Mental Health Treatment

In this modern fast paced world that values achievements and results, it may be surprising to learn that more and more people are turning to meditation as a way to rise above everyday stresses. Most people have heard of meditation and perhaps of it’s benefits such as stress relief and our ability to achieve a slower pace to life but for people with bipolar disorder the benefits can be even more significant.

People with bipolar disorder have greater mood swings than somebody without the disorder and will experience a more severe emotions than would normally be expected. This is where meditation can help.

There are many benefits to regular meditation such as a reduced stress level, health benefits, happiness and peace of mind. But for people with bipolar symptoms the most significant benefit would be the ability to control your own thoughts and concentrate. If you have bipolar disorder and you are reading this article then think now how sometimes your thoughts don’t seem to be your own. They seem to occur without your intervention and you can’t control the way you react to them, it seems too difficult. Well, imagine if you had the ability to stop that from happening. Imagine having the self control to switch off those thoughts, replace them with positive ones and re-focus on making your life your own again. How often do you find yourself the victim of your own negative thoughts?

When our mind takes control it is easy to become caught up with small irritations such as waiting in line, or we may become upset by a small misdemeanour by somebody else even if they did it without any negative intent. A fantastically and yet very powerful benefit of regular meditation is the ability to be able to detach yourself from these insignificant, yet irritating thoughts. Continue Reading

Though it is often thought that senses are largely independent of each other and that they are applied relatively uniformly among all people, this is not always the case. Synesthesia is a condition in which the experience of one sense automatically leads to a second sensory experience related to another, unrelated sense. The results of this condition are involuntary, a reaction to another sense that cannot be controlled. There are several forms of synesthesia and though they are generally not manifested in the same way among people who experience the condition, the examples of synesthesia remain very similar among those describing the responses.

Synesthesia Types

It can be difficult to understand exactly what synesthesia means without examples. Examples of synesthesia should be used mainly for illustrative purposes because, although each person has distinct experiences, the various forms of the condition remain basically the same.

Grapheme to Color Synesthesia

This is one of the most common forms of synesthesia and is characterized by letters and numbers being associated with a specific color. Generally each letter or number will be shaded by a particular color. Each individual is thought to experience different colors but there are some that are relatively common, such as the letter A being shaded by red.

Sound to Color Synesthesia

In this form of synesthesia, people experience colors, often described as being similar to fireworks, when hearing certain sounds. Sounds of differing volumes and pitches will show different colors, and clattering or disconnected sounds tend to create a kaleidoscope effects. Continue Reading

Mental health is beyond the absence of mental illness. It is “a state of emotional and social well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’”, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Mental health includes having the necessary life aptitude, social skills as well as having a balance in different aspects of life. It contributes to building resilience and improves individual learning potential.

Below are the descriptions of each stage of the mental health continuum:

Mental Wellness

Mental wellness or mental health support is about increasing proficiency, resilience, emotional and social well-being, as well as creating supportive atmospheres for all. It seeks to develop social and emotional competencies and life skills, and incorporate children and youth protective factors against mental illness.

Mental Health Problems

Mental health problems occur when someone is in a susceptible position of entering into the mental illness continuum. They do not have adequate resources and capacity to manage with the challenges they are facing and need better support from others to help them through the hard times. Some people with unsettled mental health problems might go to develop a mental illness. Continue Reading