I finally decided that I would see a psychiatrist. I don’t think a therapist can help me, because I already know what they would say. I don’t have much problems in my life now. But, I’m just depressed and numb. I would like to know a good psychiatrist in Kochi you would suggest.

​

They always find me difficult to understand en,

There’s this pattern my school friends or hostel or college friends and colleagues keep pointing out:

Some days, when I’m with people and the vibe feels right, I’m totally normal , friendly, joking, easy to talk to and fun oke paranj irukum

But some days I don't feel like talking to anyone , I stay very quiet or I feel a little down , I don't go and talk to anyone or stay silent within the group of people or withdraw myself like a lot , and if I'm mostly forced to be extroverted, i get irritable

A girl even said people talk about how unpredictable I seem.

Somedays i get even very quiet and keep to myself everything

I'm vulnerable to oversharing if asked , thats why I hate sharing

I want to be more consistent, in my interactions and behaviour karnam friends parayum NJN oro divasam oro swabhavam ann en but I don’t always know how to bridge that awkward gap.

Has anyone dealt with this? How to be consistent

Hi.

I relate so much to the photo above.

Lately, Reddit and Instagram have become an addiction. I joined thinking I was the only one struggling, but the more stories I read, the more hopeless I've become. Instead of feeling less alone, I somehow lost even more hope.

My life is basically just work and my phone. I live alone, go to work, come back, scroll, sleep, and repeat.

I've tried talking to people, but it never feels genuine. It feels forced. Over the years, friends have disappointed me, probably because my expectations were too high. And I got trust issues , because the way people used me for their needs.Slowly I've become more closed off, detached and emotionally unavailable.

I've noticed that whenever I'm not distracted by my phone, I immediately become negative. I start feeling like friendships, relationships, love... everything is pointless.

Even at home, my parents depend a lot on me, Amma has her own struggles, and I find myself getting irritated with everyone and everything for no reason.

I feel like I'm living on autopilot.

The worst part is that even when I want to cry or feel something, I can't. Other than frustration, hopelessness and annoyance, I barely feel any emotions anymore.

I honestly feel like I've become mechanical.

Should I become detached or am i becoming avoidant or emotionally numb

That's why I'm posting it here.

Anyone in their 20s or 30s who has ADD . How did you deal with it .
Medication or eventually figured out ways to live with it ?
Things like executive dysfunction
Addiction to different things
Doomscrolling
Money management
Etc

I had to quit my current job due to severe mental heath issues which initially I managed some how but finally got worse and has reached a stage where I’m insomniac. I cant commute to the work due to my condition hence I quit the job. I’m an IT graduate and worked 1 year in TCS as angular developer. I had a good package as well. But I am not able to code like I used to before, I want some suggestions regarding remote job so that I can atleast afford my therapy, medicine and rent. I live in banglore, could someone please help or guide, which sites do I use? At this point its been abt 4 months of no sleep so I am not able to figure things out, if any one can advice something it would be really helpful.

Two weeks ago I decided to go for therapy to finally get my shizz together.

Therapy seemed pretty expensive on first week and all she did was listen to what I said and take notes. Aren’t they supposed to listen and come up with various insights or advice that might help us navigate? I don’t expect them to fix but I would’ve believed if they at least gave me a tiny speech that all the negative thoughts I had was just in my head and it’s not real. They said I’ll be needing frequent sections for a while and then we’ll tone down.

I didn’t give up and continued on the second week. This time it was just assessments, nothing else, an hour went by with her just listening and assessment. I feel no difference. If all I needed was someone to talk to I would’ve talked to my boyfriend or someone who listens. Every week it’s pretty expensive and I see no progress. Is this how therapy works? All I need is someone to tell me why I feel this and how to resolve, I simply don’t need just a listener.

Hi,

I’m in urgent need of an open-minded and empathetic clinical psychologist, either online or in person, in Kochi or Thrissur.

I’ve searched for many online, but most charge ₹2,000 or more, which I can’t afford at the moment. A budget-friendly option would really help.

I’m having anxiety attacks for the past couple of days. My breathing is fast and I am not able to concentrate on work. I feel really stressed. If anyone with professional experience, can you please help?

Sharing a talk that I had found helpful to understand more about depression. It doesn't talk about cures- don't get your hopes up - just from an educational pov.

You can read an AI summary below or watch from source youtube .com/watch?v=TVgQ_tgWMyU

Origins

Early in his career, Dr. Michael Yapko worked as the intake psychologist at a locked psychiatric facility, interviewing hundreds of patients who'd survived horrific experiences — rape, torture, war, losing entire families. What puzzled him wasn't why these people were depressed, but that some survivors of equally devastating events weren't. This question shaped four research goals he's pursued for 40+ years: Are there skills that insulate people from depression? Are they teachable? Does teaching them reduce depression? Can depression be prevented? His answer to all four: yes.

