Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Control Obsessive Compulsive – This is a mental disorder in which a person becomes obsessed with discipline or perfection not only by him but expects the same from others as well. If certain things don’t happen, then he gets disturbed and remains obsessed with those thoughts. He keeps repeating a particular task or act again and again and remains worried while doing it. It requires the combined efforts of a counselor, a psychologist, and a Homoeopath to cure a person of this disorder.

Here was a professor who taught at a PG course. She was fond of discipline since her childhood, always striving for perfection. At first, her parents and family were proud of her behavior but later they feared it when it became an obsession with her. They feared something could go wrong if they didn’t do a certain task perfectly to her satisfaction. She arranged her books neatly after class, her mobile had to be kept in a straight line, she kept capping her pen again and again and repeatedly kept tucking her saree pallu. She frequently looked at the mirror. She was obsessed with omens and insisted things to happen a particular way. Her family was distraught. She became the laughing stock of her colleagues and friends who then started to avoid her. So much so that her husband and children were also fed up.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Her insistence for perfection had transformed into an obsession. The feeling of insecurity was the root cause of this behavior. A person obsessed with something tries to do it in a particular way come what may and gets disturbed if he can’t do it that way.  He sets unreasonably high benchmarks of perfection and struggles to achieve them. Some people are so obsessed with cleanliness that they repeatedly keep cleaning objects handled by others, even washing unused clothes, washing hands, etc.  The feeling of guilt, restlessness, and insecurity manifests itself in such a manner.

Symptoms

Excessive worry

Unreasonable perspective towards problems

Continuous restlessness

Muscle pain, headache

Lack of concentration

Bowel incontinence

Delusion and Hallucination

The games of the mind are unfathomable. The human mind has enormous capacity. At times it is creative and at other times, it could turn destructive. Delusion and hallucination are such games of the mind.

How to Overcome the Problem of Delusion and Hallucination ??

• Delusion– the False illusion is called delusion. Imagining someone’s presence when there is nobody around, imagining smell, movement, someone calling out, the phone or the doorbell ringing when none exists. Almost every person could experience such a thing at some point in time in his or her life. Fatigue, sleeplessness or tiredness after a chronic disease, could cause such delusions. Delusions need not much medication and can be cured with simple Homoeopathic treatments.
  1. Hallucinations – This happens when the circulation in the brain is affected. Illusion and hallucination occur in the first and last phase of the sleep. Then it manifests even while awake. Fear of losing, talking in the sleep and heavy perspiration are some of the initial symptoms. One loses orientation of place and time and gets confused. This happens as a result of a fault in the transmission of the neurons and the biological clock. Injury to the brain, meningitis, lack of oxygen supply or sugar to the brain can result in such a condition. It can also occur as a result of the deficiency of salts as a result of dehydration. Side effects of certain medicines or consumption of narcotics can result in similar symptoms. Hallucinating is a serious condition and needs to be treated immediately. It can be treated with the help of flower therapy and Homoeopathy.

Hallucinations can be of various types. Sometimes, one sees horrible faces, hears disturbing laughter, water flowing, someone directing us to commit suicide, imagining God or the spirits talking, dreadful insects and snakes crawling in bed, seeing dirt everywhere, imagining that the place is full of rubbish and fecal matter, clothes smeared with this rubbish, etc. The intensity and type of hallucination differ from person to person. People who experience hallucinations don’t even realize that they are hallucinating. It is the responsibility of those around them to identify the symptoms and initiate treatment in time.

• Delirium and mania– It happened as a result of meningitis, typhoid, extremely high fever affecting the brain or as a result of alcohol withdrawal. It could also happen as a result of lack of oxygen supply to the brain. When a heavy drinker suddenly stops drinking alcohol, he becomes delirious. It is called delirium tremens. Such people see snakes and mice around. They experience extreme fear and can even lead to epileptic attacks. Lack of timely treatment can lead to the death of the patient. Quitting alcohol consumption requires a lot of mental conviction and the support of doctors in coping with the withdrawal symptoms. But one should not avoid quitting because of these problems.

Hallucinations and delusions are games of the mind and can affect our daily lives in a big way. One is unable to lead a normal life. Homeopathy, coupled with flower therapy can work wonders in regaining life’s pleasures.

Split Personality

Having a dual or unstable mind is the gift of times changing. No one can escape this. Man’s life starts with the dilemma of ‘to be or not to be’. Unreasonable expectations, over-ambitious nature, stress, all contribute towards making a dual mind. This develops in a person’s nature, behavior, speech, thoughts being changed drastically. This is called schizophrenia or split personality

What is split personality?

— A person distances from society. He cannot take care of himself and becomes self-centered.

