Crocus Sativus: Bipolar disorder patients suffering from mania are treated with Crocus Sativus. These patients tend to spend a lot of time laughing and singing. The other indicators of use of Crocus Sativus as a remedy for bipolar disorder are sudden swings from mania to depression, hallucinations and delusions.

The medications discussed above are used widely for treating bipolar disorder. You should only use this medication only after consulting an experienced homeopathic practitioner. The consultation is recommended only for making sure that the medication you are taking can effectively treat your condition. Homeopathic medications are not known for causing any drug interaction or side effects. However, still you should report about the medications or supplements you are taking to your homeopathic doctor.

Why does an individual develop APD? The exact causes of this mental health problem are not known as there’s no genetic, laboratory or blood tests that can be used for diagnosis of the condition. Individuals with alcoholic parents, parents suffering from APD, sexually or physically abusive parents or parents not providing steady discipline are susceptible towards developing APD. There are also instances when an undiagnosed neurological disorder has lead to occurrence of antisocial personality disorder. Incidence of APD are more common among men compared to the women; this can be due to the fact that men are emotionally and physically more aggressive.

How will you identify APD? The signs indicating occurrence of antisocial personality disorder generally begin form an individual’s childhood or adolescence. However, diagnosis of ADP is only possible when a person above the age of 18 years exhibit erratic behavior consistently starting from the time when he or she was 15.  The physicians, teachers and parents must be aware of the warning signs of ADP in a child; examples include conduct disorders such as bullying the peers, animal abuse, vandalism, lighting fires and stealing.

The symptoms of this mental health disorder in adults include lying or frequent deceit, child abuse or neglect, tendency of manipulating others using the technique of intimidation, abusive relationships, charm or wit and flattery. Patients with antisocial personality disorder never feel guilty after hurting others; they are extremely callus and cynical and do not possess any idea about right and wrong. They have a tendency of violating law, not fulfilling responsibilities and behaving violently. APD patients suffer from superiority complex, exploit the person with whom they are involved in a sexual relationship and refuse following social laws.

Atypical depression happens to be the most commonly affection subtype of depression today. It is commonly seen in women than in men, and it onsets at the early stages of life, such as teenage. This is one mental disorder that is genetically inherited by patients. It can cause functional impairment and is often the result of other mental disorders, such as avoidant personality disorder, social phobia or similar other mental illnesses.

Patients with atypical depression usually show similar symptoms as that of depression, like sadness, isolation and anguish. However, they are often hopeful about situations and they can react normally as well. The impact of atypical depression is quite high on patients and the condition can worsen to reach the state mental paralysis as well. Before it is too late, proper treatment and medication can help in relieving atypical depression.

Atypical depression is usually treated with anti-depressants in the initial stages. However, the condition responds very well to monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs, and also to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. Typical depression responds to the ordinary antidepressants very well, such as tricyclic antidepressants, however the same cannot be predicted for atypical depression.

According to the current data, atypical depression can also be reduced with dietary restrictions. Today, research is still on to find out the best medications that can help in treating the condition so that patients recover fast. With two of these basics medications and certain dietary restrictions, it is definitely possible to control atypical depression and have a good mental health condition.

Anxiety: Children witnessing domestic violence are more susceptible towards developing anxiety issues compare to children who do not have any such experience. This anxiety may take the shape of fear as the child grows in age and might also make the children extremely violent. These children often feel the anxiety of being left out by the parents. Anxiety caused by domestic violence might also lead to occurrence of panic disorder.

Decreased self-esteem: Children experiencing or witnessing domestic violence are likely to develop low self-esteem. This often occurs when the child get abused by his loved ones or see his loved ones get abused. The violence causing low self-esteem in children might or might not be directed to them, but the effects of such actions on the self-esteem of the children are equally severe. A child living in such ambience tends to feel guilty; often he blames himself for all the incidents occurring around him. Besides all these, the child might also feel grieved and ashamed over the brutal occurrences. In such situation, these children must be offered the assurance that none of the violence is their fault.

Depression: A child growing up amidst domestic violence is more susceptible towards depression during childhood or later in his life compared to his peers. Low self esteem in children witnessing domestic violence can later take the shape of depression. Depression, on the other hand, can trigger suicidal thoughts and other serious emotional issues if not treated at the right time.

Anger: Anger is another common effect of domestic violence. Children experiencing domestic violence often respond to the situation through temperament problems and anger. These children might become extremely aggressive and might end up harming their peers.

Physical signs: Some of the common signs of schizophrenia are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized behavior, confused speech and negative signs like loss of emotional expressions. Before the onset of these schizophrenia symptoms, the patient is likely to suffer from physical signs like troubled sleeping, clumsiness, occurrence of infrequent blinking and involuntary movements etc.

Behavioral signs: The behavioral symptoms are the biggest indicators of schizophrenia; these signs are mostly noticed by family members and friends of the schizophrenia patients. The behavioral changes are generally mild during the early stages of schizophrenia; for example, the patient might forget taking showers or keep on wearing the same clothes for 3 consecutive days. With progression of schizophrenia, these symptoms might get aggravated; for instance, the patient might not go for a bath without someone else’s intervention or do not change the outfit for an entire week. Another common behavioral sign of schizophrenia is deterioration in performance in the office or school.

