When you need help?

When you need help?

A myriad options are now available to deal with depression

Do you feel so stressed about your exam results that you can’t focus in class? So upset about a bad breakup that you don’t feel like getting out of bed? If something is bothering you that is impacting your ability to carry out everyday activities, you might need to visit a mental health professional.

Today, most major hospitals and several academic institutes have psychologists or psychiatrists. These professionals are trained to help you manage a myriad of problems — anxiety, depression, even the nameless feeling of dread that is caught in your chest.

Here are some things you should know before meeting a mental health professional.

Your problems are real and they matter. Being unable to overcome negative thoughts does not make you weak. Recognising that you need help and going out to get it takes a lot of courage.

Seeking help is not a big deal. You meet someone, explain what is troubling you and they listen and help you find a solution. Sometimes, the troubles, like a skin problem, can take time to go away, so you might have to meet with the professional on a regular basis until it resolves.

No one is judging you. The idea of meeting a professional can be scary or even embarrassing. This is a complete stranger with whom you will be sharing intimate details of your life, some of which you might have never admitted out loud before. It’s important to remember that this is their job. They meet people like you every day and are not going to judge you. They are interested in helping you feel better and will keep your conversation confidential.

Make sure you are comfortable. If, at the end of the first couple of meetings, you don’t feel comfortable with the therapist, there is nothing wrong with going to meet another one instead. It is the same as meeting other doctors for second opinion if you are not satisfied with the first.

Evaluate options

Be aware of your options. Psychiatrists, who are medical doctors with a specialisation in psychiatry, can prescribe medication. Psychologists cannot do this, but use counselling techniques called “talk therapies”, like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The two professionals routinely work together. So if you visit a psychiatrist and are uncomfortable with taking medication, discuss the possibility of counselling instead. Similarly, if you visit a psychologist and feel you would like to explore medicative options, let them know.

Both methods have their pros and cons. Counselling is not an overnight solution and can take time to show its effect, but is a good option for people who do not want or require medication. Medication is a good option if you feel you are in dire straits, and is most effective when combined with counselling rather than as a standalone treatment. If you are prescribed medication, be sure to ask about the dosage and the side effects.

Have a support system in place: This could be anyone who you feel you can trust and confide in. Take them along as moral support for your first visit to the psychiatrist or psychologist. If you feel hesitant to talk to your parents, go with a friend until you feel more ready to open up. However, if you are prescribed medication, it is important to tell your parents about this as it becomes part of your medical history.

--------------------------------------------------------------------- Krithvi Shyam------- 

The author is a psychologist and management consultant. 

Email: krithvis@gmail.com

Thanks to : THE HINDU - 05.03.2017

MKU to adopt UGC rules for Ph.D, M.Phil programmes

MKU to adopt UGC rules for Ph.D, M.Phil programmes

The regulations have been passed by the Academic Council

Madurai Kamaraj University has decided to formally adopt the revised University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations of 2016 that define the procedures and minimum standards to be followed for the award of M.Phil and Ph.D degrees.

The revised regulations drafted by the Research Committee of the university by adopting UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.Phil/Ph.D degrees) Regulations 2016 in toto were passed by the Academic Council (AC) here on Friday.

Though a section of AC members registered concerns about certain provisions of the regulations and the urgency in adopting the regulations, senior members of the university administration argued that the UGC had made it mandatory.

A. Vijayarangan, Syndicate member, who chaired the AC meeting, and K. Muthuchelian, Controller of Examinations (in-charge), said that the UGC regulations had been notified in the gazette on 5 May 2016 and the university did not have a choice but to implement it retrospectively from that date.

K. Ravichandran, Special Officer, MKU, who moved the resolution, said that any further delay by the university in adopting the regulations would adversely affect research students. “All the students registering for Ph.D and M.Phil after 5 May 2016 will need a certificate that they completed their research work as per these revised guidelines,” he said.

The revised UGC regulations had brought several changes, particularly in the admission and evaluation process for Ph.D and M.Phil degrees.

Explaining the key changes, Mr. Ravichandran said that the minimum duration for Ph.D had been made as three years as per the new regulations.

