Tag: Perception

Depression Anxiety Stress Scale

People experience anxiety in different ways. Some tend to eat to much, while others let this off through smoking and drinking. Unfortunately, not everybody takes this the same way. When a person feels unhappy or loses the appetite to eat, there is a chance that the individual is suffering from depression.

Doctors have not yet been able to measure the degree into how bad depression can get. This is the reason that some scientists have made a self report scale called a depression anxiety stress scale. The objective of the study is to provide scientists and researchers better information to treat this problem.

The scale is divided into three sets. The first is the depression scale which will assess the person’s perception in life and interest in certain things.

The second is the anxiety scale which looks into situational anxiety, autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects and subjective experience of anxious effect.

The third is the stress scale which will look into how long before the person feels stressed. This will look into things that will arouse or upset the individual. This also includes what things makes one nervous or causes difficulty in relaxing.

Each of these are composed of 14 items that is subdivided again into 2 to 5 items which just goes to show how long and extensive the test can be. The person answers each question by answering on a scale of 1 to 4 which will assess how stressed the individual is for the week.

If the person has a hard time answering these questions, there is a shorter version that can be used. Doctors don’t only administer this with people who have anxiety disorders. The test is also given to regular people as part of the comparative report.

The questionnaires to be given out can be done individually or in groups. This is sometimes used in children as early as 12 years of age to determine if stress is caused by work or when this occurs as the individual is growing up.

Large companies who are concerned about the employees sometimes employ the help of social workers to administer the depression anxiety stress scale or DASS on people. These firms should remember that the results of these tests can only be translated by those in the medical field so that recommendations and treatment can take place.

There are two main differences between this test and those used in the past.

The first is that the DASS is that it is based on a dimensional rather than a categorical conception of what the patient may be experiencing.

The second is that it separates the categories into three namely depression, anxiety and stress and treating this separately to give a bigger picture of what is happening to the patient.

This means that classifying a person on the degree of help is far different and that this is often regarded as normal, moderate or severe as written in the DASS manual.

The DASS questionnaire can be downloaded for free from the internet. The person will have to pay $55 or more for the manual to be able to understand the findings of anyone who has taken the test.

The individual can learn more about this by surfing the web or reading up on this in some medical journals to get a better understanding of how this can help treat a patient.

If You Feel Better, Your Brain Performs Better

It has been said that through meditation, you are able to calm not only your body but your mind as well. It may sound too difficult to try, however, there are ways to make meditation as simple as possible. This article for those who are hesitant to meditate because of the perception that meditation is a difficult process. It may be true that in order to perfect your meditation skills you need to practice it for years, however, you can still begin with the simplest relaxation techniques. This will surely make you feel better, your brain relaxed a little and your whole being is rejuvenated.

Meditation is a good way to reduce stress; and as you all know, we can think better if we are not stressed. As many researches have pointed out, you can suffer from brain damage if you are exposed to constant stress. Now, isnt meditation just the right boost to your brain power?
Through mediation, your concentration will be strengthened, thus you can fully focus on any mental activity that you are working on. So you should learn to control your mind and use it efficiently for your own goals, do this by starting with breath techniques moving further to simple meditation.

Breath Watching

Find a spot where you can sit and relax comfortably. There, give close attention to your breathing for a few seconds. Basically, you just have to clear your mind for a moment and have a quiet time on your own. Here are a few tips to assist you.

1) Find your spot

Since you are only a beginner, you may want to find a quiet place where you can meditate. As you become more expert in meditation, you will notice that you can already meditate anywhere you want to. For the mean time, find a spot where you can feel at peace.

2) Be comfortable

Look for your position which will keep you at ease but not asleep. For most people, crossing their legs is their meditation position. If you are the kind of person who can lie down without falling asleep, you may also try lying down for this may be your most comfortable position. Just keep yourself perfectly still and comfortable but not asleep this should be your meditation position.

3) Let Go of the Tension

Observe which part of your body is most tensed. You should learn how to tense up those parts and then release the tension in such part. You may experience the release as your body begins to be drained from all the tension. If you repeat the process, you will later on learn how to relax easily.

4) Breathe properly

Breathe properly through your nose. In doing so, the air can easily pass through your lungs. You may notice that your diaphragm, abdomen and chest expand more when you breathe through your nose. This is how you should breathe.

5) Pay attention

There may be instances when your mind may be disturbed by other thoughts, but you should always remind yourself to go back into paying special attention to your breathing. With constant reminder, the thoughts that may disturb you will soon fade away.

You may want to perform this meditation for at least five minutes. And then as you practice it more and more each day, you may want to perform it for a longer time. You should then be able to realize that these meditations can really help you clear your mind and increase your focus. By feeling better, your brain also performs better.

How to Identify Mental Health in a Normal Condition

The following article presents the very latest information on mental health. If you have a particular interest in mental health, then this informative article is required reading.

It had been painstaking for some to identify the real deal behind mental health. Some may experience a glitch of being depressed or aggressive then go back to normalcy. While others show some behaviors that are quite odd and uncertain may indicate that there is a shifting of attitude in the person and can result in mental disorders.

Health providers concerned with how the mind works are capable of distinguishing the difference of being mentally healthy and mentally ill. They judge through the specific signs and symptoms that the client may or may not manifest upon undergoing series of tests. There are a lot of approaches and here are some:

1. Ones own perception

Here, you have to asses yourself internally. Are you thinking about anything that is quite morbid or something really insane? Your behaviors, thoughts and functioning which means the way you perceive every detail of your thinking can readily determine if you are totally normal. If experienced is a sudden shift from the normal things that you do like daily habits and routines which you used to enjoy, then there might be something wrong.

Other people who experience depression in the severe tense can oftentimes go on with their lives without doing chores or even bathing themselves. Therefore, it is important to asses yourself. If you can no longer pinpoint whats wrong or is unable to do something about the condition then, you can regard yourself as mentally ill.

2. Other peoples perception

It is still important to go over poles apart peoples opinion about yourself and the way you behave. You can lie aboutyour allow feelings and pretend that nothing is wrong thus, making authentic all subjective. This may not help in bringing out a very accurate assessment. People around you, those whom you know and trust, may symbolize the best outset for an objective opinion. You may notice yourself to be perfectly typical while others may disagree. Schizophrenia is one true good standard of this wherein a person may admit seeing or hearing things where in fact nothings there.

3. Ethnic and cultural norms

Oftentimes, a persons normalcy is defined by their culture. Because people are living within contrary boundaries and different cultures, what is normal being others may not seem normal for you. Vigor back to the case of schizophrenia, when a person tends to hear things and let the people around him believe that there is entirely something, through others this may be insane but for some religions, this is normal and is a sort of divine intervention. Culture within the family may again affect the way you see others big time. What you normally do within the four sides of your home may not be the same with others.

4. Based on statistical numeric

Within the range that is what normal is repeatedly stated as. Generally, what is within the average counting defines what normal is and if statistics goes high or blue, it becomes abnormal because of the extreme fluctuations in changes which are not considered as the average.

Based on the four approaches, by oneself can clearly identify if a particular individual or a member of the family is suffering from mental illness. Mental health depends on the state of psyche which is not hindered by any kind of abnormal manifestations.
Those who only know one or two facts about mental health can be confused by misleading information. The best way to help those who are misled is to gently correct them with the truths you’re learning here.