Are you depressed?

MBA (UPM), DBA (UBI), MMIM, MIHRM,
MIM-CPT, CAHRP (Consultant),
Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),
Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),
Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),
Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA)
Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)

Practising Cognitive, Behavioural Therapist

A lot of people do not know if they have depression. Depression has become one of the major psychology problems in the developing countries. Depression can develop when we are living in a stress environment. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not realise that they have depression. Today, I would like to share with you the symptoms of depression.

“The movie is really not nice.” “The food is tasteless”. “It is not interesting at all, I would rather stay at home.” If the statement is familiar to you, you could be attacked by depression. A depressed person mood is usually dejected, gloomy and joyless. They feel the world is boring and meaningless. The world is colourless and the only colour in their mind is black and white.

Some of the depressed patients complaint they have low self-esteem and deep feelings of inadequacy. They have low confident level on themselves and towards other people. Am I good enough? Other people don’t like me! I’m not being welcome. These statements are common statements appear in their mind due to their low confident level.

When you realise that you frequently worries and frets, you might be attacked by depression. I have a lady patient who can go back home to check if she has turned of the tap, switched off the electricity, locked the door, closed the window for several times before they went out from their house. At first, she thought she was being forgetful but in reality, this was the initial symptoms to develop depression. Hence, early detection could prevent formation of depression.

Some participating in yahoo answer session, I realised that a lot of people had symptoms of self-derogatory during depression. They felt relief after hurting themselves. They were not sure the reasons they were doing so. If this problem is not rectified immediately, depression is developed and this would lead to suicidal case. Self-derogatory is a serious symptom that needs immediate attention.

A depressed patient engages in critical and judgmental attitude towards both self and others. They are not satisfied with the people next to them. No matter what they did, how well they try, the depressed patient always feels they are not right. My mother was undergone depression after my dad past away. When we bought her new mattress, she kept complaining the previous was soft and the new mattress was too hard and she couldn’t sleep at night. We brought her out for lunch, no matter which restaurant we went she felt the food was not delicious. The judgemental attitude would not be realised by them but people next to them would suffer from this personality.

Some of the depressed patient would be highly pessimistic and complaintive. During working with the depressed patients, I found that their world is full of sadness. They felt that the world was hopeless. They always labelled themselves with “bad luck”, “no hope” and other pessimistic words. Some of the aggressive patient would start to complaint. One of my friends received a letter from the patients with the statement, “You consultancy is not professional enough”. In fact, the patient did not even know the term professionalism in medical practices!

Experiences a great deal of guilt and regret is the last general symptoms of depression. Most of the suicidal cases are generally related to this feeling. These patients feel that nothing much they can do and the suicidal would be their last choice. When this idea becomes a core believe, they tend to suicide. When we realise this element appears among our friends, we have to remind them it is a symptom of depression.

As a psychotherapist, long term goals are set to brighten downcast mode, improve self-esteem and feeling of self-worth, decrease ruminative worry, enhance optimism, reduce feelings of guilt and remorse, reduce griping and complaining, facilitate positive interpersonal relationships and finally expand active problem solving, thereby decrease passive resignation.

In the next article, I would share with you on the therapeutic interventions on dealing with depression patients.

Introduction of psychology

1.Most people have impression that a clinical psychologist:
· Sitting on a chair
· Taking notes
· Taking to a person lying on couch
· Reminding their child and history

2. Another 2/3 of the psychologists cover the general area. They are
· Old fashion setting
· Trying to help to solve their problems related to mentally ill, problems in life.

3. The differences between psychologist and psychiatrist

Clinical psychologist Psychiatrists
Undergraduate psychology Medical Doctor undergone
Graduate from PhD degree and intensive psychology therapy
can do research of necessary. Can prescribe medicine and
conduct physical examination

4. Experimental psychology
· Include 1/3 of psychologist in the industry
· These group of psychologist are wearing white lab coat with recharge.
· They are running down the laboratory to run around with mice
· They usually work with people who is normal
· They have interest to work with people how they
o Perceive things
o Remember things
o Learns things
o What motivates a person
· The experimental psychologist work in the setting of laboratory, government operation or laboratory of a university.
· They could be working in industry and organisation job and industry or economy design system.



