NOTICE FOR THE READERS

Friends, you might find some of the views expressed in my post as being a little offending. I would like to inform you that I have a history of mental illnesses and am currently taking medication for bipolar disorder . These posts were written mostly in a depressed and paranoid mood, and hence do not neccessarily reflect my true opinion.

Self destructive habits of Indian Society

I am amazed at the self destructive tendencies prevalent in the Indian society.. tendencies that prevent India from becoming a prosperous country, which are not only illogical and irrational but also contradict the priorities and aspirations of the people..And whats more surprising is that such tendencies are not only justified but also promoted ; and such self-destructive habits are not rigid but tend to change as per the changing times; but their basic nature of being self destructive and wasteful, persists..
One doesnt need a PhD in economics to understand that if almost half of the potential workforce remains economically unproductive, the nation can never expect to achieve its full potential. Increased family incomes would lead to greater spending , which in turn lead to higher growth rate, more profits for the companies , which in turn would lead to even greater salaries, and further spending, and even further boost for the economy, and this would become a self-sustaining cycle..But the overwhelming majority of Indians deny knowing this simple principle , and continue to justify their old ways of life using all sorts of vague and outdated logic.. It is conviniently forgotten that double income households have become the international norm; and for good reason.. its no longer possible to live a decent life style on just one income... but Indians would find it more convinient to resort to corruption than to switch to more ethical and logical ways to increase the family income..
And even more amazing is the usual blame game . Chauvinistic attitudes prevalent among males are usually held responsible for this sorry state of affairs.. But its quite evident that besides the usually quoted reason, its a fact that females are also complicit in creating this situation.. Indian females never think it necessary for themselves to plan their careers.. the only aim of most young indian women is to find a rich husband; education is not a means of finding employment , but solely a means to find a rich husband; its a sorry fact of present-day India, that girls would acquire State-subsidized education solely for personal gains.. The Indian State has never stressed the fact that educational subsidies exist because it is expected that the beneficiaries would pay back the country when they get employed and contribute towards the growth of the country..Its so common these days to find women with professional qualifications like B.Tech , sitting at home after marriage..They never have a sense of duty towards the nation and just have concern for their personal gains and comforts..This, I am sorry to say, is an extreme example of hypocrisy; the same individuals would fume at attempts to curtail womens' educational rights; but how conviniently they forget that rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin, if they have acquired the right to get educated , they also ought to take up the responsibility of earning..The usual excuse of such individuals is that they find maintaining such demanding jobs like business management or technical jobs , very tough due to their additional responsibilities of home and childcare... Well, thats a very lame excuse: since childhood, they have jolly well known that they would have to assume special responsibilities after motherhood; they ought to have planned for it and taken up careers that are not so demanding (like teaching or academic careers) . But most Indian women would rather go for expensive professional qualifications like business management; their intention not being finding (and maintaining ) employment, but finding a rich husband..When you ask college girls if they would like to take up teaching, they would say , they would rather like to go for management because it pays much more.. but their actual intention is not to get a good job, but to marry a rich man.( and then sit at home and watch saas bahu serials all day)
Organisations like National Commission for Women, who would relentlessly campaign for womens' rights, also seem to ignore the fact that rights and responsibilities ought to go together.. And the fact that most Indian women are not financially independent , further strengthens the chauvinistic attitudes already prevalent in the male population..Such individuals are doing a great disservice for their country and society..

Difference between Intellect and Intelligence

People often mistake intellect for intelligence. People who show sustained interests in intellectual stuff, those who read newspaper editorials , watch debates on news channels, and like to see nature documentaries are often dubbed as being “intelligent” . Such people , especially children, might delude themselves into believing themselves to be of superior intelligence. However, modern psychology makes a clear distinction between the two concepts.

My intelligence quotient, as measured by an IQ Test available on the website iqtest.dk is 106, which falls within the “ Average” range. Yet, in a modified version of the Five Factor Personality Test, I score high on the personality dimension of Openness , also called Intellect. Apparently , I have high intellect but only average intelligence.

