Professionals in the field of Mental Health

A mental health provider is a professional who has received training and credentials to provide services to either ameliorate mental distress or to improve mental health and prevent mental disorders. Although there are a variety of mental health providers, the four main kinds are:

1.   social workers,

2.   counselors,

3.   clinical psychologists, and

4.   psychiatrists.

Psychiatry

A subset of psychology is the study of metal disorders (Affect, behavioral, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities). Over a period of time it became a vast subject. Now one aspect is the assessment and diagnosis of disorder. Second is the, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention.

Mental disorders could be attributed to variety of factors … biological, physiological deficiencies or social/cultural perspectives.

Knowledge of psychology helps in understanding the disorder, but to treat them one must also have knowledge of physiology. Hence a new branch emerged: Psychiatry.

Psychiatry = Mental illness (Psychology) + Physiology (Medicine)

Psychiatry is a medical specialty dealing with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental illness. Its primary goal is the relief of mental suffering associated with symptoms of disorder and improvement of mental well-being.

Psychiatry adopts a medical approach but may take in to account biological, psychological, and social/cultural perspectives.

Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

Psychiatry is the study of psychological disorders and the treatment of it with medications, electric shocks, behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy etc.

Application of Psychology : Treatment of Mental problems

Now first application of Psychology is in treatment of mental problems ... mental illness ...

Some ailments could be treated by simply talking and then suggesting some life style changes … like :

1. One can suggest meditation to reduce stress.
2. --- example to be added ---
3. --- example to be added ---

but there would be some ailments which could not be cured just by therapy ... which require some other measures ... some medication ... some shock treatment ... some thing else ... Aliments like ...

1. Schizophrenia
2. ---- example to be added ----
3. ---- example to be added ----

During the course of psychological developments, there certainly would have been some studies which would have identified that certain edibles can influence behavior ... for example alcohol.

 ... then there would have been research on certain drugs that could … improve mood swings ... reduce depression ... help coping up with anxiety ... It would have been a completely new dimension …  influence of various drugs ... on behavior ...

But while a drug may improve mental issues ... they may have some adverse effects on body ... so the person who would be recommending the drug should have knowledge of medical profession ... a complete doctor with additional knowledge of psychological ailments ... and here psychiatry came in to picture ...

Suffix  “-iatry” means “medical treatment”. So , treatment of ailment of Psyche is Psychiatry.

A psychiatrist is primarily a doctor who has knowledge of psychology (specializing in metal ailments) as well as of medicine. He is the only one who can prescribe medicines.

What is psychology : Another Video

What is Psychology Part 2 of 2

What is Psychology Part I of 2

Let's define abnormal behavior, mental problem, mental illness

What is abnormal behavior ? What are mental problems ? What is mental illness ?

These are very subjective term. There is no quantifiable means by which one can say that a persons behavior is appropriate. Perhaps from his perspective he would be right but from others he would be wrong.  

History is full of examples, where, the behaviors seen as appropriate at one time by the societies were totally disowned or abandoned at some other point of time.

1. Killing the slaves and punishing by inflicting pain was appropriate behavior at one point of time,  but not today.
2. Some societies were cannibals ... but today such behavior would put you behind the bars.
3. Duel fights of 16th century Europe. Is it possible today ?
4. Homosexuality was banned in last century but today it has been an acceptable behavior.

So what should we do ? Right and wrong depends on the perspective ... and this is a topic of philosophy …  Perhaps in quest of this answer only ... people would have started studying behaviors  which further would have emerged in a full fledged science called Psychology.

Religions also preaches philosophy of living ... appropriate way of behaving ... and perhaps that's why ... religion ... Philosophy ... and Psychology are linked ...

But still the question persists ... What is abnormal behavior ? What are mental problems ? What is mental illness ?

There are certain words I know know : Depression, anxiety, stress. 
Anorexia, Border line, Schizophrenia, memory loss.

"Mental illness, is a result of Mal-adaptation. There are a bunch of models within psychology for conceptualization of mental illness."

Psychology Vs biology and neuroscience

Psychology differs from biology and neuroscience in that it is primarily concerned with mind rather than brain, in other words experience and behavior rather than brain structure or chemistry. 

 However, the sub-field of neuro-psychology studies the actual neural processes and how these relate to the mental and experiential phenomena. Our life experience influences our brain states and vice-versa in complex ways.

Another way of looking at usage of psychology:

1. In assessment and treatment of mental health problems, in some kind of therapeutic role
2. Counseling role
3. In school settings
4. In industrial and organizational settings : HR roles 
5. Social outfits like old age homes, rehabilitation centers 
6. Sports : To improve team work may be 
7. Health : To promote a better lifestyle
8. In media
9. In forensic analysis and other aspects of law

Application of Psychology

So now we know the How and why of behavior ... we can apply it to various spheres of human activity ...

1. To help people who have some abnormal behavior ... mental ailments ...
2. To make a good team … in sports ... in industry ... HR ...
3. To teach ... to find better ways of teaching ...
4. To find better ways to live ... stress coping ... lifestyle change ...
5. To solve certain problems ...forensics ... Media ... advertizing ...

In short ...

Psychology is the study of the mind, occurring partly via the study of behavior. 

Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behaviour. 

Psychologists explore such concepts as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, phenomenology, motivation, brain functioning, personality behavior and interpersonal relationships.

What is Psychology ?

Suffix “-Logy” means “science”. So psychology is the study of Psyche of human being.