5. History Development of psychology
a) French philosopher – Rene Descartes
o Publishes Discourse on Method
o Speculating the nature of the mind
o Giving the distinction between the mind and the body.
o Mind – being the idea / part and inner of a part of self distinct from the body.

b) English philosopher – John Locke
o Publishes Essay concerning Human Understanding
o There is no “inert” mind
o Concept of Tabula raza – blank slate
o Everything is blank and a slate is written on by our experience through sensory mechanism. We bring in and write on the blank slate.
o Behavioralism – talks on learning and what we written on blank slate

c) British associationist – David Hume
· Inquiry concerning human understanding
· Mind is no more but a collection of sensory expression link together by association.
· Association o these things are important.
· Precursor of association what happen when we do learning

d) Expericalist - Ernst Waber
· Empericalist is not a psychologist
· Their interest on mental of psychological operation in quantitative ways on sensory side where sub sensory stimulus comes
· Conduct in quantitative ways.

e) Theory of evolution – Charles Dalvin
· Put human back to animal kingdom
· Human has certain kind of built in instinct

f) Wilhelm Wundt – 1879
· Build the first laboratory of psychology in Germany
· Psychologists start to be empirialist where starts to collect data.

g) William James – 1884
· Not collect data from the ground. He read intensively on what other wrote
· He wrote a lot in psychologist introduced it to American

h) Sigmund Freud – 1900
· He is a clinical psychologist
· He based on psychoanalytical theory
· He introduced unconscious mind on a concept

i) Physiology – Ivon Pavlov – 1906
· He introduced classical conditioning
· He started the behavioural era.

j) John Watson – 1913
· He suggested to us that we should study behavior not the conscious mind

k) B.F Skiner – 1930
· Be based on behavior tradition and offering operating conditional.

l) Ulric Neisser – 1967
· He is a cognitive psychologist
· We can measures things beside behavior
· According to him, it is okey to study the mind.
· We can use sophisticated technique to understand the mind
· He measures reaction time – how long mental processing through and inferring a mind how must it like if we use the measure.
· It is a primary paradigm in psychology

m) Eward O.W – 1975
· He published sociology Evolution.
· It involves a evolution of indication of evolution another way to look at human behavior

Trend of psychology

1. Experimental
· method to collect data
2. Introspection
· look into own mind and look at the content of mind
· How to process stimulus, colour and forms
3. Behaviourist
· Noway to know our own mind hard to do measuring and measure at the same time.
· Measure behavior – ignore to mind
· Human can be bias due to conscious mind.
· Human tends to change
· Start to study behavior of animal like rats, pigeons that cannot be over rule by conscious thought.
4. Cognitive psychologist
· Information theory comes along
· Use computer as metaphor to study how human mind
· Use simulation to look into mind
5. Evolutionary psychologist
· Mind is not a blank state
· Focus of adaption that from the behavior
6. Clinical psychologist
· Human motivation is on the unconscious level – needs psychoanalysis to determine the unconscious level what is the conscious level
· They tell what the patients to do.
7. Humanistic psychology
· Introduced by Carl Roger
· Use therapist and clients
· Clients have the ability to solve her own problems
· Therapist is a method to solve problem
8. Behaviourist therapy
· If you have problem, the problem may be dissolves with an appropriate learning
· Learning how to behalve in a wrong way.
· We have to intervene with the wrong behavior
· Help client to relevant the behavior using behavior techniques
9. Cognitive therapy
· Problems due to inner inappropriate thought, thinking the wrong thing
· For example, they kept saying , I can’t …..
· The problem is due to how do they think.
· Correct by having thinking an appropriate thought.
· Teach people an appropriate thought

Needs of Psychological Clinics in Malaysia

MMIM, MIHRM,
MIM-CPT, CAHRP (Consultant),
Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),
Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),
Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),
Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA)
Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)
“I am stress, I don’t want to go to psychiatry, I will be labeled mad or insane. I would rather not to inform others. Let’s me suffer it myself”

