- Assist With Toileting Needs- A person with dementia may have trouble communicating their bladder is full or that they are constipated. Assisting them with a regular toileting schedule can ensure this isn’t the cause of agitation. Simply asking them if they need to go can often trigger them to remember to use the bathroom.
- Check Pain Level- Pain is often the cause of agitation and behavior issues for someone suffering from dementia. You may ask them if they’re in pain, and many times they will say “No.” But if you notice grimacing or rubbing a joint or their stomach, often times they are in pain. It can be almost impossible to communicate with a dementia patient who is pain. It is important to treat this pain appropriately with medications, rest, or various other methods.
- Check Their Hunger- A person with dementia may not always know they’re hungry, or they may
Category Archives: Mental Health
Types of Fidgets for Children With ADHD
Calming
A common issue with children that have ADHD is not being able to settle. This means they are less able to stay focused on something that is taking place in front of them. Fidget toys of this nature are intended to mold, twist or bend into different shapes. Other items that can be a calming influence include a weighted lap pad, a coiled bracelet, plastic nuts and bolts, or a fuzzy pipe cleaner.
Alerting
Many children with ADHD benefit from handling something that has a light, color, or noise to help with staying focused. A great toy to give the desired stimulation includes colored puzzles that easily snap together, pull apart, bend or twist. Other options include the color-changing light-up balls and spinning tops.
This type of toy may be a bit disruptive for the classroom environment, so its use may be limited to time in the home. It …
Triggers Impact Mental Health
Psychological triggers among individuals coping with addiction and psychiatric illnesses are more likely to induce the feelings of anxiety, panic, discouragement, or other uncomfortable states of emotion. Moreover, the exposure to these triggers increase the risk of re-engaging in unhealthy behaviors and negative thinking among people with mental disorders.
Therefore, it is essential to know the ins and outs of these triggers. By developing the ability to identify triggers and implementing measures to reduce their impact on life, a person can significantly dissuade the aggravation of the symptoms of psychiatric diseases in the long run. In fact, triggers can influence moods and behaviors even among individuals not affected by mental disorders.
Although a person cannot predict, identify and avoid all triggers, building effective coping mechanisms can prevent negative effects by strengthening a person’s ability to exercise control over them.
Though reacting to triggers is a normal thing, one should keep
Narcissism
Narcissism lies on a continuum from healthy to pathological. Healthy narcissism is part of normal human functioning. It represents required self – love and confidence based on real achievements and the ability to overcome setbacks. But, narcissism becomes a problem when one becomes excessively preoccupied with the self and seeks complete admiration and attention, with complete disregard for others’ feelings. Lack of satisfaction of this need leads to substance abuse and major depressive disorders. In adolescents, this causes ‘Substance Dependency Disorder’ (SDD) – they display overt narcissistic and prosocial behaviours, which show a connection between self – centeredness and addiction. These substances include sedatives like alcohol, psychedelics and hallucinogens like marijuana and LSD, stimulants like cocaine, narcotics like opium, heroin, and morphine, and anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax.
“Narcissists unconsciously deny an unstated and intolerably poor self – image through inflation. They turn themselves into glittering figures of immense grandeur, surrounded …
Anxiety May Lead to SUD and Vice Versa
Anxiety disorders impact nearly 40 million Americans aged 18 or older. This translates into a significant 18.1 percent of the adult population. There are various kinds of anxiety disorders, such as social anxiety disorder (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and phobia. An untreated anxiety disorder can lead to substance abuse. Given below are few scenarios where a person with an anxiety-related condition develops a substance use disorder (SUD) or vice versa:
- Self-medication brings relief to such people from fearful thoughts and excessive worry about impending events.
- Prolonged use of a drug changes brain chemistry that alters the way one behaves, thinks and feels.
- People suffering from social phobia are often prescribed benzodiazepines, which are addictive in nature. Prolonged and consistent use beyond the doctor’s advice results in one getting caught in the cycle of abuse and addiction.
The chances of delayed diagnosis and treatment or misdiagnosis of co-occurring disorders are …
Sociopath or Narcissist
To qualify for a diagnosis of APD, the patient must have had a conduct disorder by 15 years old, and show at least four of these traits:
Doesn’t sustain consistent work (or school)
Doesn’t conform to social norms, including unlawful behavior whether or not arrested
Disregards the truth, indicated by repeated lying, conning, using aliases, not paying debts
Impulsive or fails to plan ahead; moves around without a goal
Irritable and aggressive; e.g., fights or assaults
Recklessly disregards safety of self or others
Consistently irresponsible, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
Lacks remorse, and feels justified in having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another
Doesn’t sustain monogamy for more than one year
Irresponsible and negligent as a parent
Types of Narcissists – Malignant and Closet Narcissist
Some narcissists can look like sociopaths, but there are narcissists who aren’t malicious and who care …
Human Microbiome and Mood Swings
It is considered that the baby in the womb is sterile. It is not until birth that the baby has its first exposure to the mother’s microbiome while passing through the virginal canal. That, together with the microbiome in the breast milk, plays a crucial role in the onset of the immune system development. (Hence, babies born through Caesarean and/or not breast-fed have weaker immune systems). Later on in life, the microbiome is constantly being influenced by exposure to the environment. (Thus, over-sterilization and the constant use of anti-microbial soaps, etc. affects negatively the development of the human microbiome). One interesting thing to note here is that playing with dogs (but not with cats!) helps build a healthy microbiome. And last but not least, proper nutrition and avoidance of medication is another factor in keeping our microbiome healthy.
Now, we know that the microbes help digestion, immune system functioning and …
Meaning Of Dreams And Mental Health
The information I had was very different from the false information of the commercial world. The special information I had in dream messages proves that the unconscious mind discovered by Carl Jung really is God’s mind.
Now that the satanic origin of the human conscience was discovered you have to realize that you must always look for signs of absurdity and evilness in your thoughts and in your behavior, and also when you analyze other people’s personality and their attitude in various situations.
Your dreams help you verify the depth of your absurdity and evilness in order to correct your behavior and help you think based on God’s wisdom. They also help you analyze other people’s behavior and identify various signs of absurdity and evilness in their personality.
God helps you become a psychologist and understand how the human brain works. He gives you many lessons in every dream.
Now …
Keys To Good Mental Health
- The first recommendation deals with sleep. Most professionals recommend eight hours of sleep per night for adults. More than eight hours may lead to depression or at least sluggishness. Less than eight hours may lead to anxiety or nervousness. However, I maintain that sleep does not have to be completed in one block of time. Personally, I sleep for about three hours, work on projects for an hour or two, sleep for another one or two hours; then I nap once or twice during the day when I’m tired. Sometimes naps last an hour, sometimes only ten minutes. I think the key is to sleep when your body tells you it needs rest. Of course, I’m semi-retired, and my schedule may not work for most professionals.
- A conscientious diet is helpful for mental stability. I recommend a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids. Those can include, most nuts and seeds,
Motivation and Perceptions
A patient of mine had a painful knee-joint for months. She had tried physiotherapy and other forms of treatment and nothing seems to have worked. She was still in pain and felt very miserable and depressed. Looking at her I could see that she was a big woman carrying a fair bit of extra weight. She was middle-aged and was looking for a job. Her knee stopped her from looking for a job. When questioned about her weight problem she became very tearful and she said she had tried everything in the book to lose weight but nothing worked. She hardly ate anything but still could not lose weight. This made her even further depressed. Yes, reality for her presented a grim picture.
Then there was another elderly patient who was also overweight and had knee problems. She had also tried to lose weight but was never successful. She was …