Catatonia

Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by a broad range of motor, speech and behavioral abnormalities. It is a behavioral syndrome marked by an inability to move normally despite full physical capacity to do so. ‘Waxy flexibility', ‘posturing' and ‘catalepsy' are among the well-recognized motor abnormalities associated with catatonia. However, there is a wide spectrum of speech and other neurological abnormalities seen in this condition.

Catatonia is often thought to precipitate secondary to another underlying illness. Psychiatric disorders can present primarily with symptoms of catatonia. Mood disorders such as bipolar disorder and depression are the most common disorders in which catatonia manifests. A psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia can also be associated with catatonia, and historically schizophrenia recognition and diagnosis included symptoms of catatonia or was subtyped if catatonic symptoms were present. When catatonic symptoms present, the cause is likely psychiatric, but many medical etiologies can lead to catatonia.

Symptoms

·         Not responding to other people or your environment (negativism)

·         Not speaking (mutism)

·         Holding your body in an unusual position (posturing)

·         Resisting people who try to adjust your body (wavy flexibility)

·         Acting upset or irritable (agitation)

·         Repetitive, seemingly meaningless movement (mannerism)

·         Mimicking someone else’s speech (echolalia)

·         Mimicking someone else’s movements (echopraxia)

·         Keeping the same facial expression, which sometimes looks like a stiff, inappropriate smile (grimacing)

·         Repeated movements that don't seem to have a purpose, such as playing with your fingers or patting and rubbing your body (stereotypy)

Types

Akinetic catatonia: This is the most common. Someone with akinetic catatonia often stares blankly and doesn’t respond when you speak to them. If they do respond, it may only be to repeat what you said. Sometimes, they sit or lie in an unusual position and don’t move

Excited catatonia: With this type, the person may move around, but their movement seems pointless and impulsive. They may seem agitated, combative, or delirious, or they may mimic the movements of someone who’s trying to help them

Malignant catatonia: This type happens when the symptoms lead to other health problems, such as dangerous changes in blood pressure, body temperature, or breathing or heart rate

TRICHOTILLOMANIA

Trichotillomania is one of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCDs). It is also known as hair-pulling disorder or compulsive hair pulling, is a mental disorder characterized by a long-term urge that results in the pulling out of one's own hair. It describes an impulsive disorder of the mind where individuals cannot prevent the urge to pull out their hair from various body parts like eyebrows or eyelashes, scalp, beard, or mustaches. 

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

1) Trichotillomania is one of the types of traumatic alopecia and is defined as the irresistible urge to pull out the hair, accompanied by a sense of relief after the hair has been plucked

2) In trichotillomania alopecia results from deliberate efforts of the patients who is under tension or is psychologically disturbed

3) The condition maybe episodic and the chronic type is difficult to treat. The prevalence of the condition appears to be more common than previously believed

4) The purpose of this article is to discuss the various aspects of the condition including the available treatments

5) It is noted predominantly in girls and women and occurs more commonly in children than in adults. It occurs more than twice as frequently in females as in males

6) The preponderance may be due in part to women′s greater willingness to seek medical care; men may hide their hair pulling better by masking if as male pattern baldness and shaving their mustaches and beards

7) Affected children may be seven times more than adults. The age of onset is usually between 5 and 12 years with equal sex distribution or early childhood to adolescence

8) When it occurs later in life, during adulthood or in older patients, it is associated with psychopathology and with c poorer prognosis

CLINICAL FEATURES

1) Scalp is involved in majority of cases Eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hairs, pubic, axillary, chest, abdominal or extremity hairs are involved in some.

2) The hair pulling develops gradually and unconsciously but is not usually denied by the patient in the younger age group

3) In more severe form, the patient usually consistently denies plucking his or her hair. Most frequently hair is plucked from one front-parietal region, which is on the side of manual dominance

4) The temporal and occipital regions are usually spared. Typically the hairs are short, irregular, broken at various distance and distorted

5) On scalp an ill-defined patch develops in majority, but the full scalp may be involved in some. The clinical presentation of the lesion is characteristic

6) The linear or circular patches with irregular borders containing hairs of the varying length, the shortest being those most frequently plucked, result due to plucking of hairs either in a wavelike fashion across the scalp or centrifugally from a single point

7) Less severely affected patients may have only small areas of baldness or imperceptible thinning over the entire head

CAUSES

I. Genes: People who do hair pulling may have genes that make it more likely.

II. Hormones: Puberty hormones and stress hormones may prompt hair pulling to start in those who have the genes for it.

III. Habit learning: Many people with trichotillomania feel an itch, tingling, or an urge to do it. When they pull hair, they get a brief sense of relief. To the brain, this relief is a reward. The brain releases reward hormones, such as dopamine. This links hair pulling with the reward. It causes a hair-pulling habit to form.

