Mental or physical energy
Every activity that any creature engages in is controlled by psychological processes. Psychological processes are useful for the survival of animals; man being one of them. However, some psychological processes pose a threat to the life of organisms. This calls for the need to learn about some of the psychological processes and find out ways of managing them as there is no medicine for these processes; they are all controlled in the mind.
Stress
Stress is a condition that demands the use of mental or physical energy in case of any change in the internal or external environment of an organism. Stress is part of life. In this era of increased human activities, there are uncountable stressors; relationships, workplace pressures, chronic diseases, child growing up in an environment full of tension, and traffic jam can cause stress.
How does the body deal with stress? Some people turn to other objects that appear less harmful to them and empty all their stress there. For instance, whenever our teacher is unhappy perhaps from home, she normally scolds us all day. The body’s immune system is weakened by stress. Most people who fall sick frequently are normally under stress. People going through trying moments in life complain of constant headaches, irritating bowel condition, disorders in eating, allergies, backaches, insomnia, fatigue and frequent colds.
In my case for instance, I have come to realize that whenever I encounter a stressful condition, the restrooms become my partner. I just can’t control my bowel movements! Diseases such as hypertension, heart attacks, diabetes, asthma and cancer are stress related. Why would the blood pressure rise if there is no external change in the environment? There are a million ways of coping with stress. Relaxations, breathing deep, listening to soft music, massage and physical exercises are a few of the ways.
For instance physical exercise moves my mind from the stressful condition and I find myself concentrating in the physical activity. Furthermore when leaving the field, I feel a newborn. Other ways can also be used to fight a stressful condition such as drinking alcohol. However, this will only make one temporary forget but the problem remains in the time of soberness. The devil may be evil but he should be given his due. Stress is only looked at negatively. However, there exists positive stress that drives us to do what seems impossible. Stress can make people achievers.
A friend of mine was an underperformer in school but when she was forced to repeat grade five, she worked under stress and never again would she lag behind her class. Currently, she is one of those great neurologists. Hypnosis It is a situation where a person is made to forget all the past experiences. One is made to believe or change attitude about something through a set of instruction.
The suggestions may be given to the subject by a specialist or even self-administered. Hypnosis is simply a nervous sleep but one is made to focus on a specific area. It aims at mental relaxation through forgetting the past and having mental concentration on a particular area mostly likely a pleasant one. The conscious mind is focused on a particular subject. Hypnosis puts one in a trance. At one time, I had been selected to make presentations of our group discussions in our class. Never had I moved in front of class before and it was such a bad day for me.
However, I convinced my mind that there were no people in the hall and I was talking to no one. I realized at the end of my presentation that my trick had worked so well when applauds from my fellow classmates brought me into reality. In this respect, hypnosis can be used in managing pain, soothing anxious patients waiting for surgery, psychological therapy, controlling a habit, and total relaxation. It can also make a great impact when used in sports. Self-hypnosis can be used to stop smoking as well as stress reduction. In case of the drama, hypnosis can be used to persuade actors to play uncommon public scenes.
Sleep Can you count all the living organisms that sleep? All mammals, birds, amphibians, fish and reptiles do sleep. Sleep is natural state where temporary the motor and sensory activities are at rest. Sleep recurs. It is characterized by either partial or total unconsciousness. In partial unconsciousness, one can still make out what is happening around him or her especially the sounds.
On the other hand, in total unconsciousness, one is ‘dead’. It is impossible to make out what is happening around. Unlike coma and hibernation, sleep is easily reversible. It is possible to wake a person if need be. Furthermore, the brain has its own timer on sleep. For instance if a person has a repetitive habit of waking up at six o’clock in the morning, the person does not need any clock to wake him or her up at six. Sleep is healthy as it gives both the mind and body rest. After a hard days work, a good sleep makes one feel refreshed in the morning.
The sleep time in humans is age determined. Children need to sleep more; newborns spend most of their time sleeping. They need a lot of sleep in order to grow and develop. A person is said to have had adequate sleep if there is no sleepiness during the day or dysfunction. It is said that people who have a long life span are those who sleep 6-7 hours a night. People who hardly sleep are exposed to sleep debts. People with sleep debts have decreased ability to do high-level cognitive tasks. They cannot think strait and they will end up confused all day.
I have realized that every time I have sleep debts, I am angered by the slightest provocation during the day. Sleep debts can cause change in emotions. Generally, humans get tired and require sleep not only for good health but also for rest. Oversleeping is however unhealthy it makes one inactive throughout the day. Dreams A dream is a mind’s thoughts, sounds, images and emotions during sleep. Personal experiences throughout the day or a week find inclusion in the dreams.
