Koumpounophobia and Depression as an Illness - Assignment Example

In this paper we shall discuss about three different illnesses, their causes and the treatment available to cure them. Koumpounophobia: The phobia ofbuttons One of my friends Lisa, 22 years old, suffers from a bizarre phobia – the phobia of buttons, Koumpounophobia. She is so terrified of them that she can’t even stand in the same room if any of her friends and family is wearing a cardigan or shirt. In her own words, “for me touching a button is like touching a cockroach, it feels dirty, nasty and wrong.” She evades buttons as much as possible by wearing zipped clothes. In this section, we will discuss the causes of koumonophobia and the possible treatments. According to National Phobics society, the button phobia affects one in every 75,000 people and is very common. The problem often starts in childhood and continues into adulthood. The fear of buttons is an irrational phobia and people who suffer from this problem feel that they are the only ones suffering from this problem. In addition, in some cases the button phobia extends to all buttons like objects like small coins, sequins and even small discs. For some people, plastic buttons are more fearful than metal buttons and for some buttons with four holes is more terrifying than the ones with two holes. Furthermore, koumonophobia has quite a few degrees of severity which varies from cowering when others wear it to not wanting to breathe next to buttons with the fear of inhaling them or washing hands for an extensive period of time after inadvertently touching buttons. Moreover, the sufferers are often sneered and teased by people who don’t understand or believe that they are telling the truth (Dipsolect, n.d). The phobia of buttons is generally caused due to some painful happenings during the childhood. Moreover, these triggering events might be either self visualized or even just hearing about terrible disasters may ignite such fears. In addition, a child may model this behaviors on that of his role models who have this fear, thereby making the child phobic as well. Some children also inherit the same fear as their mothers for example; a mother is scared of thunderstorms and on seeing her, the child also becomes terrified of thunderstorms (Douglass & Douglass, n.d). There are various treatments available for curing the phobia of buttons. According to some experts, talk therapy is the best way to treat this problem. Talk therapy can be either behavioral therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. In behavioral therapy, first relaxation procedures are used and then the sufferer is gradually exposed to the object or situation which causes such anxiety; whereas in cognitive therapy, it is first assessed why they are reacting in that manner and then the thought pattern that leads to such reaction is changed. Moreover, treatment can be done by exposing the person to the feared situation or object either in reality or imagination. Exposure through computer simulations has become very common nowadays. In addition, by joining a self help group a person is able to realize that he/she is not alone; the problem is real and most importantly, can be cured (Dr. Greg, n.d). Hypnotherapy has been found to be another very effective means of curing Koumonophobia. In this therapy, the subconscious mind which is a part of this fear is ‘reprogrammed’ and once the fear of the subconscious mind gets ‘debugged’, the symptoms of phobias of buttons is curtailed. Neuro- Linguistic programming is another therapy where the programs that have created the fear is reconstructed and reprogrammed, thereby minimizing and often eliminating the fear of buttons (Heering, n.d). Thus we can conclude that the phobia of buttons is a surprisingly common phobia which can be cured through proper treatment. Is Depression an illness? In this section, we shall discuss about depression as an illness, why it is an illness and how one can tackle such situations. While having coffee at a roadside café, I heard the conversation of two friends. These two friends, Jim and Paul, were discussing a friend who was suffering from depression. While Jim suggested that the friend should just snap out of it, Paul argued that it is simply not possible since depression is an illness. I totally agree with Paul since it is a fact that depression is an illness which can be cured only through proper treatment. According to renowned psychologist, J. M. Grohol, depression is a mental disorder which displays a sad and/ or petulant frame of mind beyond normal sadness or anguish. In other words, the level of sadness during depression is of a larger intensity and extent, and has more severe symptoms and functional disabilities than during normal situations. However, he further added that depression is an illness but not a disease ‘since it is not a manifestation of a problem with some physical organ or component within the body rather it happens as a result of symptoms which correlate highly with a specific emotional state’ (cited in Grohol, 2007). Furthermore, there are various myths related to depression and many people categorize it just as a state of weakness or feeling low and think that by ignoring it the person can come out of the situation, just as Jim said, ‘he should just snap out of it’. Moreover, it is often believed that if the sufferer tries hard enough, it will go away. In addition, depression doesn’t really exists, it doesn’t happen with highly accomplished people, children, teens, men and elderly people don’t get depressed or, psychiatric medication are not necessary for treating depression are some of the other myths about this illness. However, one should never ignore it as a matter of time which could be overcome by simply ignoring it or self-help rather one should look for symptoms in the person suffering from depression. These symptoms include continuous sadness, anxiousness, anguish, thoughts of hopelessness, feeling of triviality, helplessness, or extreme guilt, loss of interest or contentment in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed, social segregation, sleeplessness, early morning awakening, or over sleeping, decreased appetite, weariness, crying spells, thought of death or suicide, restlessness, or regular physical symptoms that do not responds to treatment like headaches, digestive