What gives? According to psychology, intellect , or openness to experience is one of the five personality dimensions on the Big Five Personality test. Hence ,it is a personality factor, meaning intellect is a feature of a person’s personality. It is defined as “Openness to Experience (sometimes called Intellect or Intellect/Imagination). Includes traits like having wide interests, and being imaginative and insightful” ( University of Oregon)

On the other hand, Intelligence is defined as” general mental capability to reason, solve problems, think abstractly, learn and understand new material, and profit from past experience……Intelligence draws on a variety of mental processes, including memory, learning, perception, decision-making, thinking, and reasoning” ( Encarta Encyclopaedia) . IQ scores are a measure of intelligence .

Intelligence is further divided into Crystallized Intelligence and Fluid Intelligence . Research has shown that Intellect/Openness is substantially correlated with Fluid Intelligence while only weakly correlated with Crystallized Intelligence. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/rp/2000/00000034/00000002/art02276

Fluid intelligence is defined as the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those relationships. Fluid intelligence is the ability to think and reason abstractly and solve problems. This ability is considered independent of learning, experience, and education. Examples of the use of fluid intelligence include solving puzzles and coming up with problem solving strategies….. This would be identical with what common people refer to as “ raw intelligence”

Crystallized intelligence . on the other hand depends on our prior experiences and knowledge. “…is learning from past experiences and learning. Situations that require crystallized intelligence include reading comprehension and vocabulary exams. This type of intelligence is based upon facts and rooted in experiences.”

Scores on the Raven’s progressive matrices are a measure of Fluid intelligence . hence it is apparent that my fluid (“raw” ) intelligence is average, while my intellect , which is correlated with crystallized intelligence is high.

Hence we should not commit the mistake of assuming that a person who seems intellectual is necessarily highly intelligent.

the hypocrisy of Indian females.

Corruption and bribery are a way of life in India. After all, India is a poor country and even well-educated people are not paid well. And despite the legacy of Buddha and Gandhi , the overwhelming majority of Indians maintain a realistic view of matierial achievement in life. ( thankfully )

All this would suggest that Indians are very eager to improve their personal finances, and don't mind breaking the law for making that extra buck. And frankly , despite the recent ad campaigns on TV, precious little can be done about the problem. Indians would not mind paying bribes for getting the services they are entitled to...even the maintenance of my internet connection requires paying regular bribes to the telephone department babus.

So India is a country where people are ready to use any method, right or wrong, legal or illegal, ethical or unethical to improve their lot, right?

WRONG !!!!!!!!!!

The plain fact is, neither at the personal level or the national level , has the most obvious, not to mention completely legal and ethical method ever considered...

You don't have to be a Phd in economics to understand that if a family has two instead of one breadwinners, the family would have a larger income. Not only that, it is quite simple to understand that more income would lead to greater spending, which would naturally lead to a higher growth rate and would boost the economy , which would in turn lead to more and better jobs , which in turn would lead to further enhanced spending and hence greater growth...and so on, it would become a self-sustaining cycle. Yet this simple and undeniable fact has never quite appeared in our national priorities- - It is quite evident that gender equality is one of the simplest and most effective ways to boost the economy . And what makes it more attractive method is that it requires investment of not a single penny....

The simple undeniable fact is : no real economic progress is possible without social progress..

But the ground reality here in India suggests that Indians are people who don't care about the material progress of their families , and economic progress is the last things on the minds of the government. Even in urban middle class households , families continue to have 4, 5, 6 children, and the reasoning offered for this contribution to the population crisis ranges from the compelling need to have a male heir, to fulfilling their duty towards their caste/ religion by increasing their members, and often both. ( shameful)

And then there are the new breed of hypocrites in this country : the well educated females who sit at home and watch saas bahu serials all day.. they call themselves feminist.. fume at attempts to curtail womens' educational opportunities... yet how conviniently forget that rights and responsiblities are two sides of the same coin. If the women have acquired the rights to get educated, they also ought to take up the responsiblity of earning and contributing towards family income.... but their behavior is not only illogical , but also unethical... consider the fact that many of these individuals were beneficiaries of state funded/ subsidised education... and some even were beneficiaries of state sponsored fellowships... apparently the Indian state funds these individuals' education to enable them to find good husbands !!!

