Mutual Influence of the Metaphysical and Physical

By: Ziauddin Ahmed

Family of the Heart - DIALOGUE & DISCUSSIONS 

MEDICAL TRIAD...DOCTOR....PSYCHIATRIST...PSYCHOTHERAPIST

 

Dear Friends, I was quietly reading the comments of Zia, Farzana, Rashid Mughal and Ahsan, but Ahsan's comment that he wanted to know the opinion of House Doctors of the Family of the Heart inspired me to write a few lines.

 

As a student of science I know that when matter changes its form and shape it also changes its qualities and characteristics so much that it looks and feels different for example

two atoms of Hydrogen and one atom of Oxygen make ...H2O

but we can see it as

 

solid...as ice

 

fluid as water

 

gas as vapour

 

now we can focus on diversity or unity or both. Mystic poet Kabir Das said everybody sees millions of water drops in the ocean but a wise man can see the ocean in the drop of water. In my mind that is the difference of knowledge and wisdom. Wise man is holistic and can see unity in diversity and diversity in unity.

 

As a student of medicine and mental health although now I practice as a psychotherapist but I was a medical doctor and a psychiatrist before I became a psychotherapist and now I want to benefit from all medical disciplines. let me share with another example from my clinical practice.

 

 I met three patients suffering from Depression

 

The first one I sent for tests and found out that her depression was because of medical reasons....disease of the Body....she suffered from hypothrpidism and her depression was treated medically with Thyroxine

 

The second patient suffered from Manic Depressive Illness and had family history of affective disorder. He illness was because of the illness in the Brain and was treated with anti-depressents

 

The third patient was depressed because of his unhappy marriage and the thought of leaving his wife and children and divorce was making him feel guilty as he was brought up in a religious family. His Depression was more to do with his Mind and personality and needed Psychotherapy

 

This is just one example to show how the same condition Depression in different patients can be caused by the dysfunction of the

 

Body....or

 

Brain...or

 

Mind / Personality

 

We know very well that body, brain and mind are intimately connected but

as students of science and psychology the better we understand the causes and dynamics of Depression the better we are able to help our patients.

I also want to share that one type of Depression does not exclude the other.  Some people have double Depression and need medications as well as psychotherapy.

Thank you Ahsan for your inspiration.

sincerely,

 sohail  

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