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Abstract Both altruism and egoism are two types of motivations for action. An altruistic action is performed to benefit the other, whereas egoistic action is performed to benefit oneself. The strict definition of altruism states that an action ceases to be altruistic if the actor receives the benefit of his action as a consequence directly or indirectly. On the other hand, egoism particularly psychological egoism presupposes that all actions, whether performed for oneself or the other, are always self-interested in nature and hence, egoistic. Given the dichotomous existence between the two types of actions, which on many occasions create conceptual misapprehension, a different alternative will be explored. The new inquiry will throw light on the possibility that we commit some kind of motivational extremism on a conceptual level. It will further be argued that altruism and egoism may have one singular motivational source through which various actions emerge.

Background: Patients with psychiatric disorders have varied psychosocial realities embedded in the community context. Help-seeking behavior is extremely crucial in determining the prognosis and outcome of interventions. Objectives: (1) To assess the levels of quality of life, perceived social support, and decision to first seek help. (2) To assess the association of socio-demographic variables with these domains. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey with 100 psychiatric patients in a tertiary care setting employed three scales, namely WHOQOL-BREF, PSSS, and WHO Pathways Encounter form. Results: Patients had higher levels of quality of life and perceived social support. The majority of patients chose health professionals over faith healers at the onset of symptoms, had higher reliance on family members, and continued with hospital visits till the third follow-up. Sex, occupation, and marital status were associated with perceived social support, and duration of illness was associated with help-seeking behavior. Conclusions: Community-based interventions must include holistic services and reduce the gap between onset and first contact, leading to higher quality of life and perceived social support.

Present study is aimed to evaluate the ameliorative role of quercetin on PCBs-induced oxidative stress in hippocampus of Wistar rats. Group I rats received vehicle (corn oil) intraperitoneally (i.p); Group II received quercetin 50 mg/kg bwt/day (gavage); Group III received PCB 2 mg/kg bwt/day (i.p); Group IV received PCB (i.p) and simultaneously quercetin through gavage. After 30 days, rats were euthanized and hippocampus was dissected from each rat brain. Oxidative stress was assessed by determining the levels of H2O2, LPO, Pcc, and alteration in the functional markers such as CK, AchE, and ATPases activities in the hippocampus of control and experimental animals. A significant increase in the levels of stress markers and decrease in level of functional markers were observed in PCBs-treated rats. Moreover DNA fragmentation and histological studies were ascertained to confirm PCBs toxicity. In conclusion, quercetin shows a protective role against PCBs-induced oxidative damage in rat hippocampus.