motivation behind the internet addiction

Adlerian theory holds that people are goal-directed and purposeful in their behavior. Adler commented on human being goal-directed, “A person would not know what to do with himself were he not oriented toward some goal. We cannot think, feel, will, or act without the perception of some goal” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956)

Internet addicts are motivated by a purposeful goal, a quest to adventure upon to find belonging, significance, and to contribute. Consequently, the quest for connection, friendship, relationships, and love on social media sites, chat rooms, and virtual sex through pornography is inexorably tied to the longing to belong, to find significance, and to contribute. We are social creatures, and in our longing to be connected, we can sometimes reach out in unhealthy ways. Hence, teenagers are looking for belonging, connection, social acceptance, and contribution, and the Internet, in and of itself, provides a faux fulfillment of those longings.Adlerian strategy to find freedom from addiction is imbedded in discovering the true goal behind the substance use and helping the individual meet that goal in a healthier way.

Adlerian theory purports that humans are driven to superiority stemming from feelings of inferiority discovered earlier in life rooted in their desire to belong. These feelings of inferiority drive humans to belong, to find significance, and to contribute to society to compensate for those inferior feelings. However, striving to reach our goals to belong, to find significance, and contribute can be completed on the useful or the useless side of life; in other words, humans strive on the vertical plane (motivated by self-interest) or on the horizontal plane (motivated by community interest) (Griffith & Powers, 2007).

An Adlerian perspective of adolescent Internet addiction would be that the addiction is the expression of a  struggle to overcome their inferiority feelings. The addiction presents itself because of the lack of courage in the individual to face reality and their life tasks. The individuals selfishly retreats into the Internet out of fear of being discovered, and so is hesitant of relationships with others in the real world. The fear of having others uncover their inadequacies is too much to bear. These inferiority feelings are also linked to the sense of not belonging that so many addicts report. This inferiority could be linked to the sense of "not belonging" that so many addicts report (Young, 1998; Brown, 2014)

Internet addicts confess their inability to successfully maintain their relationships with others, and as a result, a sense of worthlessness pervades. Furthermore, if these individuals dealing with Internet addiction have not experienced belonging or significance in the real world, these feelings of worthlessness are even more potent (Young, 1998). Adlerian theory emphasizes the importance of one’s final fictional goal, and students struggling with compulsive Internet use,might create a new goal of protecting and hiding their worthlessness, so the Internet becomes the refuge. Now the individual mistakenly believes that he or she must live online in order to survive offline (Brown, 2014). In other words, the individual tries to eliminate feelings of inferiority through their continue retreat into the Web. This fear of failure is problematic because it prevents the individual from succeeding in one of the three main life tasks outlined by Adler (1956): work/school, friendship, and intimacy.

Adler in The Neurotic Constitution (1916) discoursed about self-indulgence as a lifestyle problem and considered alcoholism and addiction as a form of retrogressive movement and suggested that alcoholics are “pampered failures” who lack courage and social interest. Adler (1956) stated, "Very frequently the beginning of addiction shows an acute feeling of inferiority marked by shyness, a liking for isolation, oversensitivity, impatience, irritability, and by neurotic symptoms like anxiety, depression and sexual insufficiency" (p. 423). Laskowitz (1961), an Adlerian theorist, furthers this idea when he indicated, “The adolescent drug addict is socially distant, suffers from heightened feelings of inadequacy, lacks courage, desires to be shielded and pampered."

Dr. Sunil Kumar                                                 Dr. Jayasudha Kamaraj

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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy at Mind Zone, Chennai

A lot of people struggle with overwhelming emotions. It’s as if the knob is turned to maximum
volume on much of what they feel. When they get angry or sad or scared, it shows up as a big,
powerful wave that can sweep them off their feet.

If you’ve faced overwhelming emotions in your life, you know what we’re talking about. There
are days when your feelings hit you with the force of a tsunami. And when that happens, it makes
you—understandably—afraid to feel things because you don’t want to get swept away by your
emotions. The trouble is, the more you try to suppress or put a lid on your emotions, the more
overwhelming they can get. 

What’s important to know right now is that trying to stop your feelings doesn’t work. There’s a fair amount of research to suggest that the likelihood of developing intense, overwhelming emotions may be hardwired from birth. But it can also be greatly affected by trauma or neglect during childhood. 

Trauma at critical points in our development can literally alter our brain structure in ways that make us more vulnerable to intense, negative emotions. However, the fact that a propensity to intense emotions is often rooted in genetics or trauma doesn’t mean the problem can’t be overcome. Thousands of people have used the skills you’ll can learn  to achieve better emotional control. They have changed their lives—and you can too.

