the classic psychosomatic diseases; where the mind (psyche) affects the body (soma) to cause physical symptoms.  Asthma is a chronic illness, usually requiring long term management. The need for prolonged medical support and apparent dependency causes depression, fatigue, anxiety in many. It also triggers panic attacks, in turn causing breathlessness of its own and often makes it difficult to completely differentiate these two conditions. Also, there is evidence that anxiety and depression gave a negative effect on Asthma by itself. It can cause increased frequency and severity of attacks, prolonged hospitalisation and delayed recovery. Anxiety, Panic attacks & Asthma: Those who have experienced a severe asthm