What is the mind?

What is the mind?

Thinkers who assume that
mind and body are two independent entities.

describe mind as something intangible..

something different from 'matter' or 'body-

which is concrete and 'tangible

This has been disproved
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 Mind and body are interrelated and interact

upon each other. They are two aspects of the living, dynamic and adjusting personality.

Hence, mind is regarded as a

function of body; it does not exist apart from the body.

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 Mind is the sum-total of various

mental processes such as observing, knowing, thinking, reasoning, feeling, wishing, Imagining, remembering, and judging.

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 If we take away these mental processes, no mind is left, just as no chair is left if we take away its back, seat, arms and legs.

Therefore, mind is another name for

these mental processes and activities.

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 Our mind grows just as our body grows.

It becomes more complex with

advancing years. In other words, our mental processes become richer and more complex day by day.

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 The modern psychologist believes that the

human mind includes much more than conscious mental processes. There are preconscious and unconscious processes besides conscious processes, and all three constitute our mind. It must be noted, however, that mind is one and is a unity.

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It functions at three levels. At one level, we are aware of our mental processes; this is the conscious. At another level, we are not aware of our mental processes, this gives us the unconscious. At yet another level, we are not conscious of our mental processes at a certain time but were aware of them before and can again be aware of them, if we try. This is our preconscious.

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 Conscious processes are described as the

conscious mind, attending to something, observing, thinking, reasoning, judging, imagining are conscious mental processes or the functions of the conscious.

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 Preconscious mental processes are also

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called subconscious mental processes. Preconscious are those of which you were aware before and which can be recollected with effort. At this moment they are just below the margin of consciousness. Thus, they can become conscious. The difference between conscious processes and preconscious processes is that in the latter the attribute of consciousness is temporarily missing.
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 The unconscious processes

constitute the unconscious, also called the unconscious mind.

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 It is the processes of which we are totally unaware and which are incapable of becoming conscious unless special methods of psychoanalysis are used.
These processes lie buried deep in the hidden recesses of our mind, very much below the level of consciousness.

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 Sigmund Freud and his earliest

followers Karl lung and Gerhard Adler strongly advocated the existence of the unconscious which could be understood and known through psychoanalysis

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 Due to the discovery of the unconscious, our knowledge of the human mind is very much extended
the unconscious includes all forgotten past experiences, our repressed wishes and desires, our fears and phobias for which we do not know the reasons, or the reasons for our eccentric likes and dislikes.

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 Many of these unconscious mental

processes appear in, and cause our dreams, slips of pen or tongue. They cause abnormal behaviour in the form of neuroses and psychoses.

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Analysis of Conscious Mental Phenomena

Analysis of any conscious experience will show

that it consists of three distinct mental processes. These are 1. knowing, 2. feeling 3. and 'wishing' or' striving' . For instance-listening to a class lecture

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 People understand the meanings of

words and, thus, know certain facts, and are learning them. People are also feeling pleased or displeased with the lecture, and are enjoying it or being annoyed with it. Lastly, they may wish that the lecture may be continued or that it may be changed or stopped.

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 We have seen how our mind works at the

three different levels. Psychology studies human behaviour which involves both body and mind. They act on each other. Mental functions and physical states affect each other. This is the modern view, called interactionism
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 Our nervous system and glands

are responsible, to a great extent, for our ways of thinking, feeling and wishing

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1. Let us take a few examples of bodily

conditions affecting mental functioning in a normal healthy person. 2. It is observed that an increase in blood pressure leads to mental overactivity. 3. Fatigue of the body makes concentration difficult

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1) Constipation can cause irritability and depression. 2) Excessive (too much of) thyroid activity

leads to mental restlessness and overexcitability whereas undersecretion of the same glands leads to dull lethargy of mind and body. 3) It has been observed that septic tonsils and adenoids often weaken concentration and the power of understanding.

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Our mind, too, affects our bodily functions or physical states

The mind motivates all physical and motor activities.
Our emotions and strong feelings (mental

states) affect the body inwardly and outwardly. Unpleasant emotions such as fear, anger and worry cause headaches, insomnia, indigestion etc.

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 Emotional conflicts are responsible for

various neurotic illnesses such as hysteria, neurasthenic and gastrointestinal troubles like peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis or flatulence. Deep thinking and concentration can cause physical fatigue.

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Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research suggests that various parts of the brain known to be involved' in attention and in the control of the autonomic nervous system are activated during meditation.
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 The mind or the mental processes

are always found connected to a body, but they are more intimately connected with the brain or cortical processes. This can be understood by the following observations:
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 The more intelligent animals have better developed brains. Humans are better thinkers and have greater powers of imagination than lower animals; their brains are also the most developed. If our brain is injured or diseased, our mental

processes suffer. Many brain-damaged persons cannot think logically or perceive accurately. Our nerves carry the impulse of the bodily changes to the brain and then alone does mental process take place.
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 When we experience a pin-prick, our nerves carry the message to the brain and the mental experience of pain is felt

The importance of the mind in the treatment of illness can be traced back to more than 2000 years of healing approaches used in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine.
The field of psychosomatic medicine focuses on the study and treatment of diseases

believed to be caused by emotional conflicts, for example in asthma, hypertension, ulcer, etc
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 This new trend in medicine which recognizes the body-mind relationship focuses on treatment that is directed to both the sources of illnessthe emotions (the mental factor) and the body.
Stress causes the immune system to be less effective and less likely to resist disease.

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 Mind-body interventions can be effective in the

treatment of coronary artery diseases. These therapies (e.g., imagery, hypnosis, relaxation), when used before surgery, may improve recovery time and reduce pain following surgical procedures. Studies with cancer patients have shown that people with a positive outlook on life have higher recovery rates.

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 Psychological interventions have been

found to be effective in improving the mood, quality of life and and reducing disease- and treatmentrelated symptoms, such as chemotherapyinduced nausea, vomiting, and pain in the case of cancer

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