— He cannot understand his respect or disrespect.

— His thoughts are not organized and often drift.

— The person gets entrapped into his own cocoon. He suffers from Obsessive-compulsive behavior, doing the same task again and again. Thoughts about sex and religion engulf his mind. Stray speech enhances.

— He experiences the hallucination. He feels others are talking ill about him or staring at him. His delusions include snakes and insects meandering around.

— A person feels he is someone great and has the authority to kill others. He can even harm himself.

— If such symptoms continue for more than six months, then the diagnosis is confirmed.

Some major symptoms include-

— There is no impact of anybody’s advice.

— Mood swings are frequent as are the emotional outburst.

— Response to external stimuli like noise, light, tough is extremely high or low

— He cannot think rationally. General knowledge and common sense diminish.

— He loses his own identity. He feels he does not belong to his body and experiences that his soul has left his body and is afloat.

Not all patients who suffer from schizophrenia may have had a shock or serious ailment. It can be an automatic impact

Reasons

Extreme mental or physical stress, genetics, mental shock, brain ailment, addiction, an overdose of medicines can trigger this disease.

Symptoms

Split personality means a person believes that he is separate from his body. Changes manifest when he exhibits conflicting speech and behavior. Hence it is recognized as a split personality or schizophrenia. Such people are unable to think logically. It is important to start treatment immediately. Later he experiences delusions about himself and the world. He becomes delirious and loses awareness of time or place. In extreme cases, he does not even behave like a human being. This situation is the worst not only for the patient but also for the relatives.

Homeopathy- Let us have a look at some Homoeopathic medicines

Cimicifuga 

This is beneficial in postpartum depression and split personality. The symptoms for which this is administered include the belief of worst, fear of occupying car or closed areas, bantering, self-destructive thoughts, the illusion of bursting nerves or a black cloud hovering above, disturbed mind and self.

Belladonna

Restlessness, impatience, illusions of ghosts and spirits, hysteric, not wanting any conversation, but the continuous shouting, tempestuous behavior, attacking others are some of the symptoms. These people cannot tolerate noise or touch.

Ignatia

Conflicting complaints, extreme laughter or tears, sorrow or ecstasy. Complaints arising out of mental shock keep conflicting. Continuous sobbing. In cases of extreme insanity, medicines like stramonium and Hyoscyamus are useful. However, these medications should be administered only under the supervision of a Homoeopathic practitioner to avoid mixed reactions.

What is Melancholy?

When one experiences depression without any reason, a sinking feeling in the gut, then it is called ‘melancholia’. At times, our mind loses its ability to experience joy. Anything that is beautiful, attractive or joyous does not appeal to our minds. One must develop the habit to seek happiness and find it. If we fail to do so, then our mind starts getting depressed and we experience melancholy.

Flower therapy helps in dealing with depression that arises without any apparent reason. These Bach remedies are not Indian but European. According to its proponent Dr. Bach, every object in nature works towards the fulfillment of its purpose. When some defect arises in this process, then the flow is blocked and it results in Dis-ease. The energy vibrators in the flowers help to restart this flow and aid in good health.

I know of a friend who is also a doctor, who faced this problem. She had a good medical practice, a supportive husband who was also a doctor, two beautiful children. As though her life was blessed. In spite of all this, she faced melancholy. She got dark circles under her eyes, disinterest in everything, even going out or watching TV didn’t appeal to her anymore. Her communication with her kids ebbed and she lost interest in life. She benefited from homeopathic medicines and Bach remedies ( Flower Therapy). I feel many people experience such things in life at some point in time. This is the time to take stock of life and our expectations from it. It enables us to know ourselves anew. However, it is important to overcome this melancholy or it can develop into deep depression. It results in emotional swings – depression and exhilaration. This is called bipolar disorder. Some days you experience extreme joy and exhilaration, some days it’s the opposite where you find excuses to fight and argue, remain quiet, lose appetite. Physical manifestations include constipation, body ache, depression, acidity, etc. People who are engulfed in depression generally appear cold, dip in blood pressure; mood swings result in heat or feel cold suddenly. Constant worrying and mental tension flare up mental depression.

Therapy- Diet- People who experience depression must include apples, cashew nuts, Shatavari, cardamom, green leafy vegetables, eggs, fish in their diet. Sprouted moong and buttermilk is of added advantage.

Exercise– Pranayam, Bhasrika, Bhramari, Anulom-Vilom helps.

Flower Therapy and Homoeopathy – Consult an expert doctor for these medicines to get benefits without any ill effects.