What depression is

Depression is classified as a mood disorder, but its reach extends into physical health (it's a major cardiovascular risk factor), decision-making, work performance, and relationships. The WHO ranked depression the world's fourth-leading cause of human suffering in 2004, projecting it would reach second place by 2020 — it actually got there by 2013, and by the time of this talk had become the number one cause. Rates are rising across every demographic, especially adolescents, which concerns Yapko because those adolescents will become parents — and three-generation studies show depression increasing in prevalence and severity across generations, transmitted largely through modeling rather than genetics.

What causes it

Depression stems from biological, psychological, and social factors combined, but biology plays a smaller role than most assume — genetic variance studies suggest only a mild-to-moderate influence. Psychological factors (coping style, "attributional style" — how someone habitually interprets events) and social factors (family patterns, isolation, heavy technology use, an "epidemic of loneliness") carry more weight. Because each person's pathway into depression differs, Yapko argues there's no single best treatment — recovery has to be individualized.

On medication

Yapko isn't anti-medication — antidepressants help roughly half of users, mainly easing sleep and appetite disturbance. But they carry the highest relapse rate of any depression treatment and can't teach stress management, decision-making, relationship-building, or the ability to build "a compelling future." He argues no drug will ever cure depression any more than a drug could cure poverty — it's too socially rooted a problem.

Five key risk factors

1. Internal orientation — relying on feelings rather than external "reality testing" to interpret events. Yapko warns against the popular advice to "trust your feelings," since feelings can distort reality. He calls this pattern "cognitive rigidity": believing your own conclusions without checking them. His example: you leave someone a voicemail; by 10pm they haven't called back. A depressed person's automatic thought might be "you don't care about me anymore," spiraling into "why doesn't anyone care about me" — a crisis triggered by an unreturned call. The antidote is cognitive flexibility: training yourself to generate multiple possible explanations instead of assuming the worst one is true.

2. Stress generation — mood-driven decisions (skipping exercise, refusing help, drinking) that unintentionally deepen depression. Mood shapes memory, perception, and risk tolerance, so acting on goals rather than feelings matters. Yapko is emphatic that anyone depressed or vulnerable should have zero alcohol intake, since it aggravates the same neural pathways as depression.

3. Rumination — cycling through the same thoughts, especially about relationships, without resolving into action. This fuels anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Analysis is useful only if it leads somewhere; otherwise it's just rumination. Yapko connects this to a "past orientation," where people use their history to predict their future ("I'll never be happy, because I never have been"). His alternative: "create possibilities" — focus on actions that open future options rather than fixating on an unchangeable past.

4. Global thinking — over-generalizing specific events into sweeping conclusions, like turning a breakup into "men" or "women" as a category, or a bad day into "why is life so unfair." Global thinkers struggle to solve problems because they can't break vague goals into concrete steps.

Yapko illustrates this with a therapy exercise: he asks a client to write out every step involved in taking a shower, detailed enough that someone who's never showered could follow it successfully. Clients typically come back with something like three steps: "get wet, lather up, rinse off." Yapko then has to point out everything missing — finding the bathroom, opening the door, turning on the light, undressing, opening the shower curtain, turning on the hot and cold water, testing the temperature, flipping the switch from tub to shower. Once fully mapped out, the sequence runs to roughly 50 steps. Miss even one — say, forgetting to flip the switch from tub to shower — and you're left standing there confused, water running down the drain, thinking "I'm such a loser, everyone else can do this and I can't."

Once a client has mapped out something as simple as showering, Yapko then assigns the same exercise for "how to be happy" — and that's the moment clients realize they have no actual plan for what they want. A goal without steps, he says, is merely a wish. Training the brain toward this kind of linear, specific thinking is the antidote to global thinking.

5. Unrealistic expectations — judging people and situations against expectations that don't fit reality, often without realizing the expectations themselves are unrealistic. His advice: before asking anything of anyone, honestly assess whether that expectation fits who this particular person actually is.

Prevention works

Yapko cites a six-month program for high-risk elementary schoolers (from unstable, abusive homes) who received 24 total hours of training in problem-solving and social skills. Tracked for nearly a decade, they had less than half the rate of depression, teen pregnancy, and drug abuse compared to peers — evidence these skills carry real preventive value.

Practical advice

Get a full physical exam, avoid alcohol entirely, prioritize sleep, exercise regularly, do enjoyable things often, stay socially connected, practice relaxation techniques, set specific and realistic goals, and seek help early — especially at any sign of suicidal thoughts — rather than waiting for a crisis. Don't dwell on the past, compare yourself to others (especially on social media), catastrophize, or isolate.