And the height of depravity: these very individuals boast themseves to be Godly ; they are the ones who flock to the temples , mosques and gurudwaras the most... sau choohe kha ke billi haj ko chali.

An Alarming fact

Studies done on the possible biological causes of depression have largely overlooked one possible cause : vitamin b12 deficiency. This is understandable, since very few people in western countries are vegetarians and therefore very few are vitamin b 12 deficient. But here in India, where meat and dairy food consumption is very low, vitamin b12 deficiency is a real threat.

And recent findings reveal a scary picture: A study conducted in Pune reveals that “Of the urban middle class, 81% had low vitamin B12 concentration and 79% had hyperhomocysteinemia “ An extremely alarming situation, since it is well known now that “vitamin b12 deficiency is implicated in a spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders” ( American Academy of Family Physicians) . The first symptoms of vitamin b12 deficiency are often depression, confusion and decline in cognitive abilities. “Low vitamin B12 status have been found in studies of depressive patients, and an association between depression and low levels of the two vitamins is found in studies of the general population.” ( journal of psychopharmacology)

The Pune study rightly laments the fact that this grave threat is barely recognized. “Eventhough low circulating vitamin B12 concentration have been recognised in Indians for a long time,11 there is little appreciation of this amongst Indian medical professionals and policy makers ‘
To make things worse “Hyperhomocysteinemia was associated with some components of the metabolic syndrome i.e. hyperglycemia, hypertension and low levels of plasma
HDL-cholesterol concentration “

To limit damage due to vitamin b12 deficiency , we can take vitamin b12 rich foods. In the Indian context , these include yoghurt , milk and eggs , in that order. 100 grams of yoghurt supply 1.5 mcgs of vitamin b12 , and therefore consumption of 500 grams of yoghurt should be more than enough. ( the required level , according to one organization is 2.4 mcgs daily)
http://japi.org/october2006/O-775.pdf
http://jop.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/19/1/59

Lack of oppurtunities and likelihood of mental illness

In my own experience lack of opportunities in life are amongst the most strongest factor that gives rise to mental illness. And here in India, lack of opportunities are very common.
After my post-graduation farce, I realised that the only job I could hope of getting was one which involves staying up all night. And if that wasn’t enough to ruin your mental health, you would be subject to threats from Washington DC and Rome every 3 months or so. They would threaten you of stripping you of your job; your only hope in life.

Needless to say this kind of job neither offers any hope of mental stability nor brings any hope of marriage or settlement. But this was the only one on offer; so I had no choice but to accept it. About government jobs, they are extremely tough to get with as many as 36 lakh applicants for 10000 seats. And they would instantly reject me after learning of my mental illness background. After all, they are not short of choice and they aren’t running any charity. As long as employers are not compelled by law to employ people with history of mental illness; they can flatly reject people like me.

And so here I am ; with my history of mental illnesses I would be advised not to take any further risks and seek suitable employment; but in the absence of any suitable job I have no choice but to take the calculated risk of going for education again for 2 years and then seek fellowships. But the absence of any Plan B, a what-if-I-become-ill-again plan , makes me scared; in the worst case scenario, I would be left with a hazardous job with no future prospects ; no hope of marrying of having a family and near surety that eventually I would succumb to ever increasing mental disturbance in a situation like this….

In a scenario like this it is not difficult to fathom why even introductory texts of psychology mention the fact that poverty and lack of opportunities are strong risk factors for mental illnesses. My 18 year old friend who has just done a one year certificate course in sociology in Edinburgh, has landed a daytime job in travel agency. The abundance of opportunities in life reduces the risk of mental illnesses in places like UK, and the lack of prospects here makes one extremely vulnerable to mental illness. All this is well understood. What is not that well understood that despite these truths , the Indian government has done nothing to promote mental health awareness in this country. There is not even an iota of effort to spread awareness about mental illnesses ; the government would waste crores on space missions but is not ready to invest peanuts in mental health facilities; which require no expensive apparatus ; only a table , chair and a understanding and supportive person to listen. The lack of awareness eventually wasted years of my life; while if I had got prompt and timely treatment at the onset itself I could have been in the 2nd year of PhD by now.