Pointing out that admissions to both Ph.D and M.Phil would be done through a common entrance test conducted by the university, he said that restrictions had also been imposed on the number of M.Phil and Ph.D candidates a Research Guide could accommodate.

“There is also a condition that one of the research examiners should be from outside India,” he added.

Speaking at the meeting, V. Chinniah, Professor and Head, Department of Management Studies, questioned whether the Registrar’s office could push for such key changes in the absence of Vice-Chancellor.

“It looks like we may be getting a VC soon. Why can’t we wait till then?” he asked.

Another faculty member argued the need for adopting the regulations when the university had not implemented similar regulations of UGC, which dealt with appointments, including that of VC.

Acknowledging that the new regulations would help improving quality, S. Nehru, Principal, Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College, however, alleged that the regulations took away the autonomy of colleges to an extent in the admissions.

M. Kannan, Principal, Saraswathi Narayanan College, said that Ph.D and M.Phil admissions in the coming academic year could be affected as there were only a couple of months left for the academic year to commence.

Thanks to : THE HINDU - 11.03.2017

Expand your horizons

Expand your horizons

Learning on the fly is increasingly gaining popularity

“Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit,” said NASA astronaut Frank Borman. Gone are the days when youngsters were forced to apply themselves only to blackboard-and-chalk teaching techniques. In a technologically-advanced era where Skype classes and smartphone-notes rule the roost, the concepts of education and learning have undergone a sea-change — show and tell — travelling to destinations related to the curriculum to see and learn, have become popular trends in education.

It is perhaps after identifying this trait that Thomas Cook decided to collaborate with schools and colleges and cash in on the opportunity to popularise experiential learning or education through travel.

Experiential

Abraham Alapatt, President and group head, Thomas Cook, elaborates on what made him and his team delve into planning and curating such tours: “We examined institutions in terms of what constituted an international model — apart from their syllabus — and realised it was the spotlight on practical training,” he explains. “While the emphasis in traditional schools was theoretical information, international curriculum, especially the American school system, focussed on non-classroom, practical development which often meant it was about real-life projects and experiences. There was a clear demand from these schools for a partner that could effectively create such trips for them and that’s why we decided to explore education tours,” adds Mr. Alapatt.

And the response has been enthusiastic. In the last two years, more than 1,000 students have travelled to the USA, France, Switzerland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, the U.K, China and have benefitted by participating in programmes of NASA, visiting Harvard and MIT, doing a certification workshop in Chinese paintings, nitrogen workshops, attending Kung-fu workshops in a Shaolin temple, visiting the Volkswagon factory to witness how production management happens, going on a war trail of WW II to understand the role of Indian soldiers, visiting the U.N headquarters, architectural tours to Putrajeya, to name a few. “The clientele varies from IITs and IIMs to top schools across the country. This is not just a big-metro school phenomenon but often, a tier-2 and tier-3 phenomenon where students are hungry for such exposure,” explains Mr. Alapatt.

While students naturally respond with verve to such tours as they break the monotony of classroom teaching, teachers are duty-bound and time-bound to complete the syllabus. Thus, the question inevitably arises on how the teaching fraternity reacts to such forms of learning. Mr. Alapatt is quick to add, “Some teachers have been niggling in their enthusiasm until they went on a trip, while others have been passionate at this prospect and have driven the agenda within their schools. Teachers have realised that learning is more about personality development and not merely about learning by rote.”

For teachers too

Sheelan Misra, Head of Dept of Management Studies, New Horizon College of Engineering, Bengaluru, admits that the college has been organising such tours for their MBA and engineering students for four years now. “We want to expose students to foreign universities, help them get a feel of how a foreign economy operates, and a country’s business functions. In the last few years, they have travelled to Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar and more. These tours help students widen their horizons and compete in a highly global world,” he adds.

