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Psychiatry is about healing of mind . Like physical
illness affecting body, mental illness affect primarily
functioning of our mind. However, body & mind are not
independent of each other & malfunctioning one affect the
other.
Many
psychiatric illness have physical symptoms, When there are
vague physical symptoms in different parts of the body, and
are present for weeks or months and physical cause can not
be found , it is likely that this is a psychiatric disorder
(like in anxiety disorder & depression hypochondriacs , etc)
and psychiatric consultation is required .
Psychiatric disorder (illness) present in the form of
psychological symptoms (tension ,nervousness, irritating
sueficiousness ,hallucinations etc) or physical symptoms (
e.g. headache, chest pain, palpitation, insomnia , body
ache, fatigue etc) or behavior symptoms (increased activity
/speech, aggressive a violent behavior, alcohol / drug
abuses ,work ab------ etc) and usually as a consultation of
these.
Psychiatric illness are caused by multiple factors. For
example, some people inherit The vulnerability of a mental
illness / genetic factor) ; stress and inability to cope
with it can cause psychiatric disorder in vulnerable
persons.
The stress
can be related with study, work family & serial life. Early
life experience , parental upbringing also influence a
present personality . Some
Physical
illness can present with psychiatric symptoms (e.g.
hypothyroids
while some
others are caused / aggravated by psychological causes
(e.g. hypertension, dialysis , coronary heart disease etc)
In most psychiatric disorders, the direct cause is an
imbalance in the neuro – transmitter system in some brain
area . ( Neuro- transmitters are the chemical agents which
act as messengers between brain cells .)
Treatment
of psychiatric disorders, like symptoms , involves physical
, psychological and behavioral treatments .Physical
treatments include medicines which set right the balance of
neurotransmitters and control symptoms . Electro-
Convulsive Therapy (ECT), is another physical form of
Therapy used in some severe forms of psychiatric disorder
like severe depression , mania a schigo phrenia
Psychological & behavioral treatments include
psychotherapies (e.g. cognitive behavior Therapy ) and
counseling.
There is
also a preventive aspect in psychiatry. Stress a inability
to cope with it being an important cause for mental ill
health , learning stress management skills
helps
maintain good psychological health. Adapting healthy life
style goes a long way in preventing many mental and physical
illnesses.
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