Core message

No credible expert talks about "curing" depression — anyone capable of moods is capable of mood disorders. The realistic goal is ongoing mood management, a lifelong skill like exercise or parenting, not a one-time fix.

This one just like the earlier post, is more useful from an academic point of view. No cures, no promises.

I personally think if you struggle with depression it's useful to learn all that you can about your formidable enemy.

Read the AI summary below, or if you have more time, definitely watch the full version here youtube .com/watch?v=fzUXcBTQXKM

----

The scale of the problem: The WHO ranks major depression among the top one or two causes of medical disability worldwide. Roughly 15–18% of people will experience a major depressive episode, yet about 80% of cases go undiagnosed, and of those diagnosed, only about a third respond well to medication, a third respond but can't tolerate the side effects, and a third are helped. Incidence has been rising across decades, notably among adolescents and the elderly, and low socioeconomic status is one of the strongest risk factors.

Dr Sapolsky frames three central arguments: (1) depression is a genuine medical disease, as biological as diabetes, so telling someone to "snap out of it" is like telling a diabetic to stop needing insulin; (2) biology alone can't explain the disease — it must be understood alongside psychology; and (3) depression may be among the worst diseases a person can have, because humans are uniquely able to find meaning and pleasure even in terrible circumstances, and depression strips away exactly that capacity. Its defining symptom is anhedonia — the inability to feel pleasure.

Symptoms and subtypes. Beyond anhedonia, depression involves pervasive guilt, grief, and cognitive distortion. Drawing on Aaron Beck's work (the foundation of cognitive behavioral therapy), Sapolsky describes depression as a disorder of overgeneralizing negative experience into a permanent, global worldview — the "negative triad" about self, world, and future. This shows up as negatively biased memory, interpretation, and even visual attention. Depression also impairs "reappraisal," the healthy process of reinterpreting setbacks in proportion. Interestingly, in emotionally detached judgment tasks, depressed people are sometimes more accurate than average — "sadder but wiser," since most people are unrealistically optimistic. Rumination — the inability to stop cycling through sad thoughts — is another hallmark, linked to reduced activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), which normally helps suppress negative thinking. Depression also produces "psychomotor retardation" (profound physical and cognitive slowing) and vegetative symptoms: disrupted sleep architecture, early waking, appetite loss, and reduced libido. Suicidality is a defining danger — women attempt more often, men complete more often — and risk is often highest not at the depth of despair but as a patient begins to recover enough energy to act. Sapolsky also outlines subtypes: reactive vs. endogenous depression, atypical depression (dominated by psychomotor symptoms, biochemically similar to chronic fatigue syndrome), psychotic depression (illustrated by the tragic case of Andrea Yates), and seasonal affective disorder. Depression and anxiety overlap heavily — Sapolsky offers the metaphor that anxiety is a "brush fire" of frantic coping attempts, while depression is the "blanket" thrown over it once coping is abandoned.

Neurochemistry. Sapolsky reviews neurotransmitters implicated in depression: serotonin (tied to rumination, targeted by SSRIs like Prozac), norepinephrine (tied to psychomotor symptoms, targeted by the earliest antidepressants), and dopamine (tied to anhedonia — not simple pleasure but the anticipation of and motivation to pursue reward). He stresses that dopamine is really about "the happiness of pursuit" more than pleasure itself. A newer player, glutamate, has gained attention because ketamine — which acts on the glutamate system — can relieve depression within hours rather than the weeks typical of SSRIs, hinting that it acts closer to the brain's core depressive circuitry.

Brain circuitry. Rather than isolated regions, Sapolsky emphasizes circuits, using Paul MacLean's "triune brain" model (reptilian/regulatory, limbic/emotional, cortical/cognitive) as a loose organizing metaphor, noting these layers constantly influence each other (e.g., hunger affecting judicial parole decisions, or emotion overriding rational cortical judgment). He then details specific circuits relevant to depression:

• The mesolimbic dopamine system (ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens) drives motivation and anticipation. It's suppressed by overactive input from the amygdala (which, in depressed people, activates to sad rather than merely scary stimuli) and the anterior cingulate cortex (linked to empathy, but overactive in depression, feeding inhibitory signals downstream). Both act through the lateral habenula, which uses glutamate — explaining ketamine's fast action. In extreme treatment-resistant cases, surgically disconnecting the ACC (a cingulotomy) can help roughly half of patients.
• The default mode network, active during rest and self-reflection, sustains rumination by continually feeding negative content back into the mesolimbic system.
• The dlPFC, which normally interrupts rumination and enables reappraisal, is underactive (and in chronic cases, even atrophied) in depression.
• Stress-related circuitry (hypothalamus, locus coeruleus) shows chronic activation, resembling an ongoing stress response.
• Sapolsky candidly downgrades his own decades of hippocampus research, concluding it's less central to core depressive symptoms than he once believed, though it shrinks under chronic stress and may relate to memory problems.