It is estimated that 70% of all patients who seek help from physicians for their “physical” complaints and illness are in fact suffering from stress, anxiety based on disorder and psychosomatic complaints. One study has even suggested that at least a third of all cardiology patients may have no real physical disorder but they suffer from panic attacks. Modern Western-trained doctors, because of their intensive training in looking for specific bodily symptoms in which they are tested in medical schools, get used to this outlook and take it with them in their medical practice. As the famous Harvard physician, Dr. Herbert Benson, says in his best-selling book, Timeless healing (Simon and Schuster, 1996), Western trained doctors are tested in their ability to remember and diagnose specifics far more than their ability to assess overall patients. They accordingly emphasise particular symptoms over wholeness and body over mind.

For this reason, the 70% of patients whose core problem is psychological continue to receive drugs after drugs that can only help temporarily through suggestion. They may continue to see many doctors without finding one who recognizes their underlying emotional disturbance, their depression or their sexual dysfunction as the real etiological factor in their external illness

Even patients who know that they are suffering from psychological problems such as anxiety based or mood disorders do not get the help they really need. Because of the stigma of “insanity”, many of them would not accept to see a psychiatrist. Besides, even those who do may not get the proper psychological therapy they need. Psychiatrists, as doctors who graduated from medical schools, prefer to prescribe drugs and other psychical therapies to long interviews and counseling

Many of them had not even intensively trained in the modern psychotherapeutic method such as the use of systematic desensitization as behavioral therapy for phobic anxieties, sexual disorders and similar problems, the use of cognitive therapy for depression and the use of aversion therapy for addiction, tics and some forms of obsessive compulsive neuroses. Some psychiatrists who had been trained in the some of these behavioral and cognitive therapies may not have the time for their application. This is particularly true for those who work in private clinics. They can see more patients by briefly listening to their complaints and prescribing medicines.

Patients who refuse to be referred to psychiatrists would be glad to see bomos and traditional healers. In research study presented by Badri to the Traditional Medical Practices Committee of the WHO in Geneva in 1973, has found that in most Islamic countries, the great majority of neurotic patients go to traditional healers. Many of them may get suggestive and spiritual help that are not available in modern hospitals and psychiatric clinics. However, they are also deprived from the modern psychotherapeutic techniques we just mentioned.

From what has been said, the medical services in Malaysia is in great need for the establishment of psychological clinics in which trained therapists can offer their expertise to those who need it. General practitioners and even specialist should be informed about such psychological services and they should know when to refer some of the 70% of patients whose problems are either psychophysiological and downright anxiety or mood disorder. Since such patients can be cured or very such improved by psychotherapy, this may actually be economically cost effective.

When such psychological clinics are set up, psychiatrists would be happy to refer suitable patients to the clinical psychologist who is also helped by a psychiatric social workers. On the other hand, patients who directly refer themselves to the psychological clinic and who need psychiatric drugs or more serious medical interventions are to be referred by the clinical psychologist to psychiatrists or physicians, Often, the patient who needs antidepressants or tranquillizers but who is afraid to go to a psychiatrists for fear of being stamped as “crazy”, can benefit from the therapy of the psychologist who convinces him to accept referral to the psychiatrist or physician. The co-operation between the psychologist and the doctors is very essential since at times purely organic disorder as hypoglycemia and hyperthyroidism can mimic anxiety symptoms and patient may unknowingly refer himself to psychologist or counselor.

In modern countries that recognize the importance of psychological therapies to anxiety based and mood disorders such as the United States, it is estimated that specific phobias, which are the most common from the anxiety disorders, are more common than alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, and major depression added together. It is reported in 1990, the United States spent 147.8billion mental health dollars. Of this amount such as $ 46.6 billion (32%) were spent on the treatment of anxiety disorders. Thus, it seems that in Malaysia and other Muslim and Afro-Asian countries the absence of such psychological services has ironically eclipsed the dire need for them.