Mood swings:

Mood swing episodes occurring within 1 or 2 days of childbirth are often signs of baby blues. A new mother might get excited thinking about the birth of the baby and immediately get sad thinking about her increased responsibility. According to psychologists, this occurs due to alteration in production of certain brain chemicals. To make sure that the condition does not worsen, doctors advise new mothers not to consume alcohol for a few months after delivery.

Decreased appetite:

When a baby is born, she comes with a number of demands, most of which needs to be fulfilled by the mother. Thinking about the newly gained responsibilities of being a mother, new mothers often develop anxiety, which results in signs like decrease in appetite. Usually, this baby blues symptom subsides within 1 or 2 weeks of childbirth. Also as a new mother one must remember that she must take a healthy diet for ensuring that her baby stays healthy and grows properly.

Difficulty in sleeping:

Sleep deprivation is a common problem experienced by the new mothers. Most mothers need to stay awake till late in the night or needs to wake up too early in the morning for taking care of the baby. A new mother with baby blues will not be able to sleep even if she gets the chance of sleeping; this occurs due to anxiety.

• Fears about giving birth to the child.
• Chances of having a miscarriage.
• Women often worry thinking whether the baby will born safely.
• Anxiety about the health of the baby as well as her own health.
• Coping with labor pain.
• Increase in financial pressures due in increase in the number of members in her family.
• Career conflict.
• A large section of pregnant women tent to suffer from fear of being rejected by their partners as they lose their normal body shape during pregnancy.

The above thoughts may result in emotional feeling like confusion, depression, mood swings, impatience, worry and fear, anxiety, stress, nervousness, irritation, anger, loneliness, ambivalence in the pregnant woman.

What are the factors triggering these emotional changes in pregnant women? The most common factors resulting in these changes include:

1. Sudden changes in the hormonal levels.
2. Stressful life.
3. Changes happening to the women’s body.
4. Health disorders occurring during pregnancy.
5. Problematic relation with the partner.
6. Previous episodes of miscarriage.
7. Having a family or personal history of anxiety and depression.
8. Having a history of abuse and trauma.

Do the emotional problems during pregnancy directly affect the pregnant women or the developing fetus? Yes they do; emotional health problem in a pregnant woman may lead to the following situations:

1. Chronic stress in a pregnant woman might reduce the growth of the fetus.
2. Mental disorders increases the possibilities of premature delivery and miscarriage.
3. Cortisol may enter the developing brain of the fetus carried by women suffering from excessive stress.
4. The baby may get behavioral disorders at a later stage.

To make sure that any of the above mentioned situations doesn’t arise, pregnant women should report all emotional changes experienced by them to the gynecologist immediately.

Social Phobia Triggering Factors

Here are the various scenarios which are a source of immense stress for individuals having social phobia.

• Occasions wherein one meets new individuals.
• Being the core of focus.
• Being observed by those around whilst one does some task.
• To make a brief speech.
• Public-speaking.
• Stage performances.
• Being mocked at, ridiculed or disparaged.
• Conversing with dignitaries or people of clout.
• When called on in classroom.
• To go for dates.
• Make a phone call.
• To use public loos.
• Attending examinations.
• Eat or drink in public.
• To speak-up during conferences or meetings.
• To attend any party or social do.

Physically occurring symptoms of social phobia

• Heart pounds heavily or feeling chest tightness.
• Trembling voice.
• Swift respiration.
• Indigestion, feeling nauseous.
• Oral dryness.
• Quivering or shuddering.
• Muscular tensions.
• Facial blushing or flushing.
• Giddiness, faintness.
• Wet hands.
• Twitches.

Psychologically occurring symptoms of social phobia

• Acutely worried for several months/weeks or days prior to the scheduled social scenario.
• Extremely fearful about being observed or someone judging you, particularly by unknown individuals.
• Excessively self-conscious & anxious in daily social scenarios.
• Fearful of acting in a manner that would cause self-embarrassment or self-humiliation.
• Fearing that those around would spot your nervousness.
• Avoiding social scenarios to an extent which restricts the person’s activity or hampers existence.

Self Help Tips and Medicines for Social Phobia

• Avoiding or limiting caffeinated beverages, energy drink, chocolates which stimulate symptoms of anxiousness.
• For pacifying nerves prior to parties or some social get-together steer clear from alcohol or doing so moderately since it augments risk of suffering from anxiety attacks.
• Smoke cessation is highly recommended since nicotine presence is a potent stimulating agent and when one smokes it actually heightens not lowers feelings of anxiousness.
• Getting sufficient snooze time is important as sleep deprivation could increase your vulnerability to nervousness.

The use of drugs at times for relieving social phobia symptoms could be a choice though it wouldn’t be curing it. In case use of these drugs is halted, symptoms would perhaps re-surface full-fledged. Medicines are deemed beneficial when deployed in adjunct to treatment & self help methods which deal with the key reason for social phobia.