What is contained in dreams is mostly what a person had been thinking. At night there are many external stimuli that are always bombarding a person’s senses. The mind interprets these stimuli as dreams to keep the person asleep. Dreams have a strong power to arouse, scare, bewilder and amuse. That is the reason why most people wake up in the midst of a dream screaming themselves mad, shrieking, heart beating fast and sweating profusely. The day that I dreamt falling into a deep dark pit almost made me die of screaming. Negative feelings are more common as compared to positive ones.
So many people do not recall what they dreamt of the previous night. Women however can however recall dreams more than men can. No one single dream flows logically from the time one sleeps to wakefulness. Instead, there is a series of dreams that do not reach and end. Dreams have psychological healing power. Some dilemmas can be resolved in dreams. Dreams are essential as they help to regulate the mood and lowers levels of stress in an individual. For instance an exciting dream makes one wake with a jovial mood. Dreams are source of fun especially when one tries to recall a funny dream.
They are not real but many people strongly believe in dreams. To them, they are gods’ sent messages and future predictions. They even go a set further to interpret these dreams. For instance, my culture holds the belief that when one dreams eating meat, one of the close relatives will die. However these are just fables. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) The sufferer of OCD experiences recurring obsessions in a particular area. They are irresistible. Some of the obsessions that individuals face include worries on germs and cleanliness, safety and order.
I think am also obsessed to some extent; I mind too much about my washing utensils to an extent of hardly accepting a cup of tea from a friends house for fear that their level of cleanliness is not up to standards. Consequently, I find it very hard to maintain friendships. Compulsion on the other hard is an obsession as a result of set rules. Many people that I come into contact with are so much into specific habits such as compulsions to regular hand washing, picking the skin, too much neatness, knuckles cracking, hair pulling among others. There is absolutely no known cause of OCD.
Family genes and imbalances of chemicals in brain could be the root cause of the disorder. Treatment is possible through urging the victim to resist such obsessions. Libido Libido is the sexual desire that an individual poses. Libido is very strong in the males as compared to females. Many rape cases are reported on men. The sexual drive is contained in the Id, the unconscious mind and mostly conflicts with the socio conventions of the superego.
The superego controls the sexual desire leading to disturbance of the individual. Ego defense mechanisms are used to counter the disturbances. The sex drives in this case are converted into more acceptable behaviors. The sexual drive may become weak or absent. The reduced libido is caused by distractions, stress, depression, fatigue, and childhood experiences in sexual abuse. Other factors include: unattractiveness to one’s partner, underweight, obesity and malnourishment. Libido reduction in females can also be as a result of birth control pills.
The individuals with low libido are unavailable and this can result to relationship stress. In women, sexual desire is heightened several days before ovulation. It is at this time that women try all means to get closer to men. However with the right mind, in the right environment and good diet, sexual desire can be boosted. Fixation Human behaviors are as a result of fixation during the stages of development.
There are five psychosexual stages in the life of a human being and individuals have specific needs at each stage. If the needs are not satisfied or are over stimulated, the future behavior of an individual is affected. The first stage (oral stage) occurs at the first one year of a child’s life. Children gain pleasure by using the mouth in suckling, placing objects in the mouth. Every time that a child gets anything, it is directed to the mouth. If these habits are not controlled they become fixated leading to characters who like biting their nails, smoking and chewing anything.
Inadequate oral gratification results to overeating and drinking. Anal stage starts at age two. The major source of pleasure is the anus. Children at this age will spend hours seating on their ‘pots’. Tough toilet training at anal stage leads to exaggerated cleanliness, order and stinginess. Likewise, lose toilet training leads to careless individuals who are too generous. Phallic stage sets in at three and ends at six. The focus is on the genitals. Children at this stage like fondling their genitals. Latency stage starts at six and ends at twelve. Attention is given to skill development.
Genital stage is the last stage. It starts with the onset of puberty and continues to adulthood. Pleasure is derived from relationships with members of the opposite sex. Too much restriction or over-stimulation at each stage leads to fixation of the behavior. It becomes part of the person’s life. Conclusion This essay has covered a lot to do with the mental processes that take place within the life of an individual.
Most of the things that people take for granted such as sleep, stress and child bringing up can lead to adverse effects in the future of an individual. It has also been learnt that it is necessary to take precautions for any abnormal behavior before things go out of hand. The mind can also be trained to adapt to certain situations such as relaxing, overcoming stress among other things. Human beings are what they make themselves.
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