disorders, or chronic pain. However, the degree of symptoms, whether high or low, varies with each individual (Dryden-Edwards & Lee, n.d). Moreover, there are cases where people themselves don’t realize that they are suffering from depression. For them, it is simply a sign of weakness which they are unable to cope with. In such situations it becomes the duty of close friends or relatives to speak to the sufferer and enlighten him about the illness. They should make him realize that the illness can be treated and cured completely. The problem of depression should be treated seriously and with greater effort since one should remember that mental disorders are complex, bio-psycho-social problems. The depressed person should be taken for professional help to tackle the illness. There are various people who help cure depression – general practitioners, counselors, psychiatrist, community psychiatric nurses and CBT therapists or psychotherapists. According to Dr. Mulholland, doctors make an analysis of depression after considering the severity of the low mood, other associated symptoms and the extent of the problem. Moreover, they have categorized depression into three types – major depression, Dysthymia and Bipolar disorder – according to the varying degree of severity of symptoms (Dr. Mulholand, 2010). According to experts, there is no single cause and no single treatment for these complex disorders. Therefore, in some situations two types of treatment may go hand in hand for instance, in some cases psychiatric sessions are also necessary along with the medications and one should not hesitate to go for it (Grohol, n.d). Friends and relatives should remember that depression is a complex mental illness which can lead to deaths or suicides if not cured on time. Senses which helps us in keeping our balance when we stand up There are very few people who must have given a thought to the fact that keeping our balance when we stand is an intricate task; generally we take it for granted. According to experts, the act of balancing or standing is not a simple task and is controlled by the combination of three senses – vestibular system, vision and proprioception (Angier, 2008). The vestibular system is a pair of little sensory organs inserted deep into temporal bone on either side of the head, just next to the cochlea of the inner ear. The vestibular system tubes are lined with fluid that flows through the tubes depending upon head tilt and movement. When the movement in the fluid stimulates the hair like endings attached to the tubes, the latter transforms this movement into a neural signal. This system imparts information about the position of the head to the brain, conveying the brain when the head is tilted forward, backward, and side to side. However, the vestibular system does not commune about the position of the body on the whole which is provided by the other two senses: vision and proprioception (Verstappen, 2002). According to Gibson, vision governs and supersedes all the other senses including our sense of balance. It plays a vital role in keeping our balance and this can be illustrated through an experiment. First, we need to raise one foot from the ground and stand balanced on the other. Next, we close our eyes and observe what happens. We will see that it becomes difficult to stay balanced on one foot with closed eyes. It proves that ‘vision provides a frame of reference that helps the muscles constantly make adjustments to help maintain balance’ (cited in Goldstein, 2009: 158-159). However, according to some experts, vision is not always essential to balance and in some situations it can prove detrimental too, for example, for people who perform intricate bodily movements like dancers, figure skaters, gymnasts’ and acrobats. When these people are performing pirouettes, they focus their eyes on a point in the horizon and spin their head quickly before their body turns around. However, the visual and vestibular sensations would cause instant giddiness and bafflement if they allowed their head to move in tandem with the body. Therefore, it is necessary that the eyes must center on the target while the body feels it way through the movement (Verstappen, 2002). The function of feeling the way through the motion is performed by the third sense in the trilogy – Proprioception senses. These are situated within every muscle and act as sensors assessing the amount of pressure wielded by each muscle. On receiving this information, our brain is able to sense physical movements and postures. Proprioception or kinaesthetic sense as it is also known is also the sense of being in our body. The information provided by all the three senses – vision, vestibular and proprioception –are then processed and directions are sent to the various muscle groups to maintain balance (Verstappen, 2002). Thus, we see even staying balanced or standing is an intricate task performed by the body in an organized and systematic manner. References Angier, N. (2008). The New York times [Online]. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/science/28angi. [09 March 2012] Dipsolect. (2006). Dipsolect.com [Online]. Available: http://dipsolect.com/koumpounophobia-fear-of-buttons/. [08 March 2012] Douglass, D. & Douglass, P. (n.d). Avon Hypnotherapy [Online]. Available: http://www.avonhypnotherapy.co.uk/phobias.htm. [09 March 2012] Dr. Greg. (n.d). Gregology [Online]. Available: http://gregology.net/health/koumpounophobia/. [09 March 2012] Dr. Mulholand, C. (2010). Net Doctor [Online]. Available: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/depression.htm. [07 March 2012] Dryden-Edwards, R. & Lee, D. (n.d). Medicine Net.com [Online]. Available: http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/page2.htm#myths. [08 March 2012] Grohol, J. M. (2007). Psych Central [Online]. Available: http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/what-is-depression-if-not-a-mental-illness/. [08 March 2012] Goldstein, E. B. (2009). ‘Taking Action’ in Senses and Perception. 8th edition. Canada: WadsWorth, Congage Learning Heering, J. (n.d). Phobia Fear Release [Online]. Available: http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/phobia-of-buttons.html. [09 March 2012] Verstappen, S. (2002). Writings on the Martial Arts [Online]. Available: http://www.chinastrategies.com/6thsense.htm. [09 March 2012] Read More