And again , I have to take risk and study further for 2 years; which means I would remain non-earning for 2 more years. All this is necessary if I want to have any future prospects of leading a normal life and recovering from illness. But nevertheless , I am optimistic that this time success will not evade me, and I will eventually be able to lead a fulfilling and happy life. J

Some new insights into causes of mental illness

In the detailed texts on depression psychology I have read in textbooks and the Internet so far, I have found many aspects and insights on depression ( which I had "discovered" while introspecting and retrospecting on my own rather long brush with mental illness ) simply missing or not given enough emphasis.

I am unable to completely understand why many of the factors which I consider of paramount importance as causes of depression are simply missing in the traditional texts of psychology.

One plausible reasons is that much of the research work has been done in the western developed countries where scenarios regarding society and individual life are often different from where I live- India, undeniably one of the most mismanaged and least developed, and not to mention overcrowded nations (population 1.1 * 10^6) even amongst developing countries with HDI ranking 132. One more reason I suggest might be more controversial ; the prejudices of the researchers themselves. We all know how women often view men as evil beings requiring or deserving no sympathy (especially in the post-feminist world) and how women are likely to rubbish and disregard men's problems and exaggarate their own problems , often blaming them on men. It is quite plausible that such prejudices might have crept in the research work carried by female researchers. And the male researchers might be having their own prejudices which often end up reinforcing the effects of prejudices of female researchers; men are unlikely to accept the vulnerability of their own ( male ) race towards mental illness ; the usual male machoism. As a result , most of the research on mental illnesses has focussed on women; so much that in 2003 the US National Institute of Mental Health had to put up a special pamphlet named " real men , real depression " on their website . Anybody who goes through this pamphlet would understand that till recently , depression and mental illnesses were understood mainly from the viewpoint of women, the men relegated to a secondary status by mental healthcare experts. The " symptoms " of depression given in conventional texts are often those corresponding to the typical symptoms in females; only in the first decade of the 21st century have scientists realized that men often show symptoms very different from the " conventional " symptoms which were based on studies conducted mostly on females. Talk about reverse gender inequality!

One factor which can lead to depression in developing countries is simply the lack of opportunities people face in life. But this aspect has been long appreciated ; for this also applies to the poor in countries like UK and US. But often what is not given enough recognition that a significant source of stress in developing countries is the rampant mismanagement and seemingly autocatic and simply illogical rules and regulations in developing countries which make one ponder whether the purpose of such rules and regulations was public welfare , or well , whatever the opposite of public welfare is called. ( I apologise for my lack of verbosity ; but my first language is not english) And in India, some of the basic resources and facilities of life are so scarce that we often have to struggle greatly for getting what most westerners would take for granted. Recently, my sister , who is a student in Bombay University, had to give bribes to top university officials and even had to use the influence of the state Education Minister, just to find accomodation in the university hostel. The month long struggle for a roof above one's head , quite literally , ended in her not getting the hostel accomodation, apparently because her " competitors" had paid higher bribes . And what is even more stressful is the fact that bribes once paid are not refundable. Had I been in her place, I would have been waiting in the queque of a mental hospital OPD.

The university where I was enrolled , was undoubtedly , India's top research university . It had been my childhood dream to study there. But academic excellence does not mean that the university officials would be aware of the fact that units that measure the same quantity are interconvertible. For example , some countries measure temperature in celsius and some in fahrenheit. But there is well known and unique formula to convert celsius to fahrenheit and vice versa. So the inhabitant of any country can easlily compare the temperature in his country and the temperature in a different country , simply by using a calculator. Same goes for currency as well. But the mathematical geniuses sitting in the administrative block of JNU could not come up a formula , to convert the grades awarded by their university into marks awarded by nearly all other Indian unversities. But the height of whimsical and mindless behavior was the decree that any grade below 6.5 would be deemed below first class, and hence the student who ,for any reasons , has not been able to achieve this arbitrary figure would be awarded a degree thats as useful as a $ 1000 note in Zimbabwe. All Indian research institutions demand that the applicant who wishes to conduct research should should have atleast 60% marks , which is universally equivalent to what is deemed as a First Class in India. By simple arithmetical logic we had learned in Class 4th, percentage is simply calculated by dividing a quantity by the maximum marks , which would suggest that 5.4 out of 9.0 would be 60% , and hence logically First Class. But logic is often the last thing considered when laws , or rather decrees issued from the Mouth of God are issued in India. A top University official sarcastically told me that " ...But what 60% is , only God knows. " Presumably their God hadn't studied Primary School Arithmetic.

