“Social skills are important”- 8 December 2013
P. D
Q. I felt myself boring about I can’t mix up with my friends. Please guide me they think I have made myself more than God as I speak very less. They put scams over me. Tell me what to do?
Ans. You seem to be a shy and submissive person. You may be introverted as well or could be an extrovert with social inhibitions. Mixing up with people and making friends and getting along with people known and unknown is an important part of a good healthy personality. You should not despair as such skills can be developed through training and counselling which we routinely do. Shy persons who talk less can be misinterpreted by others as snobbish and as you say ‘God’ like attitude. Scams could be due to the same mis-interpretations about you and your behaviour that people attribute to you when you do not explain yourself to others. Training in personality improvement would help you tremendously.
N G.
Q. I am a student of 11th std, and I wanted to know about what’s wrong with me. Actually I hear smallest of smallest sounds, it’s like my brain registers it. I am just super aware of my surroundings. Like now I am typing this, I can hear the turning pages of the newspaper that my mother is reading in the hall, my brother watching the TV, even the serial that’s going on, the vehicles moving on the main road, the pressure cooker’s going off. But that’s not it. When the cooker’s going off, my mind can imagine the mechanism of hot steam that is making the cooker go off and I can remember things very well. Like, even the no of vehicle no. of my neighbour’s car that is parked in front of our home. I realized about this super stimuli thing when I was in std 8th, and at first I thought it was normal but my peers did not have it the same way, whenever I asked them, “did you hear that?” or “did you feel that?” but none ever did. I ignored it till recently, when while doing some useless surfing, I found out about latent inhibition. I am not sure about what it exactly is and whether I have it or not but I think there’s something not normal. Will you help me figure it out Please?
Ans. This type of problem could be explained in many ways. It could be hyperactivity symptom that many people have which leads to inability to concentrate on one thing for some time and tends to get distracted easily by external stimuli. Such people are fidgety and restless too. You could also be distracted by other things when it comes to studies or you may be finding some difficulty in some or one subject of study which makes you divert your mind. It could be part of general inattentiveness and absentminded habits. You could be a very sensitive person and therefore quick to pick up details. It would be important to know from when you have developed this symptom. Most people are able to ignore the constant stream of incoming stimuli, but this capability is reduced in those with low latent inhibition. Before you conclude about your illness first seek an opinion from a psychologist.
