Prof Dr Rubaiul Murshed

One of the most psychological classic movies of the 20th century, Hitchcock’s ‘psycho’ has reinforced the common misconception that people with mental illnesses are always dangerous.

It is said that “Face is the index of the mind and eyes are the mirror of the soul.” Facial beauty is strongly linked to personality traits. Our personality determines how we react to a particular thing and respond to the surroundings along with our body language.

The sharing and ventilating of personal feelings play a major role in the relief of stress and depression. It has been seen that people who have one or more close friendships appear to be happier.

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a month, get married. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody else.

Having bipolar disorder can make life difficult. Bipolar disorder (previously called manic depression) is a mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person’s temper, activity levels, and concentration.

The ego is the master of all conflicts. This is an inflated feeling of pride and superiority over others. It creates a dissection between the ideas of moral and immoral, war and peace, and so on.

Kindness, empathy, and dark empathy are different concepts. Although kindness and empathy both are valued and well-known practices. But, the term ‘dark empath’ is relatively new. Some described them as “A wolf in sheep’s clothing”. According to some researchers, ‘dark empaths’ may be even more dangerous than narcissists.

“If you do not understand my silence; you will not understand my voice” - to make these words easier to understand, ‘Rumi’, a great thinker and most popular poet of North America said, “Silence is the language of the creator, all else is poor translation.” The hidden powers of silence have a beauty that benefits those who practice it. This non-verbal communication which carries symbolic significance could be the best answer to anger or the right answer to an unwise person.

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web (www) talked about its first 30 years, the rise of the toxic internet, and whether Facebook needs to be broken up.

Some behavioural scientists published an infographic on the ‘Battle of the Brain: Men vs. Women.’ Despite the size difference (the male brain is 10% larger), differences in performances between men and women have long been a topic of debate among scholars. Most psychologists now believe that there are no significant sex differences in general intelligence, although ability in particular types of intelligence does appear to vary slightly on average.

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else: you are the one who gets burned’ — this famous quotation came to my mind when I read psychologist Daniel Goleman’s book “Emotional Intelligence – Why it can matter more than IQ”.

“Content is fire. Social media is gasoline.” It is said that this media emphasises sociology, psychology and marketology over technology. Switching from current news to hungry people to war and calamities to a comedy show on the screen in minutes, makes us insensitive to social values.

From our immune system to our mood, our gut affects everything. My father used to say that most diseases started in the gut. Scientists call the gut-regulating enteric nervous system (ENS) the ‘little brain’ or ‘second brain.’

“Generosity is giving more than you have, and pride is taking less than you need”- Kahlil Gibran. Some ancient thinkers thought proud people were worthy of great things. So, is it better to not feel proud at all? Well, it is said that pride breakfasted with plenty, lunched with poverty, dined with infamy.

‘Ingratitude dries up the fountain of all goodness,’ - said a French statesman. In reality, sometimes ingratitude can be more dreadful than revenge. That is why it is said that gratitude is the best attitude, because it helps us feel happier and more kind to others. But is gratitude really powerful? Indeed, the importance of attitude is the basis for everything in our lives.

Once a wise man said, “One fake friend is more dangerous than 100 enemies.” True friends will always find a way to help, but toxic and fake friends will always find an excuse. Today, a toxic social environment causes more harm to our health, happiness, and wellbeing. People who make us feel bad, or insecure about ourselves can create a toxic environment.

We all know that ‘a crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet participated in stress and anxiety.’ There is no such thing as a stress-free life. Today, vagus nerve massages are popular for stress relieve. But, in the early eighties, we focused more on ‘vagotomy’ to treat severe cases of peptic ulcer disease.

Cortisol is widely known as the body’s stress hormone. Chronic stress harms our mind and body. “It’s not stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it.”

What was Socrates’ most famous saying? Some say, “Know thyself” and some mention, “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.” Socrates taught us that people should care less about their bodies and possessions and more about their souls, saying, “Wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth.”

“He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has arrived.” – Chinese Proverb