DEMORALIZED

When someone gets bored, experiences fatigue, fed up of repeated tasks , then he is said to be demoralized. Every person goes through such phases sometime in his or her life.

How many people enjoy the work that they are doing? We dare not even look around for answers to such questions. Today we see everyone chasing money which forces them to resort to lies and fake behavior. People try to appease their bosses, turn helpless and bend before all and sundry. We need to keep a smiling façade but then the mind gets tired of all this. All sorts of negative chemicals spread around our body. Scientists have proven that people who work with a positive attitude experiences a healthy demeanor and their psychosomatic composition remains healthy too. As opposed to such people, those who merely drudge along in their work fall ill frequently because they never experience happiness and job satisfaction.When we love our work, it is always perfect. Can we ask an author to do clerical work? This is a subjective matter. However, not everyone gets to work what they really love to. At times, we may have to compromise. For those who frequently feel lazy, don’t enjoy their work, cannot stick to time, homeopathy and flower therapy works wonders.

Vinita was a Computer Science engineer. Her desire was to work in Bangalore but she had to push it aside owing to family opposition. She took a petty job in her own town till her marriage was fixed. Obviously, she got a lower pay. She had to literally drudge in her work. Slowly, she began feeling demoralized and bored of everything. She started skipping work frequently. When asked for reasons by her bosses, she’d give unfathomable answers. Her boss was her father’s friend. However, just the thought of going to work weighed her down every morning. She got used to lying in bed and passing time at home.

When her father realized this, he consulted her to  Flower therapy. After proper diagnosis when she was put on appropriate flower therapy, it gave about great results. She started working with enthusiasm. However, she would have only truly enjoyed her work in Bangalore. Her father then began his search of a groom who would match her qualification and who’d allow her to work after marriage. Fortunately, she found such a life partner soon. Everyone gets such opportunities in life, but one cannot wait till they come knocking. One must compromise a bit and reach our goal in small steps. This allows us to taste success as well as enjoy the efforts towards it. Flower therapy and homeopathy always help us otherwise, don’t they?

Some people are impossible to gauge even by experts. They will never portray their true feelings on their face. Their feelings remain hidden even from their spouses. Such people appear jolly and jovial, but they never share their sorrows with anybody. They continue to suffer in isolation. They don’t share their feelings with others, or perhaps they’re unable to do so. This suffocation can lead to serious health implications. If some person has no sorrows in his life and has such a nature, then it may not be of any serious problem to him. However, if someone is leading a dreadfully dangerous life, then this suffocation can result in an outburst. If one cannot express his feelings, nor can he remain silent and still have a smiling façade, then how can he do it?

Saturation of the mind may cause mutation of the cells and results in hypertension, diabetes and major illnesses like cancer. Our society does not allow a free environment to women. She cannot freely express her thoughts, feelings and desires. She then suffers from depression, insomnia, irritation and such mental illnesses.

Tejaswini was a woman who was fed up of all the responsibilities that came with handling household chores and a job. She was already experiencing irritation, insomnia and fatigue and was now facing an added problem of Pre-menstrual syndrome ( PMS). She faced extreme irritation just before her menses, she’d shout at others, burst into tears without any reason, yelled at her husband and kids. Apart from this, she also faced bloating, pain in breasts, headache and vomiting. All these symptoms would be relieved once bleeding started, as though everything was just about normal. She tried all kinds of medicines to no avail. At last, she resorted to homeopathy. When it was coupled with Flower Therapy, there were miraculous results.

What went wrong with Tejaswini was that her job meant performing to perfection, at home she had to keep everyone satisfied, complete all the chores. How could she ignore her kids or her husband. Add to that the occasional guests, festivals, in-laws, etc. Where was the time to look at herself? She found time to tend to her body and mind only when she suffered from suffocation and its ill effects on her health. Every woman must work hard, take care of her household. People who abhor friction try to hide their feelings out of fear. But that person leads a very instable life behind the calm façade.

By the time they realize they’re wrong, it’s already too late. We tend to saturate a lot of negative feelings in our daily lives which then manifest themselves in some form of illness or an emotional outburst. Such kids appear to be very joyful, behave well with others. But once they’re home, they are altogether different. Friction at home deeply impacts their psyche. When elders fight, it hurts them and they turn speechless. They cry in solitude, appear wilted, don’t laugh and generally remain in their own cocoons. There are effective medications for such cases in homeopathy. Such people are more susceptible to addiction and hence must be rendered flower therapy for added advantage.

Some people are extremely egoistic. Their minds are filled with ego and they consider themselves superior to any other person. The truth is that such people are, in fact, extremely intelligent, perhaps all-rounders too. As a result they find it difficult to mingle with people. The feeling that they are superior to and different from other people prevents them from forging any relations with others. These people cannot open up before anyone with the fear of appearing weak. They will silently suffer all by themselves. Insulting others, passing derogatory remarks gives them great joy. One may never see them praising anyone.

