Dr. Debasmita Psychiatrist

As we struggle to keep up with a fast-moving world, the number of people suffering from loneliness, depression and suicidal thoughts has gone up. Family members and well-wishers are often at their wits end when dealing with loved ones who have recurrent suicidal thoughts. Today’s article takes a look into the mind of a suicidal person and ways to deal with it. Suicide attempts may be broadly classified as impulsive and pre-meditated. Impulsive attempts at self-harming are spur-of-the moment decisions. They usually occur immediately after a rejection, setback or argument. The ones to attempt such rash acts usually display streaks of impulsivity in all domains of their personality. They often have intense mood swings, sudden anger outbursts, addiction issues, relationship problems and trouble keeping a steady job. It is the volatility in their personality that is the root cause of all problems. In their case, it is a more holistic approach that we take to healing. Once we are able to...

ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is receiving a lot of attention from worried parents and teachers nowadays. With parents struggling to balance the work-family dilemma in nuclear families, children suffering from this disorder are difficult to manage. This article is a simplified overview of what constitutes the disorder and the best treatment for ADHD. As the name implies, ADHD constitutes of two primary symptoms – attention deficit and hyperactivity. Added to these is the symptom of impulsivity. A child may show features of only inattention or predominantly hyperactivity or both. This means, the typical complaints from school would be that the child refuses to sit still in class, disturbs other students, often gets into fights with others and rarely finishes his/her schoolwork. If we observe their class notes or examination papers, a typical pattern is seen. They start off alright and the first few sentences are properly written. Thereafter the problem begins. As th...

All of us have elderly family members who are suffering from memory loss. With advancing years, the memory dysfunction with its associated problems becomes quite unmanageable. Your general physician probably advised you to visit a psychiatrist for managing such cases. Before you type best psychiatrist in Kolkata into the search engine, we recommend you read up on memory loss and its treatment methods. This article is a short overview of the dangerous disease that is dementia from a psychiatrist’s point of view. The cause With age, the brain begins to atrophy (simply put, wither away). It is a natural process. However, which part of the brain withers more and how fast varies from individual to individual. Depending on these parameters, the manifestation of the disease varies. Symptoms Most people become forgetful initially. They misplace items of daily use quite often. They find it difficult to find their way back home when they venture out of their immediate neighborhood. As th...

We all get angry from time to time. Some of us more than the others. But few of us cannot control the anger. This article gives an insight into uncontrolled anger and the best therapy for anger management. Whenever things do not go the way we want them to, it is but natural to get angry. That is what most of us believe. It is a basic emotion. The question is what do we do when we are angry. There are two categories of people – ·         Those for whom the anger is directed outwards. They get openly destructive, abusive or aggressive. Their relationships quite naturally suffer a lot. ·         Those for whom the anger is self-directed. They end up hurting themselves, physically and emotionally. Let us consider the first category. Why do they act the way they do? If you were to ask them retrospectively, most of them regret having acted the way they did when they were angry. However, they will tell you at that mo...

We are advancing and evolving at an unbelievable speed. Life is faster, easier and more comfortable now. But this advancement of the human race has come at a terrible cost. We have lost our peace of mind. Irrespective of age, gender or social class, we are facing the bane of depression quite frequently. Let us understand the reason behind this mental condition. Psychologically speaking, when we are faced with adverse situations, our mind works hard to handle the situation and preserve its integrity, calling forth all available resources at its disposal. However, if the adversity persists or the situation is an overwhelming one, these resources are soon exhausted and the mind goes spirally into an abyss called depression. However, the number of resources at hand varies from person to person. Someone with more resources is naturally more resistant to depression. Biologically, any mental disorder can be explained as a function of dysfunctioning brain circuits. There is an imbalance of...

Imagine you are lost in the jungle and suddenly come face to face with a tiger. What would be your response? Naturally, you would panic. While you panic, let’s check out what happens inside your mind and body. The brain senses danger and activates the body’s fight and flight response. Rational thinking shuts down (this is no time for mind games!). The heart beats fast, you sweat profusely, your body starts to shake, you feel short of breath and there is a sudden lump in your throat. This is exactly what happens to a person living with anxiety disorders. Trivial triggers like getting into an elevator, making a public appearance, going for a job interview or facing an examination makes their brain see red. Their brain is wired to sense the same level of danger in these situations as it would in a life-threatening situation. Obviously, the person experiences a panic attack when faced with such triggering situations. With time the brain learns what it must do to avoid such attacks. The b...

Those looking at options for depression treatment in Kolkata almost always prefer counselling or psychotherapy to medications. However, given that there are so many different types of therapy options, the client is often confused. Today’s article is a brief overview of the most widely used therapy for depression treatment in Kolkata, namely Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT. Before we start, a few basics. In cases of severe depression, psychotherapy or counselling as a standalone treatment is rarely helpful. Medications are essential to prevent the patient from going rapidly downhill. A point to note here. Counselling and psychotherapy are not synonymous. Although the general notion is that both are “talk therapies”, psychotherapy is a structured, evidence based, scientific treatment approach that can only be administered by a skilled psychiatrist or clinical psychologist. In a word, it is more than just sitting and talking to the client.   The principle behind Cognitive Behavi...