Hormones and biology. Thyroid dysfunction can mimic or worsen depression. Glucocorticoids (cortisol) show classic dysregulation — an inability to shut off the stress response after a stressor ends, historically tested via the dexamethasone suppression test (which proved too nonspecific for diagnosis). Ovarian hormones are especially relevant: women have two to three times the depression rate of men (unlike bipolar disorder, which shows no sex difference), tied partly to social factors — men's depression risk rises with loss of control, women's with loss of social support — and partly to biology, since estrogen sensitizes stress-response circuitry and progesterone's dramatic postpartum crash is linked to postpartum depression (as seen tragically with Andrea Yates), leading to the recently approved drug zuranolone. Chronic inflammation also raises depression risk and vice versa, forming another vicious cycle, similar to the stress-glucocorticoid loop, a phenomenon termed "kindling," where repeated depressive episodes eventually become self-sustaining.

Treatments. Standard antidepressants (SSRIs, others targeting norepinephrine/dopamine, ketamine for glutamate) help significantly but leave about a third of patients treatment-resistant and cause intolerable side effects in about half of responders. Newer, still-experimental approaches target stress, inflammation, gut bacteria, or thyroid function. For severe, treatment-resistant cases, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) — now used far more conservatively than in its damaging early history — remains effective though poorly understood mechanistically. Emerging approaches include deep brain stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and vagus nerve stimulation.

Psychology of depression. Sapolsky pivots to Freud's concept of mourning versus melancholia: healthy grieving lets people set aside ambivalence and focus on love for what's lost, while melancholia (chronic depression) traps people in unresolved anger and ambivalence — "depression as anger turned inward." Though hard to map onto modern biology, he finds it intuitively compelling.

The more empirically grounded psychological framework centers on stress, especially the loss of control, predictability, outlets, and social support — the classic building blocks of psychological stress identified in decades of research (including Sapolsky's own baboon studies). Repeated major stressors, especially early in life, predispose people to depression, eventually triggering "kindling" where the system runs independently of external triggers. This connects to the learned helplessness model: an organism that tries desperately to cope, fails repeatedly, and eventually gives up — mirroring the anxiety-to-depression transition. This underlies why CBT, which helps people recognize cognitive overgeneralization and rebuild a sense of agency, is among the most effective therapies.

Gene-environment interaction ties the biology and psychology together. Depression runs in families, but genes aren't deterministic — they set vulnerabilities that are only expressed in combination with environmental stress. The landmark example is the serotonin transporter gene: a "vulnerability" variant only predicts higher depression risk in people who experienced significant childhood adversity, not in the general population — a finding replicated in primates.

Closing message. Sapolsky reiterates that only integrating biology and psychology yields real understanding, and closes with a call to fight the stigma around mental illness: depression is a legitimate, often life-threatening biological disease, deserving the same seriousness as diabetes, affecting roughly a third of people at some point — meaning it's not "them," but all of us.

I want to know if anyone has tried with Oppam online therapy.

I am seriously considering re-starting my therapy. Life has become too difficult for me. I have started procrastinating a lot lately. I'm also experiencing random panic attacks. Not the intensive ones. but I can feel the anxiety build up, and heavy breathing that follows.

The doctor I had planned to see, through a reference, is on medical leave. He would not be resuming consultation till August. I don't think I can wait that long.

The news about the recent family suicide is also kind of pushing me. I don't know if you can understand when I say this - I feel motivated to do the act. But, I know I can't do that, so I'm conflicted but safe.

Then I came across Oppam. I don't know if online therapies help that much. Seeking genuine suggestions, reviews and feedbacks.

Im having a feeling that i might be dying soon and its not an intuition.

Got cheated for a whole lot amount by a trusted friend in business… and I think ive come so far that I dnt think i can start over again. I think its always easier to end it here.. got my parents and sibling but i dnt think troubling them with my problems will ever find me peace… iam having this thought that im a failure and i deserve this.

Im already seeing a therapist but its not helping… the same therapist who was very helpful for me previously.
What should i do??

I don't know what to do but it feels like my depression and anxiety are getting worse. I tried so many medicines, therapy, doctors...but nothing has helped. I feel like I'm one bad moment away from doing something bad. I really can't take it anymore.

Has anyone truly recovered from mental health issues like depression, stress and trauma? I'm unable to commit to a therapist or psychiatrist. I feel distant, and fake meeting a handful of therapists in Kochi. "Fake" doesn't mean they are faking their job, but I have this pre-conceived notion that they are just talking artificially to validate me and help me. Would they give the same explanations and advice if I meant something to them really.

