HEALTH & MEDICAL VOCABULARY 5

Let us talk more of health and medicine.

There is an old saying,

A sound mind in a sound body.

Here " sound" means " in a good condition ".

When the body is in a good condition, the mind also will be good. No one can have any other view. Even a slight headache can be annoying.

Health is also physical well-being.

We use the term mental health often. There are many terms associated with mental health. You say, " I am not in a good mood today ". You may be worried over something.

Sometimes, a person is depressed.  What does it mean? When one is sad and without hope, the person is said to be depressed. He or she suffers from depression. DEPRESSION is a medical condition related to mental health. Several things may cause depression in persons. A chronic disease,financial insecurity, uneasy relationships,setbacks in career etc may trigger depression. A person suffering from depression may consult a PSYCHIATRIST.

Who is a PSYCHIATRIST? A doctor who treats mental illness is know as Psychiatrist. The branch of medicine dealing with mental illness is known as PSYCHIATRY.

A related term is ANALYSIS.

What does it mean in the context of psychiatry? Analysis is also known as PSYCHOANALYSIS.

It is a method of treating mental illness by asking the patient to talk about his past experiences. By this the PSYCHOANALYST attempts to resolve the patient' s problems which trouble him or her.

Sigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis.

Mental illness can be cured by drugs also. There are certain drugs known as ANTI-DEPRESSANTS. These drugs are used to treat depression . When you suffer from excessive anxiety, doctors may prescribe TRANQUILIZERS for you. They are drugs used to treat anxiety. They make your mind calm and you sleep.

There are certain substances and drugs which may change your mood. They are known as MOOD- ALTERING SUBSTANCES OR DRUGS.

When a mental illness is treated only by psychoanalysis and not by drugs, the method of treatment is known as PSYCHOTHERAPY.

Patients with mental illness may see or hear things which do not exist. They HALLUCINATE. Such a phenomenon is called," HALLUCINATION". Certain drugs produce hallucination. They are called," HALLUCINOGENS ". One such drug is LSD.Another word for such drugs is PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS.

When a disease is caused due to a mental condition, it is known as a PSYCHOSOMATIC DISEASE.

A serious mental condition affecting a person' s entire personality is called PSYCHOSIS.

Treating mental illness by asking patients to act events from their past experiences is known as PSYCHODRAMA.

We shall continue in the next post.

Sayee Jayaraman

18/02/2015