But what does "study of Psyche" mean?

Long time back, some people would have noticed that there was a consistent pattern, in the way humans and animals behave, in certain set of conditions. They would have experimented by formulating “what if?” scenarios:  “How a person would react if so & so was done to him? … Or kept in such & such condition?”

Perhaps those observations had lead to the development of this science.

Next obvious step would have been the study of influence of others, on the  behavior of an individual. This would have led to the study of relations. All sort of relations: Husband – wife, Teacher–student, mother-child, family members, relationship among friends  and many more.

And then some industrialist would have funded the academia to study the trouble making trade Unions. Or may be someone got intrigued by a successful sports team. And in this way perhaps, Teams, their behaviors and how individual behave in a team, would have become subject of study.

Then there were organizations, social groups, communes etc. Some people would have started studying them.Their behavior, the behavior of the people working in them and so on and so forth.

But so far, all this study was limited to define the How part only, to a larger extent. “How an entity will behave in a set of situation?” But it was not able to shed  much light on “Why”. Why we behave the way we do?

And then came, Mr. Sigmund Freud.

He suggested that … We behave in a certain manner. And those behaviors are designed so that we can unconsciously be able to avoid certain unpleasant truths about ourselves (our fears, phobias etc).

By analyzing our thought process, we can find out those truths … those influencing factors. And perhaps then we can manage to avoid being controlled by them.

And in this way Psycho-analysis also got added to the science of Psychology.

Now we have answers to “How’s” as well as of “Why’s”.

“Psychology seek to explain the thinking, emotion and behavior of individuals, couples, families and other social groups.”

“Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes, emotion, personality, behavior, and relationships.”

The qustions again ...

What is Psychology and what is Psychiatry? Should I study Psychology or Psychiatry? Who are psychologists and who are psychiatrists?
Which are the best colleges, hospitals or institutes of Psychology and psychaitry in the world ? Which of them offer online courses ?
What are the courses and syllabus covered ?
What degree is conferred upon ?
What is the fee structure ?
Which are the key figures in the field ?
The best books !
The course content !

My current beliefs ...

My underlying belief as on date are: 

1. We humans are advanced form of robots. There is no previous births and no future incarnations. (unlike Hindu thought process)
2. Our behavior and How we react to a situation, the emotions that come in, our likings and dislikings .. (in nutshell our personality) is governed by an algorithm by which our mind functions.
3. Each individual has a different algorithm.
4. This algorithm start developing since our birth and keep on getting refined over the age.
5. It is extremely difficult to change that algorithm once it is set in.
6. Psychology is study of these algorithms and how they got developed.
7. By knowledge of Psychology I would be able to change a bit of my algorithm.

So these are my views with zilch knowledge about psychology. Let's see how they changes over the time ...

But why this blog ? You can learn Psychology or Psychiatry without blogging also ! Isn't it ?

Now to maintain the log ... to maintain my notes ... to manage my documents etc ... I thought of making this blog. I still don't know whether blog will serve this purpose (I am new at blogging). The advantages I thought are:

1. Handy: Anywhere I can access it.
2. Systematic: can be systematically compile, since others can also see so a psychological pressure to maintain it properly.
3. Maintaining log: Also at a later date will be able to see how much I did and chronological efforts I put in.
4. Altruism: At the same time altruistic view that some one can also benefit from it if sees it .
5. Ego boost: "Ya this guy is good ..." perhaps this will improve my self esteem. It will help me reassuring that yes I am also someone worthwhile.
6. Time passing: Have sufficient time now ... to it's a good time pass for a lonely soul. But of course it is productive time pass ... at least I am learning something.

What is this blog about?

I want to learn psychology !!!

But again why. Why I want to learn psychology ?

Is it necessary to have answer to every why ? 

Perhaps yes.

It all started due to a certain traumatic event which turned my life upside down. The blow was so fatal that I had to take help of a psychiatrist to cope up with it. You see all sort of emotions were welling up at that time ...

Now what this psychiatrist used to do was, to just listen to me. It some times helped and sometimes didn't. But I never missed even a single appointment. The urge to talk to some one was overly important, even if it was to be done by making a payment. I bet these psychiatrists are, not only quite a punctual lot, but utterly expansive too.



To cope up with stress, and in desperation, I started reading on net at that time. And a few articles on psychology explained, why it all happened with me.

I was impressed to see how advanced psychology has become now a days: In terms of predictability of behavior of people. During that time I was also doing prayers, pooja and all sort of palm reading, horoscope study blah blah ...


While the horoscope predictions were pointing to the destined ... the psychology was pinning down their cause in the past. Some where I could see a match ... a correlation. Every thing was happening with a reason. 

Once the causes and effects  were clear, I automatically got elevated to a higher level. Now I had the helicopter view of things around me. I could understand the behaviors of mine and people around me. And this is how acceptability crept in, for what happened and what will happen.

I began to relate psychology with ... spiritualism ... future ... and philosophy.

I realized that future depends on our behaviors and actions, our likings and dislikes, our fears and phobias. All these are defined in our past: in our childhood. So to change future one has to confront with his past.

Psychology seems to be an appropriate science to teach me my patterns and my behavior. 

 SO THIS BLOG IS ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY...PHILOSOPHY...& SPIRITUALITY

Why ...

What is the objective of this blog ?  Why do I want to make this blog ? Do I need people to read it ? And why ? Why do I want people to read this blog ? Is it my attention seeking behavior or what ? What will I gain out of it ?