Brain Behaviour Research Foundation of India | Blog

Early detection and treatment of mental disorders in children is essential. When a mental disorder occurs, it becomes a part of the nature of your child if timely intervention is not done. This makes recovery more complicated. But knowing when your child has a serious problem isn't always easy. Everyday pressures can trigger changes in the actions of your child! Mental health is a significant component of the general health of children, has a dynamic interactive link with their physical health and their ability to excel in education, at work and in society. On the inside and outside, both physical and mental well-being influence how we think, feel and act.  Causes of Mental Illness The exact cause of most mental disorders is not clear although evidence indicates that a variety of factors could be involved, including genes, biology, psychological trauma, and environmental stress. Heredity (genetics): Mental illness appears to be prevalent in families, which suggests that parent...

Prince et al. (1998) has defined culture as “the totality of habits, beliefs, ideas, attitudes and values, as well as the behaviors that spring from them (language, art, eating habits, marriage patterns, and so forth)”. The World Health Organization or WHO (2014) has highlighted “the need to specifically address social determinants of mental health, and recognition of the influence of social determinants on mental health”. The study of mental disorders across cultures is of value because mental illnesses are generally from a universal point of view but cultural implications are present and hence they should be recognized to fit specific needs of the populations. Social exclusion refers to the inability of our society to give all groups of individuals resources to reach their full potential. Important variables that indicate exclusion from social and economic opportunities are economic capability (poverty), age, gender, caste and religion, etc. In the Indian context, caste can be broadl...

Music therapy, under the umbrella of psychotherapy, is an evidence-based clinical use of musical interventions to improve the quality of life of clients. Music expresses the emotions of a person. There are two types of emotions namely positive (happy) and negative (sad) .   The purpose of music therapy is to satisfy an individual’s emotional needs and also to find the real inner-self and self-potential. There are two types of music therapy: Receptive music therapy ( patient only listens to music) Active music therapy (Patient participates in activities like singing or playing musical instruments) Many activities are included in music therapy such as: Listening to songs, drumming, vocals,guitar rhythm, and piano, listening to instrumental music. Patient follows the activities as per instructions. Therapist helps patient to take musical therapy like Receptive music therapy to just listen to music by the musical instruments or device audio. In the other therapy like active ...

It is important for us to acknowledge how women and men are not only different in their physical characteristics but even in their psychological makeup. Women's and men's brains are wired differently and they process stimuli and information in their own distinct ways when dealing in relationships, expressing their feelings, and reacting to stress. Thus, gender is a critical determinant in issues related to mental health. Various psychiatric studies indicate that men experience a significantly higher number of certain mental health issues than women, yet community studies of mental health find that women have reported worse mental health scores instead of men. There is a significant correlation between women’s mental and reproductive health that has been finally receiving attention in these recent years. Reproductive health conditions are likely to impose a burden on women’s health. Apart from these biological, “lifestyle” and individual risk factors, the focus also needs to be...

Acid attack- a term many of us have heard in the news or from our peers, but has it been given enough voice to reach our hearts? The term got a lot of attention when the director, Ms. Meghna Gulzar released a film titled “Chhapaak” on 20 th  January 2020, inspired by the life of LaxmiAgarwal, an acid attack survivor, who campaigned for the rights of acid attack victims and gained recognition after she filed a petition in the Supreme Court regarding the regulation of sale of acid (theprint.in,2020). One cannot imagine the mental trauma such victims go through, a trauma that continues to haunt their lives. It often leaves an irreversible mark of lasting pain and distress unless adequate mental support is provided to them to help them cope up with it and move towards living a normal and meaningful life.   The aftermath of such a brutal attack can leave a person with physical, social, mental and psychological scars such as anxiety, depression, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disor...

“Overcoming abuse doesn't just happen; it takes positive steps every day. Let today be the day you start to move forward”  - Assunta Harris We are all aware of the term abuse. Abuse can be of various forms, such as physical, sexual, verbal/ emotional, and mental/ psychological abuse.  Now let’s take a look at these forms of abuses in detail: 1. Physical abuse is when a person is being physically harmed by the other person. It can include punching, slapping, strangling someone against their will.  2. Sexual abuse can be included in physical abuse, but it isn’t entirely just limited to physical. Sexual abuse can be physical and non- physical in nature. It involves rape, touching or making a person see or do something without their will. Sexual abuse is often used to assert dominance by the one who’s inflicting the abuse onto the victim. Even though many are reported, there is one particular form of sexual abuse which goes unnoticed especially in the Indian society, whic...