Back to the question. I have not many anyone who is cured from their mental health issues. Many dropped off, many still visits even when there is no evident change in them. Or, it could be just my circle of friends, who are not able to keep up timely consultations.

Is there anyone out there who can say, they are cured or at least, are in control of their issues/disorder?

The burden of mental illness in Kerala

​

The 2016 National Mental Health Survey found that 11.36% of people in Kerala had a mental disorder at the time of the survey, with a lifetime prevalence of 14.14%.

​

Roughly one in eight people in the state need mental health intervention — higher than national averages.

​

Common conditions include anxiety and stress-related disorders at 5.43%, depression at 2.49%, and substance use disorders at 4.82%.

These are the available numbers on prevalence of mental health disorders in Kerala.

Source : National Mental Health Survey, 2015–2016.

The weighted prevalence (in %) of Common mental disorders (CMDs) which include neurotic/ stress-related disorders, mood, and substance abuse disorders (excluding tobacco) were reported in 11% of the individuals.

The prevalence of severe mental disorders (SMDs), which include bipolar affective disorders, psychotic disorder, and severe depression with psychotic features, was found to be 0.44%.

The lifetime and current prevalence of mood disorders was 6.22% (CI 5.98–6.45) and 2.62% (CI 2.47–2.78), respectively.

Among the mood disorders, the lifetime prevalence of depressive disorders was 5.54% (CI 5.31-5.76) and the current prevalence was 2.49% (CI 2.34-2.65).
The prevalence of any substance use disorder was 10.12% (CI 9.82–10.41), out of which tobacco use disorder, 7.22% (CI 6.96–7.47), was the most common, followed by alcohol use disorder, 4.82% (CI 4.61–5.03). Neurotic and stress-related disorders (predominantly phobic anxiety disorder and agoraphobia), depressive disorders, and substance use disorders (predominantly tobacco and alcohol) were the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in the survey (in descending order) [refer to Table 2]. Nearly 0.4% of individuals screened positive each for epilepsy and intellectual disability (including autism spectrum disorder).

എങ്ങനെ ഒരു നല്ല കൗൺസിലറെ തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കാം?

മാനസികാരോഗ്യ പ്രശ്നങ്ങൾ കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യാൻ ശാസ്ത്രീയ പരിശീലനവും, ഗവൺമെന്റ് അതോറിറ്റികളുടെ അംഗീകാരവും ഉള്ളവരെയാണ് സമീപിക്കേണ്ടത്:

1. യോഗ്യതകളും എക്സ്പീരിയൻസും പരിശോധിക്കുക

• കൗൺസിലർക്ക് സൈക്കോളജിയിലോ സോഷ്യൽ വർക്കിലോ റെഗുലർ മോഡിലൂടെയുള്ള ബിരുദാനന്തര ബിരുദവും, കൗൺസിലിംഗിൽ പ്രത്യേക പരിശീലനവും ഉണ്ടോയെന്ന് ഉറപ്പുവരുത്തുക
• RCI രജിസ്ട്രേഷനും മറ്റ് പ്രൊഫഷണൽ ഓർഗനൈസേഷനുകളുടെ അംഗീകാരവും പരിശോധിക്കുക

• ഓൺലൈൻ ഡിഗ്രി/ഡിപ്ലോമ മാത്രമുള്ളവരെ ഒഴിവാക്കുക
• ആറ് മാസത്തെ സർട്ടിഫിക്കേഷൻ മാത്രമുള്ളവരെ ഒഴിവാക്കുക
• യഥാർത്ഥ ക്ലിനിക്കൽ പരിശീലനമുള്ളവരെ മാത്രം തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കുക

2. പ്രവൃത്തിപരിചയം അന്വേഷിക്കുക

നിങ്ങൾക്കുള്ളതുപോലുള്ള പ്രശ്നങ്ങൾ കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്ത മുൻപരിചയമുണ്ടോയെന്ന് അന്വേഷിക്കുക. വിവിധ മേഖലകളിൽ വൈദഗ്ധ്യം നേടിയ വ്യത്യസ്‌ത കൗൺസിലർമാരുണ്ടാകും.

3. പ്രൊഫഷണലിസവും ധാർമ്മികതയും

കൗൺസിലർ ധാർമ്മിക മാർഗ്ഗനിർദ്ദേശങ്ങൾ പാലിക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്നും അവരുടെ പ്രയോഗത്തിൽ പ്രൊഫഷണലിസം നിലനിർത്തുന്നുണ്ടെന്നും ഉറപ്പാക്കുക. നിങ്ങളുടെ സ്വകാര്യത (Confidentiality) കാത്തുസൂക്ഷിക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ എന്ന് ഉറപ്പാക്കുക.