It is clear from our statement of problem what services that psychological clinic can offer to its troubled patients and those who need minor therapy and counseling. However, the following list of services can be more illuminating. The Center provides three major services for the community:

a) Counseling and psychotherapy

Though counseling and psychotherapy were once considered two different forms of psychological intervention, the dividing line between them is becoming quite vague. In the paper title “counseling and psychotherapy from an Islamic prospective” (Ashajara, 1996, Vol. 1, No 1 & 2) Badri says:

“ The “no man’s land” between the boundaries of counseling as speciality of educators and psychologists who offer guidance to normal people and students with mild emotional and academic problems, mainly practiced in educational institutions and that of psychotherapy as that of experts in clinical psychology and psychoanalysis, mainly practicing in clinics and hospitals, has already been so constricted that many references treat them as one subject.”

Accordingly, the Yale psychological centre is expected to deal with all problems. These complaints range from mild educational adjustments of children and adults and marital problems that can be dealt with by counseling to severe symptoms of disorder like panic, agoraphobia, obsessive compulsive disorders, depression and sexual dysfunction that need in-depth therapy and behavioral and cognitive interventions.




b) Education and professional training

The centre of clinic can also be a place for the education and training of young counselors and aspiring psychotherapists. Special group therapeutic sessions can be arranged for patients who suffer form similar problems and these young counselors and psychotherapists to learn some of the skills of the profession may attend the therapeutic sessions. The centre can also organize special talks, TV shows and articles in daily papers to educate public about its service.

In general, the centre that offers the service is contributing towards social responsibility. Besides, the concern of public on this issues increase the reputation of the centre indirectly.

c) Research and consultancy services

The centre is supposed to carry out research into adaptation of psychological tests and therapeutic methods to suit the rich cultural aspects of Malaysia. Most psychological assessment techniques are developed for use in Western countries. To be useful for the application in Malaysia, we need to adapt and standardized some of the instruments used in psychological testing. In doing so, the centre will co-operate with different departments of psychology in Malaysia. Also, the Malaysian Psychological Society can be of help in this issue. Another important service that centre can offer is perform research studies and consultations for Malaysia companies and other Institution interest in special psychological projects within the interest of the clinic.

While the Centre accepts referrals from a wide range of other professionals and from both private and government sponsored agencies, clients are encourage to make direct contact.

Effective Recruitment through assessment centre

Dr George Leow discusses how assessment centres can switch the balance of power back to the employer.

“Recruiting staff has never been easy. But with changes to legislation employers are having to be ever more careful as they assess candidates. An employer’s first responsibility of course is to recruit the best possible candidate for the job; but increasingly, they must also be able to demonstrate that the process used for selection was fair, transparent and unbiased.”
In many parts of the world including Malaysia, employees have relatively few rights and it is common for employers to terminate employment arbitrarily; and as long as the termination is not seen as unjust there is little redress. Similarly, as long as an employer can prove that he has not been biased toward or against particular applicants because of their race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, marital status, or age, he can recruit pretty much as he pleases.

Although the same regime used to apply in Britain and other European countries, there has been a steady stream of legislation which means that in some countries, notably France but many other European countries too, where once an individual is hired, it is almost impossible to dispense with their services regardless of commercial need, incompetence and even dishonesty.
The challenge facing employers is thus huge. Firstly the business case for recruitment must be thoroughly watertight. The return on investment must be able to withstand economic downturn and be a considerable multiple of the very significant cost of employment. Secondly, the process must be able to prophesy with considerable certainty how the candidate will perform in the role once hired and with sufficient robustness that it can withstand legal challenge from unsuccessful candidates after a decision has been made.

For certain jobs this is less of a problem. Candidates for manual, technical or clerical vacancies can be tested for practical competence. But for managerial jobs where success is likely to be rest on the possession of soft skills like leadership, salesmanship, negotiation skill or listening; this may less easy to achieve.

