The PsyCreative Column

“Virtual Reality in Therapy” sounds like a bizarre match, doesn’t it? Well as astonishing and new as it sounds, it is surprisingly equally effective in mental health aid. Virtual reality (VR) allows you to experience a life-like existence in a computer-generated environment. The digital environment setting is expressed through a head-mounted display. By setting up a realistic VR environment through this headset, clinicians help patients experience situations that will further help in the diagnosis and treatment of the respective disorder. Virtual Reality Therapy for Treatment of PTSD and Phobia: Let’s begin this topic with a statement of pure experience given by one of the clinical psychologists testing VR effects in therapy: “One thing I have learnt from VR, is that it is straightforward to fool the brain." Is it, really? Well, the use of VR in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) justifies this statement, as it has had a great impact on treatment and the pos

                                                            Self-Diagnosing ADHD and ASD: A Problem?  - by Komal Jain (MSc. Applied Psychology, Sem I)           “OMG, I think I have ADHD!” or “I’m sooo autistic!” These are phrases we increasingly hear from teenagers and young adults today.Is this trend helpful or harmful? Social Media’s Influence is getting a bit extreme, no?      Instagram, YouTube and even LinkedIn is flooded with mental health content, often providing what are ‘simplified’ symptoms of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Surely now, we are working to increase awareness, recognise symptoms early on to promote getting a professional’s opinion, and so on. but self-diagnosing via Google has been prevalent for years. Let’s take an example. You have a cough, fever, your chest is hurting and you’re feeling nauseous - you look these symptoms up on the internet and (back in the 2010s) - BOOM! You have cancer. Today, you look up

                         The Bloom and Fall of the Pink Petal                                                                        - by Feoni Mehta (MSc. Applied Psychology, Sem III)      Image by Anushka Gope (MSc. Applied Psychology, Sem I)       The garden of life amidst the radiant hues of living, lies a sweet flower of singular beauty - the rose, which symbolises resilience, coping and grace. Even the mightiest petals are not immune to the breeze of change. As we walk through October’s soft embrace, we observe the fragile petals of this flower, once untouched, now scarred by a silent storm of pain which trembles its core - Breast Cancer.       It all starts with murmur, a faint wind that is silently moving around the garden, unnoticed. Slowly a small lump, a gradual change, a fluctuation in the tranquillity of the body’s garden emerges.       When this storm arrives, it does not come with a roar but a gathering of dark and dull clouds of pain. Breast cancer, like the shifting sk

 The Diasporic Disconnect Amidst Urban Setting in Students  - By Drishti Haldia (MSc. Applied Psychology, Sem II) Automat by Edward Hopper (1927): The painting depicts isolation and urban loneliness.  “ Imagine standing by a window at night, on the sixth or seventeenth or forty-third floor of a building. The city reveals itself as a set of cells, a hundred thousand windows, some darkened and some flooded with green or white or golden light. Inside, strangers swim to and fro, attending to the business of their private hours. You can see them, but you can‘t reach them, and so this commonplace urban phenomenon, available in any city of the world on any night, conveys to even the most social a tremor of loneliness, its uneasy combination of separation and exposure .” -Olivia Lang What is Diaspora?  Diaspora refers to a population or group of people who originated from a specific geographic location but currently reside in different regions or countries. It is very relevant to the stude

  There is a thin, often overlooked line existing between research and ethics.  If you ever took the time to sit and read about all the clandestine and heinous acts of crimes that military officers were put through, you’d be in for a real surprise. The stories of these experiments were buried deep inside the pages of history, undisclosed to the eyes of most, until recently; the more you dive into the depths of these experiments, the more you’ll start questioning the reality that you live in. Let’s turn back time to the mid 90s to get an idea about where it all began. With the World Wars, came a surge in the need to develop different areas of research using experimentation. Although it seemed like a way to bring about improvement in the world, its aftermath resulted in more damage than it did good. The mid 20th century marked the birth of once secretive, but now infamous experiments which led to military destruction. Given the countless number of unethical experiments to pick from, it i

       Military deployment is not only a challenge faced by the soldiers themselves, but also by their families. The toll it takes on family dynamics, mental health, and overall well-being is profound. In this blog, we'll delve into the multiple aspects of the impact of deployment on soldiers’ families, combat stress, resilience, effective treatments, family dynamics, stress during deployment, and the intricate reasons why some individuals facing unstable home situations may find solace in joining the military. Every coin has two sides, and similarly, when a soldier is deployed it's not merely a journey for him but rather  a collective experience their family members also go through. The relationships within a family are heavily affected when a loved one is deployed. The physical absence of a family member during deployment leads to emotional distance and strain, which leaves members longing for connection.  There is a constant fear of losing a loved one and the uncertainty of