I have always been interested in Psychology since high school. When you are a literature student, it becomes quiet natural to think about the thought process of creativity and the way classic works came into existence. I got interested in learning about the thought process and the inner working mind, well at that point, I should say that I got interested in Psychology.
This may not be a review of the article, but this is more a tangential view of the medical fraternity from a different point of view. The mind is a complex part of the human body. The working of the brain has been a topic that covers all kinds of specialized abilities, be it memory, neural network, or maintenance of the body function. The brain is highly proficient in all these and much more.
Advancing Medical Science Field and the Brain
Given the advancement of the medical field, the knowledge of the brain is still in the infancy of infirmary. Patient Counseling as opposed to clinical psychiatry vary in two distinct aspects. Psychiatrists prescribe medication and treatments for various ailments related to the brain, while the field of counselling is more drawn out conversationally.
Counseling is on the opposite end to Psychiatry in the mental well-being spectrum. The fact is, we are still weary of hypnosis view of the mind’s black box for the understanding cause for the mental breakdown. Of course, there are other extreme practices like electrical shocks administered legally under anesthesia.
Artist Grappling Mind’s Mystery with their Works
The earlier psychiatric wards were scary and torturous which the surrealism painters have depicted in various stark colors. Salvador Dali, a surrealist painter has a collection of paintings that portrayed aspects of the human mind’s states. The famous painter Vincent Van Gogh is another name and he had popularized through his works, that mental well-being even aids hand in hand in creative works of an artist.
The mental infirmary has been for long viewed with disparity in the administration of treatments for patients suffering from brain related discomfort. Now with more time spent on research, it is at a state where a new understanding and viewing of the smallest of quirks have come up as some form of mental well-being issue such as OCD, phobia for individuals. The word phobia is dropped irrespective of medical field cross-referencing.
A Sprinkle of History of Mental Well-Being
Naturally, the early start of this field was in the latter half of the 19th century. Around the 20th century there were a lot of innovations in the view of the human mind and its complexity. Now in the 21st century, we view this field with reluctant sympathy. It is not a completely and wholeheartedly accepted field of medicine. People who really dare to aspire to be a psychiatrist over a more acceptable brain Surgeon are heroes of sort for me.
When the field expands with so many potentials and stress disorders it is naturally accepted. This medical field is no longer a taboo topic and doctors in this field clean up well too. Old school of view of the doctors who practice psychiatry are now accepted as an honorable field of medical science. The way we see things may take a long time to change. But the approach is to be inclusive of those who are part of the discarded patients.
Stigma Behind Mental Well-Being and Change In Lingo
The patients live with stigma all the time and social setting is not conducive even now for being an inclusive society. The rate at which one is labelled and discarded is quiet scary to experience. Yet people survive and exist amidst all without disclosing their ailment. Visit to a Psychiatrist is not shared due to social backfired comments. The point is that people rarely support wholeheartedly and accept the person on their skills and talents that they hold within them and who are willing contributors to the society.
The present vocabulary used for ailments, self-talks, in conversation among peers and patients. May have moved on a notch up the social acceptance, yet very few people will buy into the thoughts of being more inclusive socially. Mental Well-Being is the new term that we have advanced too. Be less acquisitive towards the person suffering a situation where they are unable to explain it in clear words. It is good that the terms are changing and more circumventing in their expression. But the Big-Fat-White-Elephant sitting in front of your living room television still irks many of us.
Coming Back to Neha’s article
I must say using words related to this field has become a fad. Most of would hear people rolling off, ‘I’m in therapy for such and such cause.’ There have been times when I have also felt I should start counselling too after having gone through therapy. Because to really get into the thinking space of the patient takes building faith and confidence of the counselor.
The patient-counselor faith lies in how the exposure of their most vulnerable memories happens in a session. Society has custom-made us respond in specific trained ways. So, a counselor is challenging that aspect of the patient and when the mind is skewed and skeptical it is hard to come through clear headed in such situations.
I do agree that this field needs to have more inspired and enthusiastic counselors who are not only relying on a set of theory and principles. Bookish knowledge alone will not add to the proper way to oversee patients. But if Neha had wanted to open this venue for future studies then the article had done justice without naming institution where young youth could learn their counseling skills. There is no one-way which is the right fit for all.
Conservative Views Hold True Even Today!
I did a Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) course for two planned weeks for procrastination and lackluster future goals. This therapy class was highly informative and taught me to train in a lot of factors of self-management like time, stress, behaviors, emotion, increase my EQ with my IQ, and scheduling life goals.
Though I lived in three different developed countries, I only know the mental health therapies from India. I have many counselors’ walk-in and the ‘I, Id, and Ego’ in me walk out. It is interesting that sometimes talking about the concerns of the patient should be at their pace.
I was totally fascinated with CBT and did not like the regular counseling, as it does not give a filled feeling of positivity. But when I plan something and try to figure out what I need to do just to survive that is incredible for me. This is a complex thought to grapple with, but then, makes sense for me, that is the kind of counseling that I look out for. Since, I am super conservative introvert walking around as a showoff extrovert version 2 person in real-life.
The mind can be programmed to perform in such ways that it can almost fool itself off! This mental dialogue within the patient’s mind needs to be addressed early and gently drawn out. There are a lot of people who can do this, and the reason sessions have been rocking and a game changer for some patients who thank their counselor for showing them the flood light in their drowning life.
Itinerant Storyteller 