The traditional recruitment tool was examination of a resume or Curriculum Vitae followed by one two or more interviews. Whilst this is a well tried and tested methodology it has a number of flaws:
· Senior candidates live and breathe interviews. It’s what they do; so even the most inadequate candidate is likely to be able to tell a good story at interview.
· Many candidates “dress” their information to disguise problems in their track record. Although subsequent discovery of factual untruths may be cause for dismissal, many employers are reluctant to pursue fraudulent applications because of the cost, the potential litigation risk and the damage to reputation that could ensue.
· Most interviewers are not skilled at questioning and tend to rely on gut instinct (often formed in the first few seconds after first meeting the interviewee). They form an opinion and then spend the rest of the interview confirming it.
· Such are the risks of discriminating against a client, many interviewers are afraid to ask penetrating questions that would reveal flaws and weaknesses for fear that afterwards the candidate could cite the question as being prejudicial.
· Even in highly regulated situations with panel interviews and professional interviewers, the format can be so rigid that the opportunity to probe can be severely limited by the strictures imposed by the process itself.

Experienced managers often quip that they learn more about a candidate in their first morning at work than they do from the most rigorous of interview processes. And the reasons are obvious. In an interview the candidate is guarded. He or she has spent hours preparing for the meeting (or should have done), is well rehearsed (or should be) and is in a predictable and controlled environment. The interviewer by contrast is often ill prepared (how often have you scanned a resume while walking to the interview room?), is inexperienced with in depth interviewing skills and is concerned that an ill judged question could land him and his company in deep trouble.

How then to select candidates fairly but with rigour? The growing answer is Assessment Centres. In an assessment centre the candidate is put through a series of exercises designed to simulate the working environment. The popular show “The Apprentice” is a classic example of a modern assessment centre. Although “dramatized” to appeal to a television audience, the shows do demonstrate how candidates can be put through a series of tasks designed to test their innate skills and bring out their strengths and weaknesses.

The structure of assessment centres will vary depending on the number of candidates being recruited, the skills required and the job description. However a typical one day structure may look something like this:

At the end of an assessment centre, assessor will have a very good idea of how their chosen candidate will perform on the job and will be able to identify areas of post recruitment training and development that will be needed. They will be confident that not only will the successful candidate(s) have a good chance of succeeding after they have been appointed, but that the process will have provided absolute and objective measures that will convince unsuccessful candidates that they have been fairly treated.

The length, rigour and intensity of assessment centres can be adjusted to suit the needs and culture of the company and the seniority of the post under recruitment; but as a minimum the items asterisked in the table above should be included. Assessor

The organization of an assessment centre may be more onerous than a conventional interview schedule but with the easy availability of online resources such as downloadable in tray exercises and leadership activities, once the structure has been set up, it is a simple administrative exercise to organize.

As legislation conspires to tip the recruitment process in favour of the candidate, the assessment centre is the employer’s way of and ensuring that he levels the playing field and recruits the best staff with minimum risk.

Are you successful?

By
Dr Leow Chee Seng
MBA (UPM), DBA (UBI),
MMIM, MIHRM,
MIM-CPT, CAHRP (Consultant),
Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),
Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),
Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),
Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA)
Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)

When we were young, we always said, “I want to be successful”. This statement seems familiar to most of us. In reality, how many of us could understand this term:- successful? I am sure you have heard of Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Carlos Slim. They are successful businessmen. Have you ever thought what contributes to their success?

The term successful is rather ambiguous. There is no certainty or definite answer for it. Different people would catagorise success differently. For instance, a housewife would describe the term successful as ability to take good care of her family. Whereas, a teacher is successful when he or she is able to produce a group of “A”s students. In the eye of businessman, managing billion dollar companies would be success for them. However, these groups share a few similarities in forming paradigm of successful in their perception.

In Islamic approach, the concept of “self-reflection” which means looking deep into ourselves to check the kind of things we do and values we uphold in life is the essence of a successful person. This concept is important because it will help us evaluate and re-evaluate our behaviours and conduct everyday. “self-reflection” prevents us from values that are not deviant from Islamic thought. Most people now concerns how much they earn, job performance and examination results. A subsequent question that all Muslims must ask is this: are these sufficient to qualify a person as “successful” in the “eye” of God? By referring to Qur’an, a successful person refrains from saying or doing things that are worthless or have little use or value. On the other hand, we should use our five senses to contribute to the society. In Islamic worldview, a “successful” person is not self-centered, but knows and performs his societal and religious duties for others.
I went to a government department to enquire some information. The staffs were friendly and helpful, greeting us when we stepped in. Her smile and her cheerful demeanor marked a contented person. Not only she treat me as the best customer, but her interest in me as a person had me believing I was the most fascinating individual she has ever met. Her professional advice really impressed me. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and she was actually the deputy director of the department. From there, I learned a powerful lesson from her: what we do is not as important as how and why we do it. Unfortunately, most workers lack inspiration and they do not treasure the fun when working.

