All you need to know about mental disorders

This day marks the sufferings of victims with mental disorders, several psychologists and the well-wishers have made back-breaking efforts to raise them up in life. Even in today's modern society mental illness is not considered as serious as physical ailments. In many cases, they are frowned upon and neglected.

The theme of this year's World Mental Health Day, observed on 10 October, covers "psychological first aid". Efforts in support of the day will focus on basic pragmatic psychological support by people who will be playing a helping role whether they be health staff, teachers, firemen, community workers, or police officers.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), there are five key barriers which need to be overcome to address mental health issues more efficiently. These are:

• The absence of mental health from the public health agenda and the implications for funding

• The current organisation of mental health services

• Lack of integration within primary care

• Inadequate human resources for mental health

• Lack of public mental health leadership 
•  Here are five essential facts about mental illness everyone needs to know:1. About half of mental disorders begin before the age of 14.
  2. Around 20 per cent of children and adolescents experience mental disorders.
  3. War and social trauma have been the most common reasons behind mental illness.
  4. Mental illness can increase the risk of getting affected by other diseases such as cardiac problems, diabetes and gastric issues.
  5. In most cases of mental disorder, family members itself neglect the victim's illness.
  
  Let us look at five common mental disorders of the modern world:
  1. Anti-social disorder: People experiencing this disease are often seen overreacting to a particular situation with anger. They often behave in a way that is harmful to others.
  
  2. Amnesia: This is a common phenomenon and a sign of brain damage where the victim experiences persistent loss of memory. The major factors leading up to this disease are overdose of sedatives and psychological trauma.
  3. Asperger's Syndrome: Signs of this disease involve difficulty and reluctance towards social interaction, verbal communication, physical clumsiness and repetitive pattern of behaviour. This is one of the most common mental disorders of the modern era.
  4. Major depressive disorder: The term 'depression' has lost its value due to inappropriate use. The medical explanation of the term reveals that major depressive illness is a serious mental disorder that includes low self-esteem, reluctance towards enjoyable activities, high pessimism, avoiding social gatherings and morbid thoughts. This illness is perhaps the most underrated medical situation as it can often lead to suicidal tendencies, if not cured properly.
  5. Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD is a mental disorder where the victim feels a constant need to check things right and do a particular chore repeatedly. Most common instances have been washing hands, counting things, taking shower, cleaning household and checking if the doors are locked. The illness is a kind of anxiety disorder that may lead to suicidal tendencies. 
    
  this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.
  
  
  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations
  https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes
  

  https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

Obese dads up autism risk in kids

A new study has found that obese fathers up risk of autism in their offsprings more than obese mothers.

Dr. Pal Suren from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, who is the first researcher to study the role of paternal obesity in autism, and his fellow researchers used data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). The researchers studied questionnaire data from over 90,000 Norwegian children at three, five and seven years of age. The mothers had answered detailed questions about their own mental and physical health, and about their children. The fathers completed a questionnaire about their mental and physical health while their partner was pregnant. The researchers also collected data from the Norwegian Patient Registry and from studies of children who were referred for evaluation and treatment of possible autism or Asperger's syndrome. By the end of the follow-up period, the children were aged 4 to 13 years. The findings showed that 419 children, approximately 0.45 per cent of the sample, had an autism spectrum diagnosis (ASD). This is slightly lower than in the general population (0.8 per cent) because it is difficult to diagnose autism among the youngest children. In the sample, 22 percent of the mothers and 43 per cent of the fathers were overweight, with a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 and 30. Approximately 10 per cent of mothers and fathers were obese, with a BMI of 30 or more. The researchers found that maternal obesity had little association with the development of autism in the child. However, they found a doubled risk for development of autism and Asperger's syndrome in the child if the father was obese, compared with a normal weight father.

Suren said that he and his team were very surprised by these findings because we expected that maternal obesity would be the main risk factor for the development of ASD. "It means that we have had too much focus on the mother and too little on the father. This probably reflects the fact that we have given greater focus to conditions in pregnancy, such as the growth environment for the foetus in the womb than both environmental and genetic factors before conception," Suren said. The researchers adjusted for variables that may also be associated with the development of autism in the child. In addition to adjusting for maternal obesity, they considered education, age, smoking, mental disorders, hormone therapy before pregnancy, use of folic acid, maternal diabetes , pre-eclampsia and the baby's weight at birth. The researchers found that the risk remained unchanged when adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Suren said that the findings suggest that there may be a genetic link between obesity in the father and the development of ASD in the child. Researchers are still in the early stages of studying possible links between obesity in the father and the development of ASD in the child.

The study is published in the May issue of Pediatrics journal.

PS- THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.

PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-

HTTP://GSEASYRECIPES. BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-

HTTP://KNEE REPLACEMENT-STICK CLUB.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR CROCHET DESIGNS

HTTP://MY CROCHET CREATIONS.BLOGSPOT.COM

How iPads are helping children with autism: Tablets develop communication skills because they are 'predictable and neat'

Around one in 50 children globally have some form of autism, and this number continues to rise steadily each year.

While there is no cure for the condition, the use of technology in autism treatment has grown in popularity in recent years, but the reasons for its success are only just being highlighted.

Experts are finding that simple, carefully constructed apps are enabling affected children to feel safe and communicate more readily because the software is more predictable and ordered than human interaction.

Researchers have found smartphones and tablets help autistic children develop new skills. Toca Boca, for example, create apps aimed at children aged three to six. Although the games are not specifically designed for children with autism, they have proved popular among parents who have children with the condition.