Throughout my life , I had remained Loyal to my country . When other collegues would dream of landing on foreign soil , I would insist on staying in India and " serving my country" . I had treated very badly by my dear country's society when I was mentally ill. People in India are unaware of even the basic differnces between " mental illness" and " mental retardation " .- but no amount of ill treatment could could deter me from my goal of making India a better place. Even today despite having seen the plight of government mental hospitals and the behavior of Indian society towards the inmates of these institutions , Tagore's " Where the mind is without fear" remains the only prayer I have ever said in my life. Nevertheless, after having been ill treated and misdiagnosed by the HOD of lucknow medical college , I had to turn to an institution established by American missionaries to rescue me from certain death. But despite their treatment( done prior to my joining the hallowed halls of JNU) , my persisting mental health problems meant that I could never get the arbitrary score of 6.5. What was worse, I was simply unaware of this illogical and arbitrary benchmark, and the fact that the JNU Vice Chancellor had never passed his courses in primary school maths.

So by one arbitrary decree, entire 75 years of my existence on this planet were deemed worthless. So , after 23 years of devotion towards my country I had become like those children who refill used mineral water bottles on the New Delhi railway station. A WASTED LIFE.

Wonder what would Dr. Martin Seligman would have to say about this. His theory of Learned Helplessness is quite helpless in describing my mental state . True I have attributed the reasons of my failure to external causes. But I would like to point out that the external reasons I had attributed my failure to, were way beyond my control and my wildest expectation. Therefore , attributing failure to external causes, would be of little help in preventing me from sinking into what I thought , rather hoped , would be the final episode of depression. For only those who are alive can be depressed. And the fact that I have once met failure in my life , due to factors beyond my control and expectation, was, and continues, to be the scariest aspect of my life. For this situation could be replicated throughout my life , as long I live in the nation which was once so dear to me.

But as I walked out of the JNU Administrative block on that fateful day, instead of heading to my abode ( in a area that was practically a slum; JNU administration does not consider mentally ill people worthy of living in the campus), I walked towards the 10-storey tall University Library . A window on the 8th floor was left open , offering me the prospect of earning what in indian philosophy is callled NIRVANA. But instead of entering the lift , i quietly entered the internet access hall; i sat on a computer and opened Google. I typed " eye donation" and " body donation".

You would wonder why an individual who had suffered a setback in life would turn to philanthropic deeds . But I did not perceive the event as a setback; not even as a catastrophe; to me it was the symbolic end of a life; a soul whose time to depart had come . You would say a career failure does not mean the end of life . After all , thats what the psychology textbooks say. But psychology textbooks are often based on studies conducted on females. For a female is biologically capable of contributing to the planet throught ways distinct of her career. But the only way nature has made men capable of contributing towards the planet is through their career. Males are consciously aware of this fact; the only major way nature wants them to contribute to the world are their careers. For them, even their ablility to form relationships and contribute towards the creation of new life depends on, more than anything else , their careers.

So here was a 72 kg 5 feet 7 inches bipedalled animal who had just consumed the resources of the planet throughout 23 years and decreed incapable of contributing to the planet for the rest of his lifespan. And by now I had pushed the long disused button in my mind which said " BE GONE" . But not before the planet could recover, atleast some tiny segment of the resources it had so generously provided in the hope of being paid back . If I was decreed incapable of contributing towards biomedical research , the next best thing would be to let my body be used for teaching anatomy students . The knowledge and the experience they would gain in dissecting my body would help them save other, worthy human beings .