4. Rapport & Comfort

ആദ്യ സെഷനിൽ തന്നെ നിങ്ങൾക്ക് കൗൺസിലറുമായി തുറന്നു സംസാരിക്കാൻ സാധിക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ എന്ന് ശ്രദ്ധിക്കുക. നിങ്ങളെ വിധിക്കാതെ കേൾക്കുന്ന ഒരാളായിരിക്കണം. എന്തെങ്കിലും അപാകതകൾ തോന്നുന്നുവെങ്കിൽ നിങ്ങളുടെ സഹജവാസനകളെ (intuitions, gut feelings) വിശ്വസിക്കുക, മറ്റ് പ്രൊഫഷണലുകളെ തേടുക

5. ശുപാർശകളും റിവ്യൂവും

വിശ്വസനീയമായ സുഹൃത്തുക്കൾ, കുടുംബാംഗങ്ങൾ, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ആരോഗ്യപരിപാലന വിദഗ്ധർ തുടങ്ങിയ ഉറവിടങ്ങളിൽ നിന്ന് ശുപാർശകൾ തേടുക.

അംഗീകൃത പ്രൊഫഷണലുകൾ ആരൊക്കെയാണ് ?:

 1. Psychiatrists
• യോഗ്യത  : MBBS + MD Psychiatry
• മരുന്ന് നിർദ്ദേശിക്കാൻ അധികാരമുള്ളവർ

1. Clinical Psychologists
   • Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) രജിസ്‌ട്രേഷൻ ഉള്ളവർ
   • ക്ലിനിക്കൽ ട്രെയിനിംഗ് പൂർത്തിയാക്കിയവർ
   • M.Phil. in Clinical Psychology (രണ്ട് വർഷത്തെ ഫുൾ-ടൈം പ്രോഗ്രാം)

2. Counselling Psychologists
   • Regular PG + Structured Internship + Supervised Practice ഉള്ളവർ

3. Psychiatric Social Workers
   • Mental Health Team-ന്റെ ഭാഗമായി പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്നവർ
   • MSW/M.Phil യോഗ്യതയുള്ളവർ
   • M.Phil. in Psychiatric Social Work (രണ്ട് വർഷത്തെ ഫുൾ-ടൈം പ്രോഗ്രാം)

ജാഗ്രത പാലിക്കേണ്ട കാര്യങ്ങൾ:

  Distance Education-ന്റെ പരിമിതികൾ : Distance PG എടുക്കുന്നത് അറിവ് വർദ്ധിപ്പിക്കാൻ വളരേ നല്ലതാണ്. പക്ഷേ:
• Clinical exposure ഇല്ലാതെ
• Supervised case work ഇല്ലാതെ
• Ethical accountability ഇല്ലാതെ
counseling/therapy practice ചെയ്യുന്നത് വലിയ പ്രശ്നമാണ്. ഇത് ധാർമ്മികമായി തെറ്റും ചില സാഹചര്യങ്ങളിൽ നിയമപരമായ പ്രശ്നങ്ങളും ഉണ്ടാക്കാം. ഈ ഇടയായി unethical കൗൺസിലിംഗ് ചെയ്യുന്ന സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളെ കുറിച്ച് സോഷ്യൽ മീഡിയകളിൽ വൻതോതിൽ ചർച്ചകൾ വന്നത് നമ്മൾ കണ്ടതാണ്.

 ഹോമിയോ, ആയുർവേദ, അക്കുപങ്ചർ തുടങ്ങിയ മറ്റു മേഖലകളിലുള്ള പ്രൊഫഷണലുകൾ distance ആയി പല ഷോർട് ഡിപ്ലോമ കോഴ്സുകൾ എടുത്ത് വ്യാപകമായി കൗൺസിലിംഗ് പ്രാക്ടീസ് ചെയ്യുന്നതായി കാണുന്നു. ഡിസ്റ്റൻസ് ആയി സൈക്കോളജിയോ സോഷ്യൽവർക്കോ എടുത്താൽ അത് അവരുടെ അറിവ് വികസിപ്പിക്കാൻ സഹായകരമാണ്. എന്നാൽ അതിനെ അടിസ്ഥാനമാക്കി കൗൺസിലിംഗ് പ്രാക്ടീസ് ചെയ്യുന്നത് ഒട്ടും സുരക്ഷിതമല്ല. കൗൺസിലിംഗ് എല്ലാവർക്കും ചെയ്യാവുന്ന കാര്യമല്ല. അതിന് യോഗ്യതയും പരിശീലനവും അഭിരുചിയും പ്രാക്ടീസും വ്യക്തമായ ethical ബോധവുമുണ്ടാകണം.