A mother was faced with a similar problem. Her daughter, who was very beautiful, had secured a first class in her Computer Engineering course. She was also blessed with a melodious sweet voice. Since she belonged to an affluent family, she had so far only experienced the highs of success. Intelligence, beauty, voice, wealth, the almighty had bestowed everything on her that one could only aspire for. She floated in an air of superiority.

When the parents searched for a match for her, she disliked every proposal that came her way. She was not someone who would bend in love, so that was ruled out. Her mother was anxious of the daughter’s future considering her egoistic nature. When coaxing and cajoling failed, she resorted to flower therapy. The daughter suffered from Neck Pain. Under this pretext, she was administered continuous flower therapy for almost 10 months which showed excellent results. She became grounded.

We see many such people around us. We just sneer at their nature and remain silent. But their family suffers. Such extreme cases can also be cured. Such traits are more often visible in adolescents. Flower therapy must be initiated in such cases before it flares into a big problem later in life. Such people may be found in high positions like Police Chief, District Collector, Politicians, Spiritual Leaders, Actors, etc.  Their position of responsibility or fame renders a kind of aloofness in them. They get detached from the common people and start living their lives in an altogether different sphere. They form a cocoon around them and few can come out of it later in life. People who retire from high positions find it difficult to lead a common man’s life. Flower therapy helps these people in leading a normal life.

People who are too egoistic suffer from skin problems, especially on the hands. Flower therapy experts attribute this to the contact with the world which happens either with the hands or the words! Skin problems on hands, mouth ulcers, insomnia, restlessness are some symptoms that they face. Since their nature is rigid, they face rigidity in the neck, hips, spine or the muscles of the joints. Flexibility reduces. They suffer from Osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis. Women face marital problems because they lose interest in mixing with others. They turn frigid at times. Dr. Edward Bach, the proponent of Flower Therapy says ‘ These egoistic people have the reluctance to share the air with other people’. It means that there are queer people who are even reluctant to share the air with others! Such people cannot breathe easy, cannot live a relaxed life nor can they speak or laugh with a free mind.

In today’s competitive world, everybody seems to be running after something, racing against time and work. Women work on par with men. And then one day, we start facing the problems- fatigue and depression which have become commonplace. Lost appetite, very little or no sleep, an anxious mind that doubts everything and lack of enthusiasm.

How do we handle such situations?

Be optimistic: Think positively and optimistically about everything. Jot down your tasks for the day. Prioritize the things that you wish to achieve or do and work on them accordingly.

Diet: One must include a lot of carbohydrates in our diet. It not only helps maintain serotonin levels in blood, it also enables you to get a good night’s sleep. Include at least one citrus fruit
( Lemon, Orange, Sweet Lime, etc.). Try to replace regular tea with Green tea that is far more beneficial. Ensure that your diet has enough levels of iron in it.

Exercise: One must find time for at least half an hour of brisk walking, meditation, yoga, prayer which are the things that actually help one overcome depression

Music: Music plays a magical role in uplifting our minds. Soft music, fast music, melodious tunes fill the mind with joy. Certain colors like yellow, red, sky blue are considered soothing and help lift the mood. Incorporate these colors in your daily life.

Therapy: At times, deficiency of iron in the blood results in fatigue and depression. Thyroid disorders can cause dullness, feeling of exhaustion, irritation, etc. Hence it is important to get the appropriate tests done.

Nature therapy: Dip a band of cloth in rosewater and place it on your eyes and forehead. A balanced diet coupled with appropriate intake of water and walking in fresh air helps lead a healthy life.

Aromatherapy: 20 drops of Rosewood oil, 5 drops of Orange oil, 50 ml of Geranium oil mixed with sesame oil or corn oil and massaged into the body results in quick mood upliftment. One can also mix these oils in bathwater for similar effect.

Homeopathy: Deficiency of blood or hemoglobin is the root cause of this ailment. Homeopathic medicines help in overcoming fatigue and depression.

Natrum mur  : Useful for women facing fatigue, cramps in hands and  feet and backache.

Pulsatilla: Useful in treating fatigue caused in women due to deficiency of blood.

Sepia, Calcaria carb: Effective in treating fatigue before and after menses.

Flower therapy: This is beneficial in dealing with fatigue resulting from over exhaustion

Accupressure, Accupuncture: By pressing the points no. 22, 28, 67, 81 with the tip of your finger or an acupressure needle eases out fatigue effectively.