Oliver, whose musings speak for & to us is our Mascot. Inspired by his namesake the erudite neurologist & writer Late Professor Oliver Sacks, he shares periodically, pearls of wisdom about the brain and mind. Hailing from a long lineage that has been associated with health over millennia, Oliver traces his ancestry to Athena & Minerva the Greek & Roman goddesses of health, philosophy & magic. Not to be mistaken for his comic counterpart...
At the heart of Buddhi Clinic is integration. We offer a comprehensive program of blended healing that brings together the best each discipline offers - from Brain Stimulation to Psychological Therapy, Ayurveda to Yoga, Cognitive Stimulation to Naturopathy, Physical, Occupational & Speech Therapy
At the heart of Buddhi Clinic is integration. We offer a comprehensive program of blended healing that brings together the best each discipline offers - from Brain Stimulation to Psychological Therapy, Ayurveda to Yoga, Cognitive Stimulation to Naturopathy, Physical, Occupational & Speech Therapy
We cordially welcome you to Buddhi Clinic’s New World Class Centre and Resource Hub in Chennai. The centre is a global first bringing together the gamut of care models available for chronic neurological disorders, mental health conditions, and elder care. The care has been organised across four zones:
The Alchemist Zone: Buddhi Clinic has modern medicine in specific Neuropsychiatry, Integrative Medicine & Lifestyle Medicine at its fountainhead. Elegant consultations rooms for doctors, a centralised reception, clinical laboratory, neurodiagnostic facilities for brain mapping, nerve studies, sleep studies and autonomic function & fall studies are available as are a well stocked pharmacy.
The Mindfulness Zone: 1. This has a full house of neuromodulation & brain stimulation including repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and trans-Auricular Vagus Nerve stimulation (tA-VNS). 2. Individualised Yoga therapy addressing chronic and disabling conditions is housed here 3. Individualised clinical psychology including a range of cognitive-behavioural, cognitive-retraining and holistic care paradigms as also detailed cognitive and behavioural testing (psychometry) is provided……………
At the heart of Buddhi Clinic is integration. We offer a comprehensive program of blended healing that brings together the best each discipline offers - from Brain Stimulation to Psychological Therapy, Ayurveda to Yoga, Cognitive Stimulation to Naturopathy, Physical, Occupational & Speech Therapy
At the heart of Buddhi Clinic is integration. We offer a comprehensive program of blended healing that brings together the best each discipline offers - from Brain Stimulation to Psychological Therapy, Ayurveda to Yoga, Cognitive Stimulation to Naturopathy, Physical, Occupational & Speech Therapy
A 3M approach to elder care that involves memory, mobility and mental health was advocated at a programme held to mark World Alzheimer’s Month at the Buddhi Clinic on Saturday.
Speaking about the theme for World Alzheimer’s Day this year, which focussed on diagnosis, Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy, founder, Buddhi Clinic, said this made the 3M approach even more relevant.
He further shed light on how integrative medicine can make a difference for the elderly. “The emphasis for older people is often on getting one big procedure done to knock a condition out of the park, when it should actually be on a gentle and slow process towards getting better. A sustained, integrative effort towards getting better is what is important.”
Dr. Krishnamoorthy spoke about the ‘Buddhi’ philosophy and stressed on the need for harmony between modern science and ancient medicine. “All disciplines have something to offer, and we need to identify and take the best of this. We should not work in competition but rather in collaboration,” he said.
The results of a study on taking an integrative approach to address cognitive disorders, which was carried out by Buddhi Clinic among 25 persons over the age of 55 with mild cognitive impairment showed that 75% of the patients showed an improvement at eight-week intervals, said Dr. Krishnamoorthy, sharing the findings.
A series of talks on managing pain and mobility, ayurveda for brain health, yoga and nutrition for brain health and sharing the experiences of a patient were made by doctors and other professionals from the Buddhi Clinic. Urging persons above 45 years to get a memory screening done, Dr. Krishnamoorthy said Buddhi Clinic was offering free memory assessment screenings to mark World Alzheimer’s Day.
Dr. E.S. Krishnamoorthy , Behavioural Neurologist & Neuropsychiatrist, Founder of Buddhi Clinic in conversation with Dr. Sameer Parikh and Ms. Gayathri Prabhu.
