Q What tips do you have for someone with Social Anxiety?

At first, being social when youre feeling anxious is challenging. As difficult or painful as it may seem initially, dont avoid situations that trigger your symptoms. By regularly facing these kinds of situations, youll continue to build and reinforce your coping skills. The following techniques can help you begin to face situations that make you nervous: Prepare for conversation. For instance, read the newspaper to identify an interesting story you can talk about. 1. Focus on personal qualities you like about yourself. 2. Practice relaxation exercises. 3. Adopt stress management techniques. 4. Set realistic goals. 5. Pay attention to how often the embarrassing situations youre afraid of actually take place. You may notice that the scenarios you fear usually dont come to pass. 6. When embarrassing situations do happen, remind yourself that your feelings will pass, and you can handle them until they do. 7. Develop coping skills- Hang out with people whom with you feel comfortable, Joining a group that offers opportunities to improve communication and public speaking skills, remind yourself that you can get through anxious moments, that your anxiety is short-lived. 8. Take good sleep and healthy diet. Psychiatric counselling and medicine helps to deal with anxiety. Finally positive thinking and building self-confidence is the key to fight against your anxiety. Be confident. All the best.

Q Why do women experience post-delivery depression?

Depression in first few months after childbirth is called postpartum depression. It is due to hormonal changes that take place after pregnancy. The risk factors for postpartum depression can be history of depression, stress in life, poor support from the partner and family, and physical health of both baby and mother. In some cases, there are more disturbances with regards to thoughts, fears and behavior; this is termed as postpartum psychosis.

Q My 10 year old daughter continues to wet the bed. Not every night, but i thought it would stop as she grows but still hasnt. I wonder if there is something medically wrong.

If you daughter has nocturnal enuresis sometimes, it may need further evaluation, as this is not so common in teenagers. There are some factors that may affect urine control in teens. These include excessive intake of caffeine drinks like tea or coffee, deep sleep pattern which can be a normal for growing teen, excessive emotional stress or fear of something, inconsistent sleep timings etc. These things can be corrected in order to fix the problem. Other things to give consideration are certain medications, diabetes of other medical diseases, family history of parents having the same problem, urinary tract infection, etc. If she is having this problem since her childhood, then this can be considered as primary nocturnal enuresis and she can be out of 2% of girls who continues with this till they reach their teen. This thing can be improved with proper counselling to her. Making her to use bathroom before going to bed. Limiting her fluid intake before going to bed. She can be effectively treated with moisture alarms while asleep. It will be less likely that she will need medications for this. Proper counselling and educating her may motivate her to take initiation to cure herself. You may take her to physician to rule out underlying disease if any.

Q Will my hernia come back after Ive had an operation to repair it?

It might. All hernias carry a risk of recurrence even after surgical repair. Surgery performed by an experienced surgeon can reduce the risk of recurrence.

Q After my break-up with my girlfriend, i started losing my hair and i am becoming bald day by day is this the reason or some other major problem with me. Please guide me & suggest me some remedy or therapy.

There are many factors that can cause hair loss. Stress, anxiety, and depression are surprisingly common causes of thinning scalp hair, and can be especially difficult to recognize and treat. But apart from these there can be several other causes like hereditary, infection, nutritional deficiency, thyroid imbalance etc.. Once you have noticed that you are losing your hair, the first step is to get a medical evaluation to determine the cause. Either your primary care or a dermatologist is a good place to start. Treatment can then be directed to any of the above underlying causes that are present. But meanwhile you can follow these advices: eat plenty of salads including green leafy vegetables like spinach lettuce, plateful of fruits, buttermilk, milk, curd, fish,egg, increase intake of peanuts and almond and walnut, have proper and sound sleep daily. Concentrating on future rather than dwelling on past can work.

Q How does umbilical cord work?

During the prenatal life umbilical cord is the connection between the foetus and placenta. It consist of two umbilical arteries and one umbilical vein. The vein does the function of carrying oxygenated and nutrients rich blood form the placenta to the foetus. The two arteries do the work of carrying deoxygenated and nutrient depleted blood from the foetus back to the placenta.

Q Split ends in my hair !! Any treatment?

Splint ends are caused due to dryness and damage to hairs. Factors that can cause dryness and damage to hair are over exposure to sun rays, poor nutrition, excessive use of chemical based hair products, use of hair dryers, etc. Here we are also listing some general tips to improve your hair health: Warm oil massage, regular trimming of hair, minimizing use of hair dryers or styling products, following a balanced and nutritious diet, covering your hair properly while going out in sun and avoid combing hair when they are wet.

Q What is a kleptomaniac?

Kleptomania is a complex disorder characterized by repeated attempts of stealing (especially invaluable things). It is often seen in patients who are chemically dependent or who have a swings in mood, anxiety, or eating disorder. Other coexisting mental disorders may include major depression, panic attacks, social phobia, anorexia nervosa and obsessive compulsive disorder. People with this disorder have an overwhelming urge to steal and get a thrill from doing so. The recurrent act of stealing may be restricted to specific objects and settings,

Q I get angry very often. How can I control my anger?

Getting angry is normal. One needs to concentrate not on "not feeling angry" or "controlling anger" but on how to manage that anger correctly. First of all try to identify the things, people, or situations that trigger anger. You can even keep a dairy. Note the ways in which you react to these situations. Then look for alternative ways of responding to the same situations. Practice this alternative adaptive response till it becomes a part of your nature. Recognizing anger and triggers, practicing alternatives and doing this persistently with positive attitude is the key.

Q Can you have a normal ECG but an abnormal chest X-ray ?

Yes. This can happen. As both the investigations serve different purposes. ECG is restricted to evaluate and diagnose heart conditions. It does not give an idea about other structures in your chest cavity. But a chest X-ray is more elaborated and preliminary examination to detect any problems inside thoracic cage. Most commonly chest X-ray is advised to see lung condition, but its scope does not limit there. A normally functioning heart with problems to other organs and spaces inside chest cavity can give normal ECG with an abnormal chest X-ray.