PSYCHOTHERAPY: It is one of the effective treatments for mental disorders. Psychotherapy for Trichotillomania may incorporate psychological treatment, which endeavors to recognize and adjust the thoughts and feelings that lead to specific practices, for example, hair pulling. Common treatments for people with Trichotillomania incorporate reversing the daily habits, emotional supports, and controlling the impulse to pull out hair.

1) Contending response training: The individual works on replacing the hair pulling habit with an alternate habit. This training is useful for children and teens.

2) Inspiration and consistency training: The individual participates in exercises and practices that help them to remember the significance of staying with the treatment. This may incorporate accepting praise from family members for progress made during treatment.

3) Relaxation training: The individual practices unwinding strategies, for example, reflection and profound relaxation. These methods of training help them to ease their pressure and stress and ultimately reduce the hair pulling.

4) Generalization training: The individual practices their new abilities in various circumstances to get programmed in their daily routine.

5) Family therapy: Family therapy is especially valuable when a kid or youngster has a significant issue that is influencing the other family members, as may be the case with Trichotillomania. Your family can assist you in addressing the issue that is making you pull your hair. In this treatment, a counsellor will meet the entire family and study their perspectives and connections to comprehend the issues the family is having. It encourages relatives to discuss the issues better with one another.

6) Hypnosis: is also a proven treatment method which can be utilized to adjust your condition of consciousness. The hypnotist would then be able to recommend a solution like changing your conduct. While you are in this modified state, you might be bound to acknowledge the recommended changes and quit the habit of pulling your hair.

MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is a quality of an individual by which he/she is in the present moment with higher conscious and completely aware of past and future without any intervention. Mindfulness can be practiced in a meditative posture and also while doing our regular activities. Mindfulness is used in several therapeutic interventions, including mindfulness-based cognitive behavior therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and mindfulness meditation.

During mindfulness state, our consciousness is in present moment and our mind is working as it has been doing so far by recalling old memories and connecting with the future anticipations. But our consciousness is not involved in responding or reacting to those functions of the mind. Here, we are well aware of our body and mind with respect to the present moment as an observer. Mindfulness is a technique you can learn which involves noticing what's happening in the present moment, without judgement.

Fundamental Techniques

1) Notice how thoughts come and go in your mind: You may learn that they don't have to define who you are, or your experience of the world, and that you can let go of them.

2) Notice what your body is telling you: For example, you might feel tension or anxiety in your body, such as a fast heartbeat, tense muscles or shallow breathing

3) Create space between you and your thoughts: With this space, you can reflect on the situation and react more calmly

Mindfulness in Psychotherapy

1) Studies show that practicing mindfulness can help to manage common mental health problems like depression, anxiety and feelings of stress

2) There is some evidence that mindfulness could help with more complex mental health conditions, such as psychosis and bipolar disorder

3) You might find mindfulness very helpful. Or you might feel like it doesn't work or makes you feel worse. It's important to do what works for you and your mental health

4) You can also talk to your doctor about what kinds of treatments might suit you best

5) You might find trying mindfulness is useful while waiting to receive other types of treatment

Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a disorder is a widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain and spinal cord process painful and non-painful signals. The people with the disorder have a heightened sensitivity to pain. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, but doctors and other health care providers can help manage and treat the symptoms. Treatment typically involves a combination of exercise or other movement therapies, psychological and behavioral therapy, and medications. 