Psychologists have never focussed their efforts on understanding what such a large body made of flesh and bones feels that its coming on this planet was a waste ; perhaps a divine mistake. Not once , but many times since 2006 , I have had nightmares and visions of medical students dissecting my body to learn , so that they can contribute to the world and not end up wishing to be one of the dead bodies themselves. The fact is that career failure completely de-humanizes the male. He no longer , remains a person , he just becomes a collection of blood , flesh and bones which must be sacrificed for the betterment of the human race.

Interplay between psychological and physiological factors in depression

I seem to have committed the same stupid mistake again. Without consulting my doctor, I have discontinued my medication. And predictably, the results are typical-within 4 days of doing so, I have sunk into depression and thinking of returning to the railway track again -for the one last time. As i write this blog, I have woken up from a nightmarish sleep , full of visions of the impending doom . I haven't taken bath for days, and seems I haven't brushed my teeth either.

Of course, I still have the prescription card with me, so tomorrow morning I can go to the market and buy my medicines, and I should be fine within a week or so. If the need arises, I can even go to a doctor.

But that is the not the topic of my present blog. All that I have said in my previous posts, seems to have been nullified by whats happening now. For in the previous posts, I have concentrated only on the psychological background of mental disorders. But as my present state is enough evidence , mental disorders are rarely due to purely psychological factors. Surely my thinking could not have changed so drastically within a short span of 4 days, so as to bring about the present situation. The truth being , it has been long suspected that mental illnesses happen due to an interplay of both psychological and physiological factors. That is, besides the psychological factors like learned helplessness I have mentioned in my previous posts, biochemical factors like neurotransmitter imbalance is also responsible. The medicine I am taking , Escitalopram, is supposed to function, by restoring the depleted levels of serotonin in the synaptic cleft. Again, there is further evidence to show that the effect of antidepressants is actually not due to the serotonin-restoring function of the medicine, but that the serotonin restoring function also restores the neurogenesis in the hippocampus, and it is this resumed neurogenesis that is actually responsible for the therapeutic effect. But of course , I would not go deep into the biology of the situation, since it is likely to make my situation worse ( I was a student of biology before I decided to take up psychology, I had dropped out of biology due to my illness; reminding myself of anything connected with that will only lead to further post mortem analysis. ) . But it is hard not to notice that this recent situation arising out of depleted serotonin levels or reduced neurogenesis, or whatever biological factors , has impacted my psychology , drastically . Within 4 days, I have switched from learned optimism to learned helplessness, believing that because I have failed once in my lifetime, I will fail again and again since anyways the factors that lead to failure were beyond my control and even beyond my wildest expectation, and this will remain the situation until I am able to muster courage for visiting the railway track for the one last time.

But what is learned optimism and how it is the opposite of my current pathological state of mind. I would discuss , this issue in a subsequent post, as I had promised earlier.

Womb Envy

One of my friends is about to conduct research on an alternative hypothesis for the downfall of the Indus Valley Civilization. At first , that seems to be a highly post dated post mortem analysis. However, it is a part of human nature to attribute the occurence of historical developments to alternative hypothesis. This is very laudable, since understanding the reasons behind past mistakes, can prevent us from committing the same mistakes again.

Almost all Indians have a hypothesis to explain one of the most unfortunate events of Indian history. --The Partition of India. Psychologists have tried to explain the extreme behavior and the violence and the mayhem ,and how people can despise their own neighbours to the extent that they are ready to murder them.

But what was responsible for partition in the first place . If we go into history , we would realise that they was hardly any popular and widespread demand for separate states for different religions throughout that colonial age. Leaders like MA Jinnah and VD Savarkar were unpopular cult leaders, as evidenced by their poor show in the elections.

And also well known is the fact that a few months after partition, Jinnah came to Delhi and told Nehru " Jawaharlal, I have committed the worst mistake of my life. "

This raises the intriguing possibility that Jinnah was overpowered by his primeval instincts rather than logical reasoning, in demanding for Partition . ( As for an example , consider that when we are very angry and enraged , we often do not use our logical reasoning to arrive at decisions, and after having done what we wanted, regret it greatly)

But what primeval instinct was guiding the behaviour and rigid stand of Jinnah? It wasn't likely to be anger or hatred, since he himself was secular (he accepted that himself) and hardly a devout muslim, considering he was a regular consumer of wine and pork. As a further proof of this fact , consider, what he said while inaugrating the new state of Pakistan" The two indias , are separating as friends, to remain friends forever" .-Not exactly representative of hate and dislike.