Dr. E.S. Krishnamoorthy, Behavioural Neurologist & Neuropsychiatrist, Founder of Buddhi Clinic in conversation with Dr. Sameer Parikh who trains doctors, psychologists, and other mental health specialists, and Ms. Gayathri Prabhu who teaches literary studies at Manipal University and is an author of a memoir, “If I Had To Tell It Again” and has written few other novels like Maya and The Untitled. Dr. Sameer is the author of two books, one for children and one for adults.
Mental health. A word that is highly neglected by Indian society. In India, experiencing mental health issues is seen with suspicion, and individuals suffering from mental illnesses face stigma. Mental problems are frequently thought to be the result of a lack of discipline and determination. Mental health stigma, as well as an absence of availability, affordability, and knowledge, contribute to major disparities in treatment. ‘There is a deficit of experts and I don’t think it will compensate for a long time because the deficit is too high’ said Dr. Sameer Parikh. He also added how important it is to address mental health issues in the early stage and find preventive measures for them. While finding the solution to an issue, we should also make the effort to learn more about mental health and the doctors should take the initiative to impart the knowledge to the rest of the world. Another insightful thing mentioned by Dr. Sameer was that teachers and counsellors who work with adolescence will know what mental health issues they go through and how they can tackle them. ‘True change of mental health advances can only happen with the help of teachers and not purely by experts because we don’t have as many’ he added.
When Dr. Krishnamoorthy asked Ms. Gayathri Prabhu about how depression or any mental health issue of a person can affect their family member or the caretaker, she read a small part of her book where she wrote about her father’s illness. It reads, ‘Why? It is always the first question depression sparks. Where did this come from? Not asked from a diagnostic mood but in avoidance or curiosity or habit. If it is here, if it is in our mind, we need to ask what is to be done.
If mental health issues remain a stigma, then help-seeking behaviour will be prevented. If people don’t seek help, then there won’t be any change in the issues in society. ‘Help-seeking is not going to a doctor. Help-seeking is starting a conversation. Recognizing you have a problem and you need to find a solution’ informed Dr. Sameer. Ms. Gayathri said that stigma is her fear. It is an individual’s fear. When a person wants to seek help, they keep anticipating the reaction of society and this stops them from asking for help.
It is critical to remember that determining mental disease can only be done by establishing screening benchmarks. There is also an urgent need to dispel the myth that mental health is just the prevalence of mental health issues. Long-delayed debates and efforts to address the issue of access to mental health care are now making their intentions clear. Careful mapping and investigation are required to provide quality data, which is required to grasp the scope of the problem.
Dr. Krishnamoorthy has covered everything from adolescence depression to substance abuse in The Hindu Lit For Life (LFL) 2019.
Dr. E.S. Krishnamoorthy , Behavioural Neurologist & Neuropsychiatrist, Founder of Buddhi Clinic in conversation with Dr. Pratima Murthy, Dr. Shekhar Seshadri, and Dr. Soumitra Pathare.
The world has experienced a surge in the concern over mental health during the Covid-19 times, the concern has been to the extent that words like pandemic, covid, lockdown, quarantine and many more have come to be associated with ‘mental health.’ Dr. E.S Krishnamoorthy, Behavioural Neurologist & Neuropsychiatrist, Founder of Buddhi Clinic, virtually sat down with Dr. Shekhar Seshadri, child psychiatrist, a senior professor in the department of child and adolescent psychiatrist and dean of the behavioural sciences division; Dr. Soumitra Pathare, a consultant psychiatrist and director of the center for mental health, law and policy: Indian law society, Pune; Dr. Pratima Murthy, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS.
Dr. E.S Krishnamoorthy began the panel discussion by pointing out the irony of a world which changed due to a virus instead of wars and governments. He also noticed that the thing that changed the most is the impact that the pandemic has had on the mental health of people and awareness about the importance of mental health.
“There is no health without mental health,” Dr. Pratima Murthy observed. She explained that the initial stage of the lockdown was met with a positive response but it was soon overpowered by anxiety over sickness, family and hospitalization. She proceeded to exemplify the following with a personal experience while simultaneously pointing out that the most difficult part of the whole experience was the loneliness of the mental trauma, sickness and death due to the pandemic. Dr. Seshadri added onto the topic raised by Dr. Pratima and discussed the patterns of coping and stress of children during Covid-19 and their lack of understanding regarding the pandemic, angst about hospitalization and grief over loss of their parents, social interactions and predictability. He also mentions “intolerance of unpredictability.” Dr. Soumitra Pathare took over and talked about the emergence of awareness of mental health in Middle class India and the hoarding of the meager human resources for mental health by the privileged class of people.