 

 

 

THE MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS

1) Pain and stiffness all over the body

2) Fatigue and tiredness

3) Depression and anxiety

4) Sleep problems

5) Problems with thinking, memory, and concentration

6) Headaches, including migraines

7) Tingling or numbness in hands and feet

8) Pain in the face or jaw, including disorders of the jaw known as temporo-mandibular joint syndrome

9) Digestive problems, such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and even irritable bowel syndrome

CAUSE

Certain genes you inherit from you biological parents might make you more likely to develop fibromyalgia. Studies have found a link between biological parents who have fibromyalgia and their children — this might mean it’s passed down through families. Experts haven’t found the direct link yet, but they think genetic mutations in the genes responsible for forming the neurotransmitters in your brain that broadcast and receive pain signals to your body might cause fibromyalgia.

TRIGGER FACTORS

1) Emotional stress caused by your job, financial situation or social life.

2) Changes in your daily routine

3) Changes in your diet or not getting enough nutrition

4) Hormone changes

5) Not getting enough sleep or changing when you sleep

6) Weather or temperature changes

7) Getting sick

8) Starting new medication or treatments, or changing something in your usual fibromyalgia treatment routine

TREATMENTS AND THERAPIES

1) Over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medicine to relieve pain.

2) Exercises like stretches or strength training.

3) Sleep therapy

4) Cognitive behavioral therapy

5) Stress management therapy

5) Antidepressants

MANAGEMENT

1) Non-pharmacological treatments: Your provider or a physical therapist will give you stretches and exercises to loosen, relax and strengthen your muscles and joints.

2) Psychological treatments: A mental health professional will help you identify ways to maintain a healthy self-image. They’ll suggest strategies to manage symptoms that affect your mental and emotional health.

3) Pharmacological treatment: Taking medicine to manage your symptoms.

4) Daily functioning: An occupational therapist can help you navigate your daily routine if you’re experiencing severe symptoms that make it hard to participate in your regular activities.

Certficate Course on "Psychiatry and Psychology of Panic Disorder & Panic Attack"

 Certificate Course on

Psychiatry and Psychology of 

PANIC DISORDER & PANIC ATTACK

UNIT – 1

Introduction - Panic – Equation of panic – Fear – Brain and fear – How Amygdala hijacks brain

UNIT – 2

Sympathetic Nerves system & fear – Adrenaline released hormones – Psychosomatic reactions – Role of Parasympathetic nerves system in fear response

UNIT – 3

IMAGINATION – Mental Chatters Vs Thinking – Imaginations to Panic – Cognitive Distortions

UNIT – 4

Anxiety – Anxiety Disorder – Panic Disorder – DSM V Diagnostic criteria (Four different Criteria’s A, B, C and D) – Genetics and Physiology of Panic Disorder

UNIT – 5

Vulnerability factors in Panic Disorder – Anxiety cycle in panic disorder – Neurotransmitters’ influences – Brain Chemicals Inhibitor, Catalyst & Reuptake

UNIT – 6

Brain Chemical function of Reuptake – SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) – Therapeutic Influence on brain chemicals (deficiency & increase)

UNIT – 7

What is CBT – Plasticity of perception (Neuronal plasticity) – Handling Cognitive Distortions – CBT & brain changes – Pharmacological Interventions

UNIT – 8

ERP (Exposure Response Prevention) from CBT – ERP Cycle for overcoming panic attacks – Changes in ERP – Assertive response of ERP in Flight and Fight

Online Mode

Rs.1999 only

With study materials

Only 25 seats with ASSESSMENT

Weekends Classes

Offline/In class

Rs.2999 only

With study materials

Only 10 seats with ASSESSMENT

Weekday’s classes

 

FOR ENQUIERY & ENROLLMENT

9535397308/7349595036

Faculty Details

Manivannan RJ

Founder and Psychotherapist in BrahVishMah

M.Sc Advanced Applied Psychology

Diploma in Psychiatry (IIT Kanpur)

Diploma in Clinical Psychiatry (IIT Kharagpur)

Diploma in Experimental Psychology (IIT Kharagpur)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT),

PG Diploma in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

Diploma in Modern Applied Psychology (DiMap)

Diploma in Hypnotherapy

Mental Health and Wellness Professional (MHW)

Master Diploma in Neuroscience & Neuroanatomy

Introspective Counseling Therapy (ICT)

MBA – Human Resource Management

MEDITATION Trainer