Then what was it that forced a well educated and intelligent man to take a far reaching decision that he himself regretted later?

One intriguing possibility --consider the concept of Womb Envy. According to this concept , propounded by Karen Horney, It refers to men's purported fear and jealousy of women's power to give birth and nurture life, leading males to react in other pursuits of powers; such as physical or political.Horney claimed that men feel a drive for success and to make their names live on to compensate for inability to bear and nurture children. Men apparently ( unconsciously , this is an example of Freudian fixation) feel inferior to women for their inablility to give birth and create new life. Hence, they might be driven to ensure that their legacy lives on after they have died, since they cannot create life otherwise. They might be driven to ensure their space in history, they want (unconsciously) for future generations to remember them for their creation of something. Consider the fact that most people who do all kinds of weird things to ensure their place in Guiness Records ( and hence reserve their place in history) , are overwhelmingly men.

Did Jinnah unconsciously succumb to this psychosocial tendency ? This possibility is further raised by the fact that people view Pakistan as a " creation" of Jinnah, and a recent BBC documentary on Pakistan was called " Jinnah's Children" and the present generation of Pakistanis was referred to as " Jinnah's Grandchildren" by the reporter. !!!

If that were true , it is perhaps the most extreme example of Womb Envy known to humanity . However, this is remain a mere possibility and will never be confirmed . Because obviously , it is no longer possible to assess Jinnah's state of mind using psychological techniques--we can't possibly hand over a questionnaire to a dead man .

Count your blessings.

New research indicates that those who are grateful to others for life's little gifts often are less stressed and less likely to succumb to depression. So developing gratitude can make our lives better. a longitudinal study showed that people who were more grateful coped better with a life transition.Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships
participants in a survey who were told to express their gratitude to someone they knew experienced feelings of well-being and good mood. if you often find yourself sad and want to use gratitude to improve your life , you actually might have to fake it at first. , but eventually you will start feeling real feelings of gratitude.

CHEER UP !

hello friends , life can be demanding and tiring sometimes . We all need to periodically recharge our batteries.
I have found a new way of recharging ourselves... TREKKING.. or as they call it in the west, mountain hiking .
After years of watching Discovery and National Geographic , i have decided to take the plunge my self and go for some adventure.
If you are in india simply log on to www.yhaindia.org and find a trekking program that suits your aspirations and budget. The Youth Hostel provides trekking at much lower prices than private tour operators.
One of the places you might find yourself is the Valley of Flowers in the Himalayas , which has been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. Wow.

One way to reduce stress

It is well known and well understood that major setbacks can induce certain people to lose hope and become stressed or even depressed.
But it is relatively rare that we experience major setbacks like job loss, divorces or failure in examination.
But even then , it is very difficult to find people who are not stressed out. People often become stressed in reaction to minor everyday annoyances like power cut, internet disconnection or when someone else's behavior smacks of ill will.
one common reason for the high prevalence of stress amongst people ( including me) is that we unknowingly deny the universal truth that " Life is not a bed of roses "
psychologists call this Low Frustation Tolerance.
People often have difficulty reconciling to the fact that frustation and annoyance are a part of human existence. People often expect things to go as they want , and are unable to tolerate when this doesn't happen. People then go on to catastrophising the situation, erroreneously believing the current source of frustation will ultimately ruin them . A student who has just performed poorly on a single test can catastrophise the situation and paint doomsday scenarios about his future life.
people with LFT may expect other people to be always good to them and never behave in a way they don't approve of. Failure to realise that other people are not bound to always please us , can lead to feelings of hostility and anger.
People with LFT can develop a complaining nature, and can have negative perceptions of people and the world.
Less obvious is the fact that LFT can induce procastrination . We might seek immediate pleasure instead of facing something that is necessary but likely to induce annoyance and frustation. This can force us to delaying essential tasks , just because we are scared of the annoyance we are likely to encounter if we take up the task.
What then, is the way to reduce stress arising out of LFT ? Simple, we should try develop High Frustation tolerance .
To accept frustration is to acknowledge that, while we may dislike it, there is no Law of the Universe says we ‘should’ be exempt from it (though we may prefer to be). we should expect to experience appropriate negative emotions like annoyance and disappointment. But we should avoid exaggerating these emotions into depression, hostile anger, hurt, or self-pity.