Trio drugs are deployed for treating social phobia namely:

• Beta blocker medicines are deployed for allaying performance anxieties and they function by obstructing adrenaline flow occurring during anxiousness. Even though beta blocker drugs do not have any impact on emotionally occurring symptoms of social phobia they could help in managing physically transpiring symptoms like trembling hands or quivering voices, perspiration & swift cardiac beat.
• For acute cases of social phobia antidepressant medicines could be of assistance such as Effexor, Zoloft & Paxil that have the United States FDA approval for treating social phobia.
• Benzodiazepines are swift-acting minor tranquilizers, but they have a sedative & habit-forming effect hence usually doctors would classically prescribe them solely when other options of drugs for social phobia has failed in working.

The official diagnosis of acute stress disorder would be resting on the below mentioned symptoms that could be assessed by any psychiatrist & mental health expert.

I. The individual has exposure to a distressing episode wherein both of the just mentioned aspects were existent:

• The individual experiencing, witnessing or confronting incident/s which entail real or endangered mortality or grave injuries or threatening physical uprightness of oneself or those around.
• The individual’s reaction entailed being fearful, helpless or horrified.

II. Either during or following the experience of a harrowing episode, the person has 3 or more of the below mentioned symptoms of dissociation:

• A personal feeling of going numb, detached or lacks emotionally responding to people or situations.
• The person has reduced consciousness of his/her surrounding or feeling dazed.
• Depersonalization/derealization.
• Psychogenic amnesia or incapable of recalling a crucial feature of the traumatizing episode.

III. Re-experiencing the harrowing episode in a minimum of one from the below mentioned manner – recurring representations, thinking, dreaming, delusions, flashback events or a feeling of reviving the experiences or anguish when exposed to aide memoire of the shocking episode.

IV. Distinct deterrence to stimulus which arouses re-calling the traumatic event – like thought process, discussions, activity, individuals.

V. Apparent signs of feeling anxious or augmented stimulation (for instance sleep problems, irritable behaviour, incapable of concentrating, hyper-vigilant, overstressed startling reaction, motor restiveness).

VI. The disorder leads to medically significant agony or impaired (socially, occupationally) or other key facets of operating or impairments in the person’s capability of pursuing some needed duty like getting needed help or mobilization of individual resources by notifying kin members regarding the traumatizing incident.

VII. Disturbances lasting for at least 48 hours & at the max four weeks & occurring within four weeks of the traumatizing episode.

VIII. Disturbances aren’t because of straight physiologic effects of drugs or medications abused or a broad medical situation and isn’t better constituted for by BPD mental condition & isn’t just an aggravation of a pre-existent Axis (I/II) disorder.

When a person is in the midst of a panic attack, instant respite from disquiet symptoms could be attained from soporific type anxiolytic drugs like:

• Klonopin
• Ativan
• Xanax

These medications are offered at the onset of medical treatment, though not for lasting usage.

Antidepressant medications mostly aid in preventing anxiety & lower the regularity & acuteness of panic attacks; however they aren’t deployed for instant reprieve at the time of a panic attack.

Commonly chosen antidepressant medicines for panic attack treatment are SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) like:

• Prozac
• Lexapro
• Celexa
• Zoloft
• Paxil

Such a category of medicines are frequently deemed the foremost course of therapy for panic disorders or panic attacks.

Benzodiazepines are quick-acting antipsychotic medications (effects felt generally within thirty minutes to one hour’s time). The use of these drugs at the time of panic attacks offers rapid respite. But since they are quite habit-forming & having grave withdrawal symptoms hence their cautious and judicious usage is warranted.

Other Panic Attack Treatment Options

• For preventative or safeguarding care, psychotherapy provides assistance & aids in minimizing fears. During several situations, this form of therapy could independently help in clearing up the condition.
• CBT functions by helping individuals unearth ways of dealing with panic attack symptoms deploying methods like muscle & respiratory relaxation. It basically lays focus on thought patterns & behaviourisms which sustain or trigger panic attacks. Sufferers even are reassured that panic would not be leading to calamitous episodes they are fearful about, as several individuals are petrified that they are experiencing heart attacks or gone crazed.
• Exposure therapy is all about exposing the person to the physical feeling of fear in a risk-free & controlled setting, offering the sufferer a chance of learning healthful means to cope with their condition. Hyperventilating, shaking head sideways or withholding breath also might be requested from the patient. Such diverse exercise forms lead to feelings analogous to panic signs. As the person is exposed at regular intervals to his/her fears, he/she becomes lesser fearful of such inner body feelings & would be feeling a heightened control over his/her weakness.

Tips for Preventing Panic Attacks

• It is important to give yourself time and not harbour hopes of an express cure as it does take its own time & improvements come slow and steady.
• Be lesser harsh towards yourself. Individuals feeling panicky have a tendency of being their own toughest critics.
• Comprehend ways of lowering levels of daily anxiety via an array of methods like meditating, exercising or some relaxation methods such as guided imagery or deep inhalations/exhalations.
• Steer clear from stimulant types like caffeine, nicotine that are present in coffees, tea, cola & chocolates.