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects how a person communicates, and relates to, other people. It can also affect how they make sense of the world around them.

People with autism typically have trouble communicating, looking people in the eye, and can get upset by loud noises or bright lights.

They may also have a sensitivity to touch, tastes, smells and colours.

In particular, many autistic people like order and predictability.

Autism is a spectrum condition, which means that while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition affects them in different ways.

Some people with autism, for example, are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have accompanying learning disabilities and need specialist support.

Asperger syndrome is a form of autism and people with the syndrome are often of average or above average intelligence.

They have fewer problems with speech but may still have difficulties with understanding and processing language.

Toca Boca in Sweden, for example, creates apps aimed primarily at children aged between three and six.

Toca Band encourages children to make music and learn about rhythm and tempo, while Toca Hair Salon Me lets players give their family and friends virtual haircuts. 

The firm calls the characters in the apps ‘digital toys’ and although the games are not specifically designed for children with autism, they have proved popular among parents who have children with the condition.

Toby Price from Mississippi has a daughter called Addison, 11, who has non-verbal autism. 

He has noticed a marked improvement in Addison’s behaviour and skills since learning to use an iPad, and the Toca Boca apps.

‘When you have a child with autism take an interest in something, as a parent, you have to run with it,’ explained Price.

‘Addison uses her iPad to show us things she wants, or places she would like to go. She uses it to practice handwriting and even counting.

‘As a parent [I am] happy to have found a way to engage our kids with iPads.’

Rhiannan Walton, 32, from West London has been a speech and language therapist for eight years.

She began using technology in her therapy sessions with autistic children approximately 18 months ago.

‘Technology responds in the same way every time; you press a button and it responds how you expect it to,' Walton told MailOnline. 'This particularly appeals to autistic children who can become scared and confused by unpredictability.'

Speech and Language Therapist Rhiannan Walton told MailOnline: 'Technology responds in the same way every time; you press a button and it responds how you expect it to. This particularly appeals to autistic children who can become scared and confused by unpredictability.' Stock image of Apple's iOS 7 pictured.

Many autistic children like trains, for example, because they are predictable. They follow set paths along stable tracks and their doors open and close in the same way each time.

For therapy to work, Walton believes it has to be motivating and said technology motivates children with autism in a unique way.

‘We know therapy needs to be motivating for children in general, and games are particularly motivating for children with autism because they’re visually appealing.

‘Autistic children aren't motivated by wanting to please in the same way other children are.

‘Non-autistic children think ‘this lady wants me to play this game and if I do, she'll say well done,' but autistic children aren’t interested in that at all.

'They need to be motivated in other ways - and technology helps with this.'

Autistic children typically have visual ways of communicating, and as a result have a visual way of learning and this is why apps are so effective.

In a recent study, researchers from Canada studied 12 children in six classrooms across Ontario, all of whom have non-verbal autism spectrum disorder.

These classrooms were given Apple iPads for a six-month trial.

Following the experiment, nine of the students showed a statistical improvement ranging from mild to significant in their overall communication skills.

The devices were also found to boost motivation among 75 per cent of the children, while also increasing their attention span and ability to interact socially.

Topcliffe Primary School in Birmingham recently introduced touchscreen devices into classrooms and similarly noticed an improvement among the autistic students.

‘We watched children with autism playing with the images on the screen in ways in which none of the typically developing children had done, said Topcliffe’s spectrum disorders teacher Sarah Quickenden.

‘The normal curriculum that we were offering just wasn't allowing them to demonstrate these skills to us. We never realised that the children had these skills because some of them are so locked in.’

Walton said the technology can also be used to build other communication opportunities.

'I give the children in my therapy sessions the game, let them play it for a while before taking it away.

‘We then work together to help the child show me that they want it back; they want to play more of the game.’

Once this skill is developed, Walton continued, it can be built upon to teach children about taking turns, sequencing, and so on.

It can also be generalised for other tasks, such as asking for more food or drink.

Walton told MailOnline that apps and games have the added benefit of appealing to children without autism, especially the siblings of those who do have the condition.

This means families can manage the child’s condition as a group, and helps siblings play together.

Price’s son McKade, for example, recently set up a tea party with sister Addison after she had learned the skills from the Toca Kitchen game.

Walton said many of her autistic patients pick up the games quickly, and have good memory, so will remember skills they’ve learnt when at home with their parents.

Vicki Clarke is the owner and president of Dynamic Therapy Associates with 18 years’ experience as a Speech Language Pathologist and Augmentative Communication Specialist in Georgia.

She told Autism Speaks: ‘People are messy and computers are neat. For our friends with autism, this consistency is easy to understand and comforting.

‘The iPad puts this comfortable, predictable teaching friend right in the hands of our children with autism, regardless of where they are.’

But the continued technology isn’t a ‘miracle cure’.

‘The specific needs of the child need to be the main deciding factor on purchasing any technology,’ explained Clarke.

‘These technologies are simply another tool in our box that have the potential to help meet some of the needs of our children.

‘When deciding on technology options, teams must consider the individual needs of the child and the ability of the app to meet the comprehensive needs for which they are purchased.

‘Families should consult with the professional and personal friends who know the child and can offer input on potential needs of the child.

Today marks the seventh annual World Autism Awareness Day, in which organisations get together to discuss the challenges surrounding the disorder, share advice, and look for solutions.

ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.

ps- those interested in recipes are free to view my blog-

http://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/

for info about knee replacement, you can view my blog-

http://Knee replacement-stick club.blogspot.com/

for crochet designs

http://My Crochet Creations.blogspot.com