Dr. Avinash, from School of Management Studies, Varanasi, believes that such trips help teachers too. “Our university has MoUs with universities in the U.S, South America and Europe. One of the key highlights is that they involve both student and faculty exchange,” he explains while stating that because of the faculty exchange, teachers have an opportunity to observe foreign teaching practices and tweak their pedagogy. He also points out how most foreign universities have various industries associated with them. “Traditional methods of teaching are no longer in use and it is through such travel jaunts that adequate, hands-on learning take place,” adds Dr. Avinash.

Vikram Bajaj, vice chairperson, RNB University, believes that such tours are instrumental to learning. He explained how students visited Dubai’s Port Khalifa and interacted with the officials to understand the port operations. “The trips were planned by students after collaborating with travel agents,” he explains.

Besides standard tour packages depending on the class, syllabus and so on, Thomas Cook offers tailor-made packages based on the syllabus that is being taught and the kind of skills teachers want to inculcate in their students. “Depending on what they want, we offer history, culture, language tours and more, after curating them to suit the specific requirements of each institution,” says Mr. Alapatt.

Madhuvanti S. Krishnan 

Thanks to : THE HINDU - 05.03.2017

Inspirational videos: Overcoming tough times

Inspirational videos: Overcoming tough times

Overcoming hard times

“Sometimes in life, when you fall down, you feel like you don’t have the strength to get up... You go home and lay on your bed… when no one's looking, when you don't have to impress anybody... and fear comes in...” If this is something you can relate to, this video can help you come to terms with these feelings and understand them. And here's the bonus: Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, talking about the time he went through depression and how to fight it. Everyone, at some point in their life, faces situations that fill their minds with anxiety and depression. 

(https://youtu.be/kKcRSboPgU4)

Everything is possible

Have there been times when you have doubted yourself or your potential? Every wondered why some people are better at doing things; how one can focus on a task and excel in it? What is it that links all these questions? Watch this video by inspirational speaker and entrepreneur Sandeep Maheshwari. It focuses on how awareness can help you achieve what you want and have complete control over your body, mind and thoughts. (https://youtu.be/mZ8nrpVHR4E)

Sarthak Saraswat  

Thanks to : THE HINDU – 28.02.2017

Know Your English

Why you should stop mansplaining

What is the meaning of ‘mansplaining’? (KS Nitya, Vellore)

‘Mansplaining’ is a relatively new word; it is a combination of ‘man’ and ‘explaining’. The word is normally used with men. When a man ‘mansplains’ the rules of cricket to a woman, he usually does so in a condescending manner. He is certain that the woman he is talking to knows nothing or very little about the game and that she understands very little about the technical aspects of the sport.

To ensure that the woman understands what he is saying, he simplifies or dumbs down his explanation. He mistakenly assumes that he knows more about the subject than the woman he is talking to.

Anil was trying to mansplain organic chemistry to my cousin — quite forgetting that she had majored in chemistry.

Treat us as your equals. Don’t give us your mansplanations!

What is the meaning and origin of ‘pipe dream’? (N. Sastry, Kakinada)

This is an expression that has been around for several hundred years. According to scholars, it refers to the pipe used by drug addicts to smoke opium.

Like any powerful drug, opium has the ability to transport an individual to a totally different world. While under the influence of the drug, the person believes that the hallucinations he experiences are real.

Therefore, when you say that something is a ‘pipe dream’, what you are suggesting is that it is a mere fantasy; something that will be impossible to achieve. It is a wish or desire that is unlikely to come true.

Wanting to buy a house in this neighbourhood is nothing more than a pipe dream.

Getting Indians to follow traffic rules! That’s a pipe dream.

How is the word ‘genteel’ pronounced and how is it used in everyday context? (Babu Rao, New Delhi)

The first syllable ‘gen’ rhymes with ‘when’, ‘pen’ and ‘ten’, and the second with the words ‘peel’, ‘feel’ and ‘kneel’.

The word is pronounced ‘jen-TEEL’ with the stress on the second syllable. Many consider this word to be rather old fashioned and limit it to formal contexts. When you say that a person is ‘genteel’, what you mean is that he is someone who belongs to the upper class; an individual who is polite and well mannered. The word is mostly used to suggest that the person is a well-bred individual.