One way to recover some of the lost self esteem in extreme depression

During depression, a person often evaluates him/her self to be worth less and incompetent , fundamentally incompetent and incapable. In extreme examples like mine, I often used to wonder the reason for my continued existence ,and even doubt that my coming into this world was of any use. No wonder, this is followed by suicidal tendencies; the person thinks it would be better if he were gone , or even wish he wasn't born in the first place. To quote a famous poet,
" O had I perished in the womb,
that deed were left undone"
This kind of pathological thinking requires urgent professional attention. However, there is one way we can feel better in such a situation, temporarily atleast.
We can help other people . Of course this isn't easy , considering the fact that the individual doubts his ability to help himself. One way this can be done easily without much effort is to pledging to donate our eyes after our death. This will provide the person some evidence he isn't entirely useless, and regardless of whatever he has been unable to achieve , he will continue to be useful to the world even after he is gone.
I did this, and I have also volunteered to donate my blood to help other needy people. This assures me that no one on this planet is essentially useless, and that we all have capability to be useful and contribute something to this world.
We all feel better after having helped somebody, and in depression such acts often help recover some segment of the person's initial self respect and self esteem.

learned helplessness

long before I ever thought i would ever take up the study of psychology, i inadvertently discovered the principle of learned helplessness ( or rather I should say i had a horrible episode of depression and ocd and after that episode i realized in retrospect that it was due to my pathologically pessimistic thinking.)

learned helplessness can be expressed as the common phrase" damned if you do, damned if you don't" When you see that your repeated and sincere efforts are not being fruitful and this situation lasts for some time, say a 6 months , you are likely to develop the tendency of thinking that there is no point of applying effort since it will all be in vain. ( " there is no use doing this ; it is not going to make any difference anyways. ") (" anyways i am an incompetent person incapable of the simplest tasks.")

The problem with this kind of thinking is that the circumstances that brought about the period of poor performance are unlikely to persist for long. Those underlying circumstances( whether you are aware of their identity or not) for your poor performance will eventually go away.

But by now you have developed such a pessimistic attitude towards life that you fail to notice that the situation has changed and commit the costly mistake of assuming that any effort you apply will simply go in vain.

and so now you have persistently low mood ; lack of motivation for the simplest of everyday tasks ; lack of interest in things previously considered interesting . In other words , you have major depression now. And as if this wasn' t enough , you think that approaching a doctor would be of no use since the situation is out of control and you are bound to be doomed. There is little a doctor could do about it.

And frequently , as in my case you develop obsessions and compulsions too . You keep on repeating the same ( usually pessimistic) thought in your mind that you go mad. Sometimes your mind gets so tired of repeating the same thought incessantly that it resorts to repeating a single word instead of the whole sentence. Your compulsive state of mind forces you to perform the most ridiculous of rituals , and your inability to control repetitive thoughts and actions ( often weird, arising out of exaggarated anxiety) further destroys your already plumetting self esteem ( what psychologists call "ego dystonic")
But if learned helplessness ( you ' learn ' to be helpless) is the gateway to mental illness, then what is the method to prevent mental illness in adverse situations?
This issue would be adressed in another blog.

depression: when we perceive setbacks as catastrophe

My advice to people who have had just experienced a negative life event..

A career loss.. failure in examination.. not getting admission in the college we wanted..
Getting fired from one’s job., sickness
Getting divorced, even sickness or passing away of a loved one..

REMEMBER…

It might be a SETBACK,

But it certainly isn’t a CATASTROPHE.

When people perceive a setback as a catastrophe, it is called depression
I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE