Mindfulness for Medicos

The arrival of a newborn is often a source of great joy for both the mother and the family members. However, it also means a lot of adjustment and adaptation to a new and challenging situation, especially for new mothers. Physiological, hormonal and biological changes can increase a woman’s vulnerabilities for mental health issues.  The awareness around postpartum disorders is gradually improving and many women are opening up about their struggles, still there are many who have to suffer in silence due to several reasons. We must understand that silence is never the answer of any mental health disorder and when neglected, they can impact both mother and the baby, even beyond the post-partum period. There are several types of mental health disorders in the post-partum period: 1.     Postpartum blues: These are also known as “Baby blues” and are very common, often reported in upto 85% of women. The symptoms are crying spells, irritability, confusion and agitation...

For me, motherhood had been a wonderful experience and I am sure, most women will agree with me. Despite the challenges and changes associated with pregnancy, and afterwards being a mother, I am sure I would not want it otherwise.  However, although I was overjoyed on first seeing the growing baby on ultrasonography and hearing the beating heart on Doppler, I was not prepared with the changes that pregnancy can bring in one’s body and mental state. Many of these changes are normal, physiological changes associated with pregnancy, but many times these may also be symptoms of underlying mental health conditions like mood disorders and anxiety disorders. Maternal mental health is an important but often ignored aspect of pregnancy. It must be born in mind that antenatal mental health not only affects the mother but the baby as well. What do numbers say? In the developed countries, around 7-15 % pregnant women report mental disorders, whereas in the developing world, arou...

Introduction Every year more than 7,00,000 individuals commit suicide, that translates to 1 person dying every 40 seconds.   To create awareness around this serious issue, World Suicide Prevention Day is observed on 10 September across the globe. Every suicide impacts not just a single person but the whole family and community at large. It raises a lot of questions, many remain unanswered. The family members often find themselves at loss, sometimes blaming themselves, but mostly clueless about where they missed the red flags. Suicide is not an isolated incident but a culmination of multiple factors - emotional, psychological, personal, social, and economical- which eventually leads an individual choose death over life. For every suicidal death, there are many who will attempt, putting a large number of people at risk. What does Statistics say? As per the National Crime Records Bureau, 1,64,033 suicides were reported in 2021 , which is an increase of 7.2% as compared to 2020. T...

Introduction The eyes see only what the mind knows and more often than not, we may become victims of our own minds, our own perceptions because of several reasons like our limited knowledge, distressing experiences and memories, need to feel safe and in control or simply a refusal to accept the reality as it is. Hence we develop some mental mechanisms to deal with our reality. One such mechanism is called cognitive distortion , a term used by mental health professionals for a set of automatic thoughts that pop up between the external events and one’s reaction to them; a core process in a multitude of psychological disorders.   Imagine a situation where we see our friends conversing with each other but cannot hear what they are talking about (so we have limited information). The logical and rational response in such a situation will be to ask them what they were talking about. However, on the backdrop of any anxiety disorder, let’s say social anxiety, the automatic thought that m...

"Our idea of happiness may be the very obstacle standing in the way of our happiness" -Thich Nhat Hanh,  The Art of Living   Childhood Conditioning All of us are trying to live our lives with an aim like to become a doctor or an actor or someone etc etc. From the moment a child learns a bit about the world, we start pressing our aims on the child - be a good child, be a good student, be social, be the topper, be the best in your life so on. That's how we think is the proper way to raise a child.  As the child tries to make sense of the world around him or her, he/she begins to identify with these ideas because mostly they are coming from the most trusted sources - parents, teachers, family, society in general. These are great ideas and there's nothing wrong with them. As soon as the child internalises these notions 'to be' in life, he/she tries their whole lives living up to these ideas. When the exposure is less, the child thinks of them as truth, a...