So what are these skills, and how will they help you? Dialectical behavior therapy teaches four critically important skills that can both reduce the size of emotional waves and help you keep your balance when those emotions overwhelm you.

mind zone offers Dialectical Behavior Therapy for all the out patient and In- patient clients.  for further enquiry about DBT, feel free to contact in 9444297058  or 9176055660

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Clinical Psychologist                                               Counselling Psychologist

Founder                                                                    Co-founder

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Beliefs

Beliefs are conclusions that are reached as a result of past learning, whether this is directly from personal experience or indirectly assimilated through peer and parental pressures to conform to a "normal" way of thinking (for that culture).

Having perceived a situation in a certain way, i.e. having picked on an aspect of it that he considers most significant, the individual will then make an evaluation, according to his beliefs, about how he relates to that aspect of the situation. He will (perhaps semi-consciously) say a sentence to himself, based on an underlying assumption or belief.

This belief may be rational, i.e. based on reality and what exists and is logical, or it may be irrational, based on delusion, prejudice and ideas that are fixed and not open to inspection.

For example a person is nearly knocked over by a bus, and he infers that the driver was going too fast, and then believes rationally that the driver, like anyone else, is a fallible human being and he had better make more allowance for poor driving in future, when crossing the road. Alternatively, he may respond irrationally and say to himself that it is absolutely terrible that the driver should do such a thing, and if he could get hold of the driver he would shoot him. This is a greatly exaggerated evaluation based on an underlying irrational belief, that the driver's behavior was impossible to tolerate.

Dr. Sunil Kumar                                       Dr. Jayasudha Kamaraj

Clinical Psychologist                                Counseling Psychologist

Founder                                                     Co-founder

Mind Zone                                                Mind Zone

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psychiatric hospital in chennai

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Mind Zone

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Myths and Facts of Suicide........

                                             MYTHS ABOUT SUICIDE

There are many myths about suicide and suicidal behavior that have been passed down through generations of healthcare providers that some providers still believe today and may have actually been taught.  Examples of these myths are:

•           Myth: Asking about suicide would plant the idea in my patient's head.

•           Reality: Asking how your patient feels doesn’t create suicidal thoughts any more     than asking how your patient’s chest feels would cause angina.

•           Myth: There are talkers and there are doers.

•           Reality:  Most people who die by suicide have communicated some intent.  Someone who talks about suicide gives the physician an opportunity to intervene before suicidal behaviors occur.

•           Myth: If somebody really wants to die by suicide, there is nothing you can do about it.

•           Reality: Most suicidal ideas are associated with the presence of underlying treatable disorders. Providing a safe environment for treatment of the underlying cause can save lives.  The acute risk for suicide is often time-limited.  If you can help the person survive the immediate crisis and the strong intent to die by suicide, then you will have gone a long way towards promoting a positive outcome.

•           Myth: He/she really wouldn't kill themselves since ______.

•           he just made plans for a vacation

•           she has young children at home

•           he signed a No Harm Contract

•           he knows how dearly his family loves him

•           Reality: The intent to die can override any rational thinking.  In the presence of suicidal ideation or intent, the physician should not be dissuaded from thinking that the patient is capable of acting on these thoughts and feelings.  No Harm or No Suicide contracts have been shown to be essentially worthless from a clinical and management perspective. The anecdotal reports of their usefulness can all be explained by the strength of the alliance with the care provider that results from such a collaborative exchange, not from the specifics of the contract itself.

•           Myth:  Multiple and apparently manipulative self-injurious behaviors mean that the patient is just trying to get attention and are not really suicidal.

•           Reality: Suicide “gestures” require thoughtful assessment and treatment.  Multiple prior suicide attempts increase the likelihood of eventually dying by suicide.   The task is to empathically and non-judgmentally engage the patient in understanding the behavior and finding safer and healthier ways of asking for help.

Sunil Kumar                                                  Jayasudha Kamaraj

Clinical Psychologist                                     Counseling Psychologist

Founder - Mind Zone                                     Co-founder - Mind Zone

+91 9444 297058                                           +91 9176055 660

Psychiatric rehabilitation................http://mindzone.in/

Psychiatric rehabilitation, sometimes referred to as “psychosocial rehabilitation,” is a set of strategies and techniques designed to meet the needs of persons with psychiatric disabilities. A true understanding of psychiatric rehabilitation (PsyR) begins with an awareness of and sensitivity to the personal lived experience of serious mental illnesses.

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Clinical Psychologist                       Counseling Psychologist

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MIND ZONE

Women and mental health..........http://mindzone.in/

Depressive and anxiety disorders pose a major public health problem with substantial economic and social burden. women have an almost 2-fold risk of these disorders compared to men, a difference that starts in childhood or early adolescence and persists into adulthood. Further, depressive and anxiety disorders have been associated with the development and progression of various forms of physical disease, suggesting the associations of these psychiatric disorders with physical health in general.

