body mind relationship

This content is regarding body mind relationship which is part of nursing students syllabus. This topic will be useful for those who are studying psychology and other medical science subjects.

1. BODY - MIND RELATIONSHIP X.ARON CHRISTY M.Sc (N)., PROFESSOR, PSYCHIATRIC NURSING. SRM TRICHY COLLEGE OF NURSING

2. INTRODUCTION The bodily organs form the basis for all behaviour . Whether an individual walks or talks or runs or reads, the body is invariably involved in all actions. Therefore, it is essential that students of psychology understand the importance and the role of different body organs in behaviour .

3. The relationship between the functioning of the human body and human behaviour had led early philosophers to bestow a lot of attention on the relationship between the body and the mind. Broadly speaking these approaches could be categorized into dualistic and monistic theories.

4. BODY SYSTEMS, FUNCTIONS AND ORGANS BODY SYSTEM PRIMARY FUNCTION ORGANS INCLUDED Respiratory Breathing Lungs Trachea Cardiovascular/Circulatory Blood circulation Heart Arteries Veins Blood

5. Digestive Processing food Mouth Pharynx Esophagus Stomach Intestines Accessory organs: liver, gallbladder, abdomen, appendix Endocrine Hormone production A number of glands throughout the body, including but not limited to: Thyroid Pituitary Adrenal glands

6. Urinary Waste elimination Kidneys Bladder Reproductive Reproduction Uterus Ovaries Fallopian tubes Nervous/Sensory Communication between and coordination of all the body systems Nervous: Brain Nerves Sensory: Eyes Ears

7. Integumentary Protects against damage Skin Hair Nails Muscular/Skeletal Provides form, support, stability, and movement to the body Muscles Bones Hematopoietic/Lymphatic Blood production, maintenance of fluid balance, and defense against disease Bone marrow Spleen Tonsils Lymph fluid, nodes, ducts, vessels

8. MIND AND ITS FUNCTIONS Mind , in the Western tradition, the complex of faculties involved in perceiving, remembering, considering, evaluating, and deciding. Mind is in some sense reflected in such occurrences as sensations, perceptions, emotions, memory, desires, various types of reasoning, motives, choices, traits of personality, and the unconscious.

9. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF MIND Mind is not a reality. It is a hypothetical construct for describing certain functions of our body. We should not confuse it with our brain or nervous system. Mind is commonly associated with our various mental processes and activities like thinking, reasoning etc..

10. Actually our mental processes and activities in themselves represent the entity and functions of our mind Our mind may be considered synonymous to our intellect. It can’t be seen or experienced as we can’t see or experience our intellect/intelligence. The functioning of our mind improves or gets developed with the growing age.

11. LEVELS OF FUNCTIONS OF MIND We can view consciousness as three distinct levels: The Conscious, The Subconscious (Or Preconscious), And The Unconscious.

12. THE CONSCIOUS MIND The first level of consciousness is known as the conscious state, and this refers to our immediate awareness that you are experiencing as you read this. We make use of our conscious mind when we take in input from our senses, analyse the information, and then make decisions based on this information.

13. The conscious mind consists of what we are aware of at any given point in time. It includes the things that we are thinking about right now, whether it’s in the front of our minds or the back. If we’re aware of it, then it is in the conscious mind. For example, at this moment you may be consciously aware of the information you’re reading, the sound of the music you’re listening to, or a conversation you’re having. All of the thoughts that pass through your mind, the sensations and perceptions from the outside world, and the memories that you bring into your awareness are all part of that conscious experience.

14. THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND The next level of consciousness, the subconscious (or preconscious), is the stuff from which dreams are made. We can consider it as the storehouse of all remembered experiences, impressions that are left on the mind by such experiences, and tendencies that are awakened or reinforced by these impressions. Every experience you’ve ever had, every thought, every impression lives in the subconscious mind and influences our patterns of thought and behaviour far more than we realise .

15. The subconscious holds information that is just below the surface of awareness. An individual can retrieve such information with relative ease, and we usually refer to these as memories. For example, if someone asked you right now what your middle name was, you would be able to recall it, or when your father’s birthday was or when it last rained. The memories of past experiences live in what Freud referred to as the subconscious part of our minds, that we might not be aware of one moment, and then fully focused on the next.

16. THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND The final level of consciousness is known as the unconscious. This is made up of thoughts, memories, and primitive/instinctual desires that are buried deep within ourselves, far below our conscious awareness. Even though we’re not aware of their existence, they have a significant influence on our behaviour .

17. Although our behaviours tend to indicate the unconscious forces driving them, we can’t readily access the information which is stored in the unconscious mind. Throughout our childhood, we gathered many different memories and experiences that formed the beliefs, fears and insecurities that we carry today. However, we cannot recall most of these memories. They are unconscious forces that drive our behaviours . For example, things in your unconscious that might be forgotten include negative experiences from your past or a traumatic event that you pushed out of your subconscious. There might be some life experiences or thoughts that are too threatening for some people to fully acknowledge and are therefore mediated by the preconscious/subconscious part of the mind.

18. BODY MIND RELATIONSHIP There is much truth in the proverbial saying that “a healthy mind exists in a healthy body and vice versa. It happens so because body and mind are tied in an intimate bond. They interact with each other.

19. Body acting or affecting mind: It is illustrated in variety of ways: When we are not tired and feel fresh, we can pay attention and concentrate on an intellectual task in an effective way compared to our bodily state when we are tired and fatigued. Any act of caressing, slapping and tickling of the body parts may result in the likewise pleasant or unpleasant mental experiences.

20. Malfunctioning of digestive system such as the problem of constipation, stomachache may interfere with the mental functioning. Increase in blood pressure may lead to mental excitement whereas its decrease may cause depression and under activity to the suffering individual.

21. Mind acting or affecting body It is rightly said that “ nothing is good or bad thinking of our mind makes it so”. As a result, we may observe that mental state of an individual may adversely or favorably functioning. The negative or unpleasant emotions and feelings like anger, fear and anxiety may prove a potent source for bringing disorders and mal functioning in the body resulting to headaches, irritability, indigestion, insomnia etc.

22. Negative thinking and emotional tensions may be found to give birth bodily problems and disorders like peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis. Over activity on the part of the mind in terms of abstract thinking, pure reasoning, stress on the memory and other types of strenuous mental work may cause excessive fatigue and tiredness to the body.

23. Modulation process in health and illness By the term modulation process in health and illness, we mean “ the process of modulating, regulating or varying the state of health and illness of an individual”. The efforts of keeping one’s body healthy and mind active may result into a sound upkeep and healthy functioning of one’s body and mind devoid of any abnormality, illness or disease.

24. The mental emotional conflict problems may a quite damaging role in worsening the condition of a patient suffering from the physical or bodily ailments especially in case of chronic diseases ailments like coronary artery disease, diabetes etc. Physical care and introduction of regular proper doses of the prescribed medicines in the body may help the patient to a fast recovery. For the proper modulation of the health and illness of the patient it is important to maintain positive attitude towards his fast recovery.