Dr. E.S Krishnamoorthy questioned Dr. Pratima Murthy on the impact of the pandemic on women and she explained that there is a treatment gap and the services are not gender sensitive along with economic disparities, multiple roles expected of them and the stigma around seeking help. She also talked about the increase in domestic violence and the burden over working women to take care of their children, compared to working men.
When questioned by Dr. E.S Krishnamoorthy about the impact of the pandemic over the special needs children, Dr. Seshadri responded that pandemic and covid have a disproportionate response on the more vulnerable people. He carried on by explaining the difference between equality and equity and related it to the issues faced by the special needs children. Contrasted to him, Dr. Pathare discussed the discrimination faced by adults with mental illnesses and the ignorance of the authorities, even during covid, to include them in the ‘at-risk’ population until ordered to do so by the SCI. Contrary to that, the hospital of Dr. Pratima made sure to protect the individuals with mental illnesses and recognise them as “at-risk” individuals.
The discussion moved onto the vulnerable groups of India, Dr. Pratima talked about addicts and their problems; girl child and children with lack of technology; chemical and behavioral addictions. Dr. Seshadri stated that developmental psychology hasn’t considered the evolutionary impact of the Pandemic on the young children.
The panel moved onto the subject of suicide, domestic violence and alcohol consumption as well as the connection between the three. Dr. Pathare talked about the dependency on alcohol and the lack of alcohol without access to treatment during the lockdown.
The discussion concluded with highlighting the positive aspects of technology and the interconnectedness it provided to people during the times of stress and anxiety. The panel proved that the existence of Covid-19 had a toll on not only the physical well being of the citizens but also the mental health.
A lawyer who quit his profession because he could not pay attention to what his opponent was saying in court. A start-up founder, brilliant at strategizing, lost money because he could not send invoices on time.
And then we take you back 500 years to the story of Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the greatest artists the world has ever known, but also, a scientist-painter who never got around to finishing what he started. He would procrastinate, skip from one task to another, and in his lifetime managed to complete only 20 works of art, leaving countless unfinished.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), say mental health experts, brain disorder that affects adult’s ability to pay attention, control moods and complete tasks, explains the behaviour.
Though not recognised as a mental disorder till the 1960s, studies have found that there are more than 350 million adults affected with ADD globally (says a study published in 2021 in the Journal of Global Health) and has been shown to be progressively increasing over the years. And the pandemic seems to have more adults seeking help for the condition, says neuropsychiatrist Dr. Ennapadam S Krishnamoorthy, founder of Buddhi Clinic in Chennai & Coimbatore.
“The Frontal lobe of the brain is the executive brain, responsible for planning, organisational skills, focus, and time management. It is also the site of the social brain, which gives one the ability to regulate behaviour. Both these are affected in those with ADD,” he says. The shift to remote working and months spent in isolation during the pandemic resulted in social cues from the environment being r replaced b y cognitive cues, which a person with ADD tends to struggle with, explains Dr Krishnamoorthy. “For instance, a person with ADD may do certain tasks in the office only when they are reminded of it by a colleague. The social cues are not there when you are working from home, and those with ADD may lose track of their daily tasks.”
There is a misconception that Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) presents only in children, but that is not so, explains Dr. Krishnamoorthy. In adults “Hyperactivity” is replaced with impulsivity, which is why it is referred to as ADD.
Sonal Singh, a certified ADHD/ADD coach, says the condition is exaggerated in times of transition, like when one goes from college to work, or is promoted from executive manager, moves cities, and so on. “Neurotypical people find it easier to adjust to change,” says Sonal, who adds that in the past couple of years, startup founders have begun to make up for a larger part of her clientele. “These are otherwise bright young adults with high IQs, but have difficulty focusing and paying attention.”
Chennai based psychiatrist Dr. N. Rangarajan though believes people sometimes reach out for a clinical diagnosis to validate their difficulties in coping with change. “Several of my patients seek help for self-diagnosed conditions that readymade online tests tell them they have. ADD needs to be clinically diagnosed. For some it may just be merely about learning to accept change.”