Sunil Kumar                              Jayasudha Kamaraj
Clinical Psychologist                 Counseling Psychologist
founder                                       co-founder
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MIND ZONE

Impact of Insomnia on Psychological Well-Being...........http://mindzone.in/

Insomnia is almost always associated with fatigue and mood disturbances such as irritability and dysphoria. The unpredictable and uncontrollable nature of sleep can lead some individuals to present with irritability, tension, helplessness or even depressed mood. Longitudinal studies have suggested

that untreated persistent insomnia may even be a risk factor for developing major depression (e.g., Ford & Kamerow, 1989). Sleep loss in insomnia can thereby cause considerable distress, impact on professional and social functioning, and decrease quality of life. In turn, these emotional disturbances

may contribute to insomnia patient’s feelings of fatigue, decreased performance, and mood alterations.

Sunil Kumar                           Jayasudha Kamaraj
Clinical Psychologist              Counseling Psychologist
Founder                                   co-founder
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MIND ZONE

Psychologist, Psychiatrist and Mental Health professionals

                 

                             CLOSELY RELATED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONS

Psychiatrists

A psychiatrist is a physician. Psychiatry is rooted in the medical tradition and exists within the framework of organized medicine. Thus, psychiatrists are often accorded the power and status of the medical profession, even though their intellectual heritage comes from the non-medical contributions of Freud, Jung, Adler, and others. Although the latter were physicians, they stepped out of the medical tradition to develop a psychoanalytic system of thought that had very little to do with medicine. The psychiatric profession has vocally and effectively pushed for a superior role in the mental health professional hierarchy, and much of the profession’s argument has been based on its medical background. Consistent with its roots in the medical tradition, psychiatry regards psychopathology as a mental “illness” with discrete (often biologically based) causes that can best be remedied with a medical treatment, such as psychotropic medication.

Psychiatrists, like all medical doctors, complete a general medical school curriculum early in their training. Because of their medical training, psychiatrists have the skills to function as physicians. They may prescribe medication, treat physical ailments, and give physical examinations. In addition to some training in psychotherapy and psychiatric diagnosis, psychiatrists make extensive use of a variety of medications in treating their patients’ psychological difficulties. Furthermore, their medical training makes them potentially better able to recognize medical problems that may be contributing to the patient’s psychological distress.

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST
In contrast to psychiatrists, clinical psychologists typically receive little training in medicine. However, clinical psychologists do receive more extensive training in the psychological principles governing human behavior, in formal assessment of psychological functioning, and in scientific research methods. As compared to psychiatrists, clinical psychologists also receive more extensive training in psychotherapy (i.e., “talk” therapy as opposed to medications) and are more likely to view psychopathology as a consequence of interactions between individuals’ biological/psychological/ social predispositions and their experiences within the environment.

Counseling Psychologists
The activities of counseling psychologists overlap with those of clinical psychologists. Traditionally, counseling psychologists work with normal or moderately maladjusted individuals. Their work may involve group counseling or counseling with individuals. Their principal method of assessment is usually the interview, but counseling psychologists also do testing (e.g., assessment of abilities,personality, interests, and vocational aptitude). Historically, these professionals have focused on conducting educational and occupational counseling, often from a person-centered or humanistic orientation. Currently, however, it is much more common to encounter counseling psychologists representing a wide range of theoretical orientations (e.g., cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic) and treating clients across the life span.

Sunil Kumar                                     Jayasudha Kamaraj
Clinical Psychologist                      Counseling Psychologist
Founder                                             Co-Founder
http://mindzone.in/                          http://mindzone.in/

Mental health and mental illness.................http://mindzone.in/

                                            Mental health and mental illness

There is more to good health than just a physically healthy body: a healthy person should also have a healthy mind. A person with a healthy mind should be able to think clearly, should be able to solve the various problems faced in life, should enjoy good relations with friends, colleagues at work and family, and should feel spiritually at ease and bring happiness to others in the community.

 It is these aspects of health that can be considered as mental health.

Even though we talk about the mind and body as if they were separate, in reality they are like two sides of the same coin. They share a great deal with each other, but present a different face to

the world around us. If one of the two is affected in any way, then the other will almost certainly also be affected. Just because we think about the mind and body separately, it does not mean that

they are independent of each other. Just as the physical body can fall ill, so too can the mind. This can be called mental illness.

Mental illness is “any illness experienced by a person which affects their emotions, thoughts or behaviour, which is out of keeping with their cultural beliefs and personality, and is producing a negative effect on their lives or the lives of their families”.

• There have been tremendous advances in our understanding of the causes and treatment of mental illnesses. Most of these treatments can be provided effectively by a general or community health worker.