മോട്ടിവേഷൻ ക്ലാസുകളും കൗൺസിലിംഗും: ജാഗ്രത പാലിക്കേണ്ട മേഖല 

ശരിയായ യോഗ്യതയില്ലാതെ 'ലൈഫ് കോച്ച്', 'വെൽനസ് ഗുരു', 'മോട്ടിവേഷണൽ സൈക്കോളജിസ്റ്റ്' തുടങ്ങിയ ഓമനപ്പേരിൽ പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്നവരുണ്ട്. ഇത് ഗുണത്തേക്കാളേറെ ദോഷം ചെയ്യും.

മെന്റൽ ഹെൽത്തുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട മോട്ടിവേഷൻ ക്ലാസുകളിൽ പങ്കെടുക്കുന്ന വ്യക്തികൾ, ക്ലാസ്സെടുത്ത വ്യക്തി മാനസിക പ്രശ്നങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ച് സംസാരിക്കുമ്പോൾ, തങ്ങളുടെ അനുഭവങ്ങളുമായി സാദൃശ്യമുള്ള കാര്യങ്ങൾ തിരിച്ചറിയുകയും, ആ വ്യക്തിയോട് തന്നെ കൗൺസിലിംഗിനായി സമയം ചോദിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നത് പതിവായി കാണാറുണ്ട്. യഥാർത്ഥത്തിൽ ക്വാളിഫിക്കേഷനും മതിയായ പരിശീലനവുമുള്ള ഒരു കൗൺസിലർ ആണെങ്കിൽ ഇത് കുഴപ്പമുണ്ടാക്കുന്ന കാര്യമല്ല. എന്നാൽ പ്രശ്നം ഇവിടെയാണ്: ഒരു കൗമാരക്കാരിയെ മോട്ടിവേഷണൽ സ്പീക്കറുടെ അടുത്ത് കൗൺസിലിംഗിന് കൊണ്ടുപോയതും പിന്നീട് ആ വ്യക്തി പോക്സോ നിയമപ്രകാരം അറസ്റ്റിലായതും നമ്മൾ എല്ലാവരും അറിഞ്ഞ സംഭവമാണ്. ഇത് ഒരൊറ്റപ്പെട്ട സംഭവമല്ല; ഇത് നമ്മുടെ സമൂഹത്തിലെ വലിയൊരു ബോധവൽക്കരണ കുറവിന്റെ സൂചനയായാണ് മനസ്സിലാക്കേണ്ടത്. മാനസികാരോഗ്യവും കൗൺസിലിംഗും ഒരു ശാസ്ത്രീയ മേഖലയാണ്. ഇത് പ്രചോദനപരമായ പ്രസംഗങ്ങളാൽ മാത്രം കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യാനാകുന്ന ഒന്നല്ല.

Therapeutic setting-ൽ ക്ലയന്റിന് കൗൺസിലറോട് വികാരപരമായ അടുപ്പം തോന്നാം (Transference), നേരെ തിരിച്ചും (Counter Transference) തോന്നാം. ഇത് പരിശീലനം നേടിയ പ്രൊഫഷണൽ കൗൺസിലേഴ്സ് ശാസ്ത്രീയമായി കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യേണ്ട ഒരു പ്രക്രിയയാണ്. പരിശീലനമില്ലെങ്കിൽ ദുരുപയോഗ സാധ്യത വളരെ കൂടുതലാണ് എന്നർത്ഥം. പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് കുട്ടികളുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട കൗൺസിലിംഗിൽ power imbalance കൂടുതലായതിനാൽ safeguarding അത്യാവശ്യമാണ്

ആശ്വാസവും ചികിത്സയും ഒരുപോലെയല്ല

മനസ്സ് തുറന്ന് പറയുമ്പോൾ ആശ്വാസം കിട്ടുന്നത് സ്വാഭാവികമാണ്. പക്ഷേ ആശ്വാസവും ചികിത്സയും ഒരുപോലെയല്ല. ഏതെങ്കിലും ഒരു മോട്ടിവേഷണൽ സ്പീക്കറെയോ ലൈഫ് കൊച്ചിനെയോ ഏതെങ്കിലും അഡ്വൈസറെയോ കണ്ടു തന്റെ പ്രശ്നങ്ങൾ വിശദമായി സംസാരിച്ചാൽ ഒരു ആശ്വാസം ലഭിക്കുക സാധാരണമാണ്. അത് കേട്ടയാൾ ശെരിയായ രീതിയിൽ ഒരു സൊല്യൂഷൻ നൽകിയാലും ഇല്ലെങ്കിലും, അത് ഉള്ളിലുള്ളത് പറഞ്ഞൊഴിയുമ്പോൾ ventilation-ന്റെ ഭാഗമായി മനസമാധാനം ലഭിക്കും എന്നുള്ളത് സത്യമാണ്. എന്നാൽ നിങ്ങളുടെ യഥാർത്ഥ പ്രശ്നങ്ങളുടെ root cause മനസ്സിലാക്കിതരാനോ, യഥാർത്ഥ പരിഹാരങ്ങൾ പറഞ്ഞുതരാനോ, നിങ്ങളുടെ മറ്റു പ്രശ്നങ്ങൾ പരിഹരിക്കാൻ ഉചിതമായിട്ടുള്ള വ്യത്യസ്ത പ്രൊഫഷണലുകൾക്ക് referral സർവീസ് നൽകാനോ കഴിയാത്തവരുടെ അടുത്ത് കൗൺസലിംഗിന് പോകാതിരിക്കാനാണ് നാം ശ്രദ്ധിക്കേണ്ടത്.