A Study published in the Indian Industrial Psychiatry Journal indicates that 17% to 22% of adults reporting to psychiatric services reporting for other mental conditions have been found to have ADD. In some cases says Dr. Krishnamoorthy ADD can masquerade as depression or anxiety, which also affect working (short-term) memory and the ability to pay attention. “In these cases, if the mental health issue is sorted out, the problems of attention deficit will disappear.”
One of the most visible signs of ADD is procrastination. “The person will be brilliant at ideating, but find it impossible to send an email or file an invoice” says Sonal.
King’s College London researcher Professor Marco Catani, who presented his hypothesis on da Vinci in 2019, in the journal “Brain’, attributes his explanation of the painter’s ADD to historical records which showed he ‘spent excessive time planning projects but lacked the perseverance’. “Those with ADD may also make promises they don’t keep because they have forgotten almost as soon as they made them. This can play havoc with both work life and personal relationships,” says Sonal . “In the end, ADD is all about emotional regulation. “ And the first step is to pay attention to the signs.
This week, we at Buddhi Clinic inaugurate our new centrally located World Class Resource Hub,representing excellence in brain & mind care.With cutting edge diagnosis, comprehensive neurorehabilitation, mental health care and holistic wellness, expertly curated to suit each individual patient, Buddhi Clinic achieves a whole new milestone, another global first from Chennai.
FOUNDERSPEAK! We care about the elder, who cared for us when we were growing up. Elders are vulnerable to neuropsychiatric conditions — Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s Dementia, Stroke and Depression. Accordingly, tremors, slowness & stiffness, forgetfulness, falls & paralysis, mental depression are all problematic and often difficult to treat. At Buddhi Clinic we bring together cutting edge modern science, the wisdom of ancient healthcare traditions & comprehensive rehabilitation under one roof. Explore Buddhi Clinic & Experience World Class Care.
BEYOND MEDICATION: Our Buddhi Clinic mantra is to integrate the best of modern science & the wisdom of ancient healthcare traditions for people with a range of brain & mind conditions across the lifespan. With 15 different non-pharmacological therapies under one roof, we offer world class multidisciplinary, multicomponent & holistic care. View our diversity of experience on www.buddhiclinic.com or read our expert blog on “falling men, failing neurons”to learn more.
20/A3, K. B. Dasan Road, Teynampet, Chennai, 600018
To know more visit www.buddhiclinic.com Or contact 9500010056 (Chennai) & 9500010066 (Coimbatore)
Having spent a few decades taking care of elderly family members and several patients , my experiences have changed my perspective of elder care over the years .
With modern medicine focusing as always on prolonging life with cutting edge advancements, quality of life of elders with residual disability is often the casualty. Few elders have spoken to their families about how they wish to be medically managed when the need arises. In such cases, whether the person ends up in the icu, hooked on to the ventilator or on lesser interventions, depends entirely on the family’s wishes.
There is the ever vacillating family, torn between doing ‘all it can’ and ‘ all it should’ in spite of continued guidance and handholding. Needless to say , we get to see more and more families not willing to subject their critically ill elders to prolonged isolation and interventions when quality of life is a distant dream in a hospital setting. And then there are elders who have clearly spelt out that their final exit must be at home amidst their loved ones. However, elders do despair when confronted with disabilities such as pains , imbalance , difficulties with getting around , digestion woes , insomnia and memory issues setting in and disrupting their lives.
Catching the morning sun in a well lit part of the house while sipping on a hot cup of tea or coffee does a lot for the moods and the bones.For the more able , a morning walk , taking in the sounds and smells of the outdoors in the company of fellow walkers , is a good start to the day.For the less abled, gentle rehabilitation in the form of physical exercises , massages , speech and memory exercises , yogasanas and pranayama go a long way in enabling independance and enthusing them. A daily activity schedule which could include chanting, colouring , listening to music , helping with simple chores at home and family members chatting over a meal with family or an occasional drive , would make life less weary.
With some guidance , many of them are able to use gadgets and happily browse , chat , solve sudoku and crosswords. Setting up the house to enable easy mobility and safety with antiskid mats , grab bars and stable chairs instills confidence and encourages independance.
Gentle measures which focus on a good quality of life would be the sensible approach to address chronic conditions, in the sunset years.
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