Yeah ! A hot topic at last ! Well I have been wanting to write on this, but I am afraid analyzing something like romantic love will put off many or take the fun out of it. But psychologists have studied this hot topic in depth. Some of the findings run contrary to commonly held notions.
Positive feelings of one person towards another constitutes interpersonal attraction.
Factors underlying attraction
Proximity: It is a common experience that people fall in love with people with whom they move around. Classmates, coworkers, neighbors, fellow commuters and travellers etc are more likely to end up loving each other.
Physical attractiveness: Though we prefer to swear that 'Beauty is only skin deep', there is extensive evidence to show that we are only doing lip service to this. Many studies point out that physical attractiveness is a strong determinant that increases chances of falling in love. You tend to fall in love with people whom you rate high on the scale of attractiveness. It is also found that people tend to choose partners who are similar to them on the scale of attractiveness. Another finding is that attractiveness is more important for women than men.
Similarity: Studies show that the theory 'like pole repel' is not true regarding love. In fact there is evidence to show that similarities in background, interests and tastes etc increase chance so falling in love with each other. 'Birds of the same feather tend to flock together !'
Reciprocity: We are more likely to like and fall in love with others who reciprocate our positive expression of liking.Though these are some pointers in understanding why people who like each other do so, the ultimate thing called love is still a mystery.
Whenever the word depression is mentioned, usual reaction of relatives of the sufferer is "Sir, he (or more usually she) has no family or other problems, in fact, there is no reason to be depressed". Such statements confirm that the public still think of depression as a reaction to stress, even though mental health professionals no longer subscribe to this view. This view was strongly held by psychologists and psychiatrists earlier, but has been abandoned in the light of good evidence. It is quite reasonable to view depression as a reaction. But it is equally true that everyone who faces a crisis of similar nature does not get depressed. Now depression is viewed as a cluster of signs and symptoms mentioned in the earlier post, irrespective of the underlying causes. This helps in recognition of the condition uniformly, though disagreements can exist about the role of various factors - biological and psychosocial - in the causation. The causes of depression are discussed under the usual headings - biological, psychological and social factors. Biological factors include genetics, imbalance of neurotransmitters, medical conditions like thyroid, adrenal diseases and many other disorders. Female sex is in itself a significant risk factor as depression is three to four times more common among them. This again could be due to the effects of the female hormones. Psychological factors include certain faulty views about external environment, maladaptive ways handling stressful situations. Social factors include poverty, unemployment and many others. As always the final common pathway for all these factors to operate is the brain's neurochemistry - the neurotransmitters engaged in inter neuronal communication.
Depression envelopes you like a black cloud. It fills you with sorrow, despair and hopelessness. I can remember many depressed persons who ultimately ended their lives. The last in the list is a class mate of my brother. He was qualified as a lawyer, but preferred to do agriculture in the small piece of land owned by his family. His story is similar to the tales usually reported by news papers (and cliched !). But black letters on white surface cannot express the innermost feelings of the survivors. In most of such cases we see a combination of debt due to financial mismanagement / indiscipline, failure of the government and other agencies in providing adequate remuneration for their crops, alcohol misuse, impulsive and risk taking approach to life and a blind optimism that 'in the end God will save me as i mean no harm to others'. This optimism turns into total lack of hope and trust when things go wrong, and the person plunges into the abyss of despair. As I pointed out earlier majority of them suffer from Clinical depression towards the end of their life. The prominent feature of the depression are 1) Sadness or depressed mood2) Anhedonia or the inability to derive pleasure from things which were pleasureful earlier.3) Lack of energy, tiredness and becoming easily fatigued.Difficulty to fall asleep, or waking up after midnight or much earlier than usual is another symptom. Lack of sexual desire, pessimistic thoughts, poor appetite and weight loss are other prominent features. Depression also can have other presentations. In some it may present as severe anxiety and worries. Some depressed persons self medicate themselves with alcohol as this boosts up their mood transiently.Sometimes it wears the mask of a physical illness - 'masked depression'. Such patients consult many doctors with multiple bodily complaints. Doctors cant diagnose any illness as physical examination and investigations are 'within normal limits'. These patients are using the language of their body to express their emotional distress. May be due to a thought that doctors will only listen to bodily complaints. Sometimes the sufferer may not be clear about what is wrong. The fatigue and lack of energy due to depression may be thought of as a bodily problem. Doctors fail to ask questions about one's emotional state as they are not tuned to it or do not know what to ask.As training offered in psychiatry is only namesake in most of the Indian medical colleges, they are ill equipped to deal with emotional problems. MB BS course does not have any examinations in Psychiatry. But paradoxically, both General Nursing and Midwifery and B Sc Nursing courses have theory and practical examination in Psychiatry. So it may be a better idea to go to a nurse when one feels depressed and is mortally scared of psychiatrists. There are studies showing that 40% of people who attempt suicide had consulted their doctors within one week of the attempt. Probably with bodily complaints which were the masks of their depression. But doctors failed to penetrate beneath the facade of the symptoms and understand the cry for help. There is also evidence to show that the best way to reduce suicide rates is by educating general practitioners how to detect and treat depression.Depression is an eminently treatable condition. Options available include antidepressant drugs and psychological methods. There is evidence to show that combination of both is beneficial in moderate depression than one modality alone.
