Psychoblogical

Autism is a mental condition that affects around 23 in 10,000 people in India. The attitude of the society towards them, affects autistic people to a certain extent. In this blog, I will try to write about autism and society's view towards the autistic, on the suggestion of a cherished reader. Before I begin, I would like to make it clear that I have not specialized in Clinical Psychology and hence lack the in-depth knowledge about this mental condition. However, I will attempt to write based on some understanding that I have about it. So to begin with, let us understand what autism really is. Autism is a life-long, complex developmental condition. It includes impairments in social development, communication skills and some behavioral issues. Because of the varied range of symptoms, this condition is now also referred to as "Autism Spectrum Disorder". Let us look at a few symptoms: 1. Communication Problems:      Children or adults with autism may experience challen...

'Procrastination' is a really common term and all of you must have surely heard of it. Each of us, may have also procrastinated at some point in our lives.  For those who are unaware of what procrastination means, it is an act of delaying something that needs to be done, because it is either difficult, boring, or unpleasant. Examples of procrastination include putting off writing an assignment, delaying replying to an email, postponing the payment of bills, etc. But precrastination? Majority of the public doesn't know that such a term even exists. Even as I type this blog, the said word gets underlined in red, telling me that it doesn't exist in the dictionary. That is because 'Precrastination' is a relatively new term. It was coined by three Pennsylvania State psychologists: David Rosenbaum, Lanyun Gong and Cory Adam Potts. So what does precrastination actually mean? It could be said that precrastination is the opposite of procrastination. And like proc...

STRESS MANAGEMENT TIP: 2 As a student of counselling psychology, our teacher used to continually remind us, that ours is a 'helping profession', and that our work becomes worthwhile if we can help bring even a small positive change in a person's life. Writing this blog-series about stress management is very important to me for this very reason. Everyone faces stress in their lives at some point. And through this blog-series, I hope to help at least one person in dealing with their stress. In my last blog, I wrote about the first stress management tip: Keeping in mind that stress isn't always a bad thing.' Continuing with the series, today, I will write about the second tip.  Stress Management Tip 2 is 'Time Management'. Benjamin Franklin rightly said "Lost Time is never found again".  One of the most common concerns and complaints of people today is that they do not have enough time to do what they need/want to do. Be it a housewif...

What words come up in your mind when you hear the word 'Movie'?  Actors? Actresses? Directors? Those are exactly the words that we associate immediately with movies. But I recently came upon the realization that there is more than meets the eye, literally. There are thousands of people working behind a film, and only a handful of them appear on the screen. A close friend of mine is Sound Engineer by profession. Before meeting him, I wasn't even aware that such a profession exists. But a closer look into his professional life unveiled a lot of things that I, like most of us, was unaware of.  We can all agree on the fact that music is one of the biggest elements of the cinematic world. In my opinion, without the right music at the right place, even a brilliantly acted-out scene won't leave as much impact on the audience. I was recently roped into the fandom of Rajamouli's Magnum Opus- 'Bahubali', and I cannot deny the fact that the music in the film i...

'Stress' is a stranger to no one. Especially in today's fast paced life, stress has become an inseparable part of life. It then follows, that 'Stress Management' has also become imperative. By definition, stress is "any uncomfortable emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physical and behavioral changes". In everyday terms, it is a feeling that people have when they are overloaded and struggling to cope with certain demands or situations. These demands may be related to finances, relationships, work, education, etc. Words such as 'uncomfortable', 'overloaded' and 'struggling' tend to give stress negative connotation, and we generally use the term 'stress' to describe negative situations. This has given rise to one of the biggest myths about stress: Stress is always bad. Yes, you read that right. It is myth. Stress is not always a bad thing. It is simply our body's response to changes that cr...

I recently ran into an acquaintance of mine at the supermarket. We talked for a little while about what is going on in each of our lives. Upon hearing that I have a degree in Psychology, she instantly asked "Oh! So you treat mental patients?" This is just one instance. I am sure, students of Psychology often hear the following questions- "Oooo...so you can read minds?" or "Tell me what am I thinking?" or "I'll have to be careful around you, or you'll know all my secrets'. This just shows that people aren't really aware of what all Psychology as a subject encompasses.  First of all, sorry to disappoint you people, but we CANNOT read minds. Yes, after observing you for a little while, we might be able to form a hypothesis regarding what type of a personality you have; but we cannot really tell you what is going on in your minds.  Secondly, there's a difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist. Psychiatrists ar...

Recently, I completed my Masters in Psychology. As a part of dissertation, I conducted a research on the topic "The Role of Knowledge of Foreign Language in Cultural Tolerance and Openness to Experience." The recent happenings in Syria, Korea, Iraq and Iran, the adversities faced by refugees in Germany and other topics of political and cultural strains made me ponder and led me to this research topic.  DEFINING LANGUAGE Noam Chomsky, one of the most well known linguists in the world, argues that all languages are dialects of one language, which is the human language. He says that even though they appear very different, they are in fact very similar. However, different cultures have different manners in which they use their language and these differences cannot and should not be underestimated. Language can be defined as a means of human communication, either spoken or written, and consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way (Merriam-Webs...