• Mental illness includes a broad range of health problems. For most people, mental illness is thought of as an illness associated with severe behavioural disturbances such as violence, agitation and being sexually inappropriate. Such disturbances are usually associated with severe mental disorders. However, the vast majority of those with a mental illness behave and look no different from anyone else. These common mental health problems include depression, anxiety,

sexual problems and addiction.

Depression - Signs and Symptoms of Depression in Children

               

                              Signs and Symptoms of Depression in Children http://mindzone.in/

(1) Complain of sadness or report a negative self concept when it pertains to their behavior, intelligence, appearance, or acceptance by peers.

(2) Complain of frequent somatic complaints such as fatigue, stomach ache or headache (often to miss school) that do not respond to treatment.

(3) Social withdrawal typified by refusal to engage with friends or participate in extracurricular activities, hobbies or other interests with a general sense of anhedonia.

(4) Isolation – opting to stay in their rooms, sleep extensively and are more irritable or moody in their interactions with family.

(5) Increased sensitivity to perceived criticism or rejection with vocal outbursts or crying.

(6) Behavioral problems with anger outbursts.

(7) Thoughts of death or suicide (rare completions in children under the age of 12 years).

(8) Rarely complains of auditory hallucinations but this type of psychotic depression needs to be differentiated from other conditions.

Alcohol Rehabilitation Center in Chennai

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Suicide - Social Learning perspective

                                        Suicide - Social Learning perspective

1. Suicide is a learned behaviour. Childhood experiences and forces in the environment shape the suicidal person and precipitate the act.

2. Child-rearing practices are critical, especially the child’s experiences of punishment. Specifically, the suicidal person has learned to inhibit the expression of aggression outward and simultaneously learned to turn it inward upon him/herself.

3. The suicide can be predicted based on the basic laws of learning. Suicide is shaped behaviour—the behaviour was and is reinforced in his/her environment.

4. The suicidal person’s thoughts provide the stimuli; suicide (response) is imagined. Cognitions (such as self-praise) can be reinforcers for the act.

5. The suicidal person’s expectancies play a critical role in the suicide—he/she expects reinforcement (reward) by the act.

6. Depression, especially the cognitive components, is strongly associated with the suicide. Depression goes far towards explaining suicide. For example, depression maybe caused by a lack of reinforcement, learned helplessness, and/or rewarded.

7. Suicide can be a manipulative act. Others reinforce this.

8. Suicide is not eliminated by means of punishment.

9. The suicidal person is non-socialized. He/she has not been sufficiently socialized into traditional culture. The suicidal person has failed to learn the normal cultural values, especially towards life and death.

10. The suicide can be reinforced by a number of environmental factors, for example, subcultural norms, suggestions on television, gender preferences for specific methods, suicide in significant others (modelling), a network of family and friends, cultural patterns.

Sunil Kumar                                  Jayasudha Kamaraj
Clinical Psychologist                   Counseling Psychologist
http://mindzone.in/http://mindzone.in/

suicide - Cognitive & Behavioral Aspects

                                    Cognitive-Behavioural aspects of Suicidehttp://mindzone.in/

1. Suicide is associated with depression. The critical link between depression and suicidal intent is hopelessness.

2. Hopelessness, defined operationally in terms of negative expectations, appears to be the critical factor in the suicide. The suicidal person views suicide as the only possible solution to his/her desperate and hopelessly unsolvable problem (situation).

3. The suicidal person views the future as negative, often unrealistically. He/she anticipates more suffering, more hardship, more frustration, more deprivation, etc.

4. The suicidal person’s view of him/herself is negative, often unrealistically. He/she views him/herself as incurable, incompetent, and helpless, often with self-criticism, self-blame, and reproaches against the self (with expressions of guilt and regret) accompanying this low self-evaluation.

5. The suicidal person views him/herself as deprived, often unrealistically. Thoughts of being alone, unwanted, unloved, and perhaps materially deprived are possible examples of such deprivation.

6. Although the suicidal person’s thoughts (interpretations) are arbitrary, he/she considers no alternative, accepting the validity (accuracy) of the cognitions.

7. The suicidal person’s thoughts, which are often automatic and involuntary, are characterized by a number of possible errors, some so gross as to constitute distortion; e.g., preservation, overgeneralization, magnification/minimization, inexact labelling, selective abstraction, negative bias.

8. The suicidal person’s affective reaction is proportional to the labelling of the traumatic situation, regardless of the actual intensity of the event.

9. Irrespective of whether the affect is sadness, anger, anxiety, or euphoria, the more intense the affect the greater the perceived plausibility of the associated cognitions.

10. The suicidal person, being hopeless and not wanting to tolerate the pain (suffering), desires to escape. Death is thought of as more desirable than life.

Sunil Kumar

Clinical Psychologist

Jayasudha Kamaraj

Counselling Psychologist

http://mindzone.in/