According to the late management guru, W. Edward Deming, he estimated that less than 2% of managers and 10% of workers are happy in their work. It is an interesting finding. He added, it is hard to give good service unless you enjoy your work. As a rule of thumb, people who are motivated by satisfaction they derive from work not only productive, creative and they are successful. In short, the first principle to be successful is “self-motivated”.

Taking up a doctorate program enable me to be an inveterate learner and a firm believer in the adage that knowledge is power. As we know, Malaysia has stepped into globalization era. Hence, we need to take initiative to seek out all the training we can possibly get to keep us up to date. After talking to several CEOs, I found that the job promotion and the highest pay increases will definitely go to those employees who are constantly learning how to do their jobs better. That is why; training, development and education programs have multiplied its demand at present.

The degree of success depends on the goals we are setting. Ask yourselves, “What position do you hope to attain?” Then, you have to identify it, then develop a plan that will assist you achieve the goal. According to Philip Kotler, satisfaction arises when expectation and the goals meet. However, setting goals are subjective. This task depends on your education background, past experience and your exposure. However, training should be an integral part of your plan.

In term of working environment, before setting a goal, you should identify what you need to know. Perhaps, you should ask your supervisor or superior what skills and training would enable you to be more promotable. You may also talk to person who is currently working in the position that you would someday like to have to identify what you need to be successful!

“Don’t wait for apples to fall” Do not wait for someone else to give you the power to improve yourself and to more effectively serve your customers. If you want to be creative, productive, you must be empowered person, and self-motivated people become successful. Besides, organize and execute around priorities. Do the most important or the most difficult task first. Conceivably, group related and similar activities and do them at the same time. When you prioritize, you think ahead and work on the roots of problems. This method enables you to kill two birds with one stone. You may consider the pareto principle: 80% of the results of your labour flow out of 20% of your activities. Remember, getting the highest possible quality production out of your time can do a lot to make you successful. For this reason, time management is essential for a successful person. Start organizing now!

To be a successful person and increase our satisfaction level, you may consider developing a sense of humour. I came across an article written by a clinical psychologist, Dr Charles Garfield that stress on sense of humour. “A sense of humour is one of the qualities of a high achiever. Humour is a positive attitude. It stimulates us to deliver good service. Not only humour makes you feel better, it makes those around you feel better. C.W Metcalf, the president of Fort Collins Colorado developed “the humour principle”. In his principle, he pointed out that humour could generate an enthusiasm that boosts the level of psychic energy, enhance alertness and mental efficiency, improve interpersonal relationships, clarify meaning and promote understanding, develop co-operation and camaraderie while deflecting conflict. It is interesting that Stephen Leacock, a Canadian humorist quoted, “A man will freely confess that he has no ear for music or no taste for fiction or even no interest in religion. But I have yet to hear a man announce that he has no sense of humour.”

The book “Your Mind Speaks Your Health” indicates the importance of our health. If you are going to be successful, you need energy. Energy is a prerequisite of motivation. Get enough sleep; you will get more done in less time if your body is rested. Eat well and regularly. Remember, if you do not have fun in life, you will be bored. Boredom is a dead battery, a walking zombie. When you are bored, your productivity becomes slow. Prof Richard Barthol, an associate professor of psychology at University of California at Los Angeles says that, to be highly motivated; people need a healthy balance of work and play. Recognize that there is as much energy in the emotional aspect of life as there is in the physical aspects.

To sum up, the successfulness or quality of an individual is an endless question. However, we would never be satisfied with our current situation no matter how successful you are. We tend to keep improving ourselves to be a better person.