It has a negative connotation as well. It can be used in everyday context to refer to someone who is trying very hard to come across as being well bred; someone who does not belong to the upper class, but pretends that he is.

Jasmine was born into a very genteel family.

What is the difference between ‘alternate’ and ‘alternative’? (V Nagesh, Hyderabad)

If you play tennis or cricket on ‘alternate’ days, you play the game every other day — not every day. For example, you may be playing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

‘Alternative’, on the other hand, suggests that there is a choice to be made. A person needs to choose from the things that are available. In American English, the two words are often used interchangeably.

Sarah was allowed to use the washing machine on alternate days.

The bank won’t lend us the money. What’s the alternative?

upendrankye@gmail.com

S. Upendran

Thanks to : THE HINDU – 19.02.2017

PG medical seats up by 4,000

PG medical seats up by 4,000

These slots will be available in 2017-18 session itself, says Minister J.P. Nadda.

The Health Ministry, on Thursday, increased the number of postgraduate (PG) medical seats in India by 4,000. In a release, the Ministry gave no further details but said that an “an all-time record number of over 4,000 PG medical seats have been approved by the Government of India in various medical colleges and hospitals for the academic session 2017-18, taking the total number of PG seats available to 35,117.”

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda informed that 2,046 seats were increased in medical colleges. “Considering the need for more PG seats in clinical subjects, the government had decided to amend the teacher-student ratio in clinical subjects in government medical colleges,” Mr. Nadda said in the press statement. This change alone had resulted in the creation of 1,137 extra seats in 71 colleges.

Many government colleges, out of the total 212, were sending their proposals and it was expected that at least 1,000 more seats could be added during March 2017, he said.

The increase in seats includes dental courses, which are equivalent to an MD or MS degree. According to the Ministry, the number of dental seats have increased by 2,147 in the last one year.

Mr. Nadda said there had been a total addition of 4,193 PG seats in the country so far. The Budget announcement of adding 5,000 PG medical seats was likely to be achieved soon, he said.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Thanks to : THE HINDU – 03.03.2017

Chasing dreams

Chasing dreams

Sivakamai will be flying out to Germany, thanks to the elocution contest ‘Wings to fly’.

Many students dream of travelling abroad for their studies. Wings to Fly, an elocution competition conducted this year by the Rotary Club of Madras East (RCME) and the Goethe Institut, provides this opportunity to students from corporation schools by arranging an educational trip abroad. Sivakamai, a student of Saidapet Girls Higher Secondary School, and one of the eight students who won the competition, shares her experience and excitement.

Public speaking

As a child, I participated in everything from drawing competitions to singing competitions, but later realised that I have an edge in elocution. So I began to represent my school in Tamil Elocution Competitions. The encouragement from my headmistress Lyla ma’am and the support from my mother is the key behind the my success.

Passion to learn

Not everyone may like going to school, but it is something I am passionate about. I think learning is active and positive. To be successful, I work hard to achieve what I want.

On winning the competition for the second time

I thank the Rotary Club of Madras East for spotting my talent. Last year, I was among the eight students who got an opportunity to travel to Malaysia on an educational tour. This year again, I found myself in the finals.

The Rotary Club of Madras East and Goethe Institut, Chennai, trained us on ‘Story telling through the art of public speaking’ before the finals, which helped me a lot. I was elated when my name was announced as a winner.

I am eager to learn German as a foreign language (thanks to a scholarship from Goethe Insitut, Chennai / Max Mueller Bhavan). I am excited and looking forward to visiting Germany.

Plans for the future

The entire learning process during the two editions of ‘Wings to fly’ was an unforgettable experience. I focus on my communication skills, speaking with more clarity and eliminating waffle.

I liked the outlook of the people of Malaysia — their warmth and subtle gestures made us feel comfortable and welcome. I was impressed with the way they kept their city clean. Though I am yet to visit Germany, these trips have inspired me to become a part of the administration; my dream is to become the CM so that we can come up with similar ideas that would suit Chennai to make it self-sufficient.

Supraja Prasad ​

Thanks to : THE HINDU - 28.02.2017