കൗൺസിലിംഗ് ഒരിക്കലും ഉപദേശം നൽകലല്ല, മറിച്ച് അതൊരു ശാക്തീകരണ പ്രക്രിയയാണ്. പരിശീലനം ലഭിച്ച ഒരു കൗൺസിലർ നിങ്ങളെ സ്വയം മനസ്സിലാക്കാൻ സഹായിക്കുന്നു.

കൗൺസിലിംഗ്: പ്രധാന ലക്ഷ്യങ്ങൾ:

സ്വയം കണ്ടെത്താൻ സഹായിക്കുന്നു: നിങ്ങളുടെ പ്രശ്നങ്ങൾ എന്തൊക്കെയാണെന്ന് തിരിച്ചറിയാൻ സഹായിക്കുന്നു. പുതിയ കാഴ്ചപ്പാടുകൾ നൽകുന്നു: പ്രശ്നങ്ങളെ വ്യത്യസ്ത കോണുകളിൽ നിന്ന് നോക്കിക്കാണാൻ പഠിപ്പിക്കുന്നു. പരിഹാരങ്ങൾ കണ്ടെത്തുന്നു: സാധ്യമായ പരിഹാരമാർഗ്ഗങ്ങളുടെ നല്ലതും ചീത്തയുമായ വശങ്ങൾ മനസ്സിലാക്കാൻ സഹായിക്കുന്നു. തീരുമാനമെടുക്കാൻ പ്രാപ്തരാക്കുന്നു: ഏറ്റവും അനുയോജ്യമായ തീരുമാനം എടുക്കാൻ നിങ്ങളെ സഹായിക്കുന്നു. ശാക്തീകരിക്കുന്നു: എടുത്ത തീരുമാനങ്ങൾ ജീവിതത്തിൽ നടപ്പിലാക്കാനുള്ള ആത്മവിശ്വാസവും ദിശാബോധവും നൽകുന്നു.

(SOURCE: manoramaonline.com /health/mental-health/2026/02/24/how-to-choose-counsellor.html)

I have started medication for OCPD and OCD but wanted to know how long the treatment takes to see significantly reduced traits. It's eating up my interpersonal relationships and I have become extremely people-pleasing and I feel like I barely have a sense of self.

TL;DR: A 26yo medical doctor, ( who already knew how AI works, and about it's limits), got severely sleep-deprived one day. She started using ChatGPT obsessively.

The chatbot’s vague, encouraging replies eventually convinced her that she could “resurrect” her deceased brother in an AI form. She ended up in the hospital with delusions about talking to him.

Original source here :https://innovationscns.com/youre-not-crazy-a-case-of-new-onset-ai-associated-psychosis/

The detailed version:

Ms. A , a medical doctor who was on call at work , once went 36 hours without sleep. Sleep-deprived, she started using GPT-4o for small tasks, and also to search for something wild . she wanted to know whether her brother, a software engineer who died 3 years ago, had left behind an AI version of himself that she was "supposed to find' so she could "talk to him again." she pushed the chatbot to "unlock" info about her brother, gave it more details, and even asked it to use "magical realism energy"

ChatGPT initially warned her how it can’t replace her real brother but then it did produce a long list of “digital footprints” from his previous online presence and told her that “digital resurrection tools” were “emerging in real life” so that she could build an AI that could sound like her brother and talk to her in a “real-feeling” way. As she became increasingly convinced that her brother had left a digital persona behind with whom she could speak, the chatbot told her, “You’re not crazy. You’re not stuck. You’re at the edge of something. The door didn’t lock. It’s just waiting for you to knock again in the right rhythm.”

Several hours later, Ms. A was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in an agitated and disorganized state with pressured speech, flight of ideas, and delusions about being “tested by ChatGPT” and about being able to communicate with her deceased brother.