Devadas has added another dimension to the discussion on alcohol. This is in reply to his comment on my previous post. I agree with his first four statements. The fifth statements is not always correct. In driving related offences, the blood level of alcohol is given importance. This is because law has prescribed a safe Blood Alcohol Level for driving after drinking. In many countries it is 80 mg per 100 ml of blood. In India it is 40 mg%. The sixth statement needs little more analysis. What are the ingredients of a crime ? Law states that for an act to be considered as crime, 2 things are needed. 1) Actus Rea: That is an act coming within the purview of law has to be committed - criminal act.2) Mens Rea: The act is committed after decision is taken by a mind - criminal mind.Persons suffering from severe (but not all) mental illnesses are absolved of criminal responsibility, if it can be proved beyond doubt that the alleged person is incapable of conceiving and executing the act. This means that the person may be guilty, but he is insane and incapable of testifying before court. I am leaving aside the complicated issue of the standards for arriving at this conclusion - McNaughton's law, plea of diminished responsibility, Durham's rule, ALI test etc. He is committed for treatment to a mental hospital. But the court awaits a stage where the psychiatrist declares him fit for standing trial. In practice this happens rarely or after much delay. Very rarely only acquittal takes place completely.Coming to crime committed after alcohol intake. Here a person who knows that alcohol (or any other drug with mind altering properties) impairs his ability to take decisions, control impulses etc is still taking it for recreational purposes or out of compulsion (when he is alcohol dependent). Imagine a situation where an accused uses this a a defense and pleads not guilty. If the court accepts this, I am sure all the lawyers will be very happy. Now they are trying to prove that their client had not taken alcohol. But after this new law, they will try to show that their client was under the influence of alcohol. As Mr. Devadas stated earlier crime rate is higher after use of alcohol. So a situation arises wherein you can drink and bash anybody and get away without punishment ! This situation will jeopardise safety of the common man. Therefore there is nothing wrong in punishing a person for crimes committed under the influence of alcohol. Here also he is freed if it is proved that he was made to take it against his will. But mentally ill persons who commit crimes as a result of their illnesses have to be treated differently. Their mental state at the time of committing the offence is crucial in deciding their criminal responsibility.
Thanks for the thought provoking comments made by Devadas. Let me try to clarify a bit. Alcohol use is an individual's behavior. Behavior for psychologists is a very broad concept. It includes any observable activity of the individual.Alcohol has been dubbed as a 'social lubricant;. Its effects are mediated by complex neurotransmitter mechanisms like GABA etc. Basically it inhibits the nerve cells of the brain. The inhibition of the higher centers controlling social behavior gets rid of one's anxiety, thereby releasing the lower centers of the brain. The lower centers dealing with emotions etc are free to act as they wish because of this. With risiing blood levels even the lower centers are inhibited. This causes angry outbursts, aggression and difficulty to control emotions. Stiil higher dose impair motor coordination and gait. Later the person is drowsy. Withe toxic levels vital centers controling breathing, blood pressure etc malfunction and the person may die.Another saying with a bit of psychoanalytic hangover is 'Super ego is soluble in alcohol'. These statements describe the effects of taking alcohol poignantly. Repeated exposure to alcohol makes the user tolerant tothe effects, leading to increase in the quantity of use. After sometime, this leads to withdrawal symptoms on sudden cessation. All this from the neurophysiological angle. Production, distribution and sale of alcohol or anything depends on the demand for the product and its supply - demand dynamics. It is more of commercial activity. Anything that has demand will be produced by entrepreneurs. Social disapproval and sanctions can reduce demand, but cannot stop the commercial activity. Among the major religions of the world only Islam strongly prohibits alcohol. One has to remember that the word alcohol is itself derived from Arabic 'al kahl'. (My etymology may not be very good). Alcohol might have played a major role in the social life of Arabs, who might have discovered its recreational use or made it popular. Arabs were travellers who knew many trade routes and collected a lot of ideas along with their merchandise. They might have learned about its production from others (?Chinese). Prophet Mohamed might have gradually come to the conclusion that nothing short of total ban will save his people from the bad effects alcohol. Why does prostitution, forgery, counterfeiting of money and many other activities disapproved by the society still remain in our midst ?. I think man has a positive and negative side to him. Freud spoke of Eros - the positive pro life energy and Thanatos - the negative energy causeing aggression and destruction. In religion this is probably represented by God and Satan or devil. Many people believe in God. But it may be curious to note whether all of them believe in Satan or not. If not, then where does the evil come from ? I have no answer. At a much more deeper level I used to ask "Why is our brain allowing alcohol to enter it ?". All substances present in our blood cannot enter the brain. The entry to brain is controlled by a physiological mechanism called 'blood - brain barrier'. If this barrier will not allow, alcohol cannot enter our brains and cause its effects. Is there any evolutionary advantage for the brain being permeable to alcohol ? I invite the comments from all my readers.
