This report really rang true. I have a disproportionate amount of university graduate students in my practice who are anxious and depressed.
The first thing that came to mind here was a saying I first heard when I was in college.
“A university education is a prolongation of infancy.” Read more on The Psychological Needs Of Graduate Students…
Filed under depression, Education, Family, life, Mental Illness, News, Panic Attacks, Stress by on Jul 21st, 2018. Comment. 
“GABA” stands for “Gamma Amino Butyric Acid,” a neurotransmitter long known for its relaxing, anticonvulsant (meaning “anti-seizure”) activity. We have certainly found ways to increase its presence with drugs that operate on, well, “lateral pathways” to increase its presence quantitatively. Unfortunately, these usually involve addictive substances, like benzodiazepines, which are pretty heavily addictive for most folks.
I am really glad those loveable Brits at U. Cambridge are saying they help “repress” unwanted thoughts. This is to me, a direct validation of Freudian Thought. We “repress” thoughts, and this seems to be linked to the way we do so. Read more on The Function Of GABA…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, medicine, Mental Illness, News, Research by on Jun 13th, 2018. Comment.
I was not over 12 when my parents invited me to perform on the banjo which I played rather minimally for a family of synagogue friends.
I went straight to my best song, at that time “Where Have all the Flowers Gone,” by Peter, Paul and Mary. Read more on How Long Does This Continue?…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, depression, Diagnosis, Disease, Doctors, Education, life, Mental Illness, News by on May 13th, 2018. Comment.
I recently started seeing a patient whose previous psychiatrist ran him through absolutely every antidepressant drug that his (expensive) genetic testing suggested he would respond to. He had no improvement with any of them.
I will admit to having been an enthusiastic supporter of genetic testing not long ago. The science was sound on paper. Read more on Bipolar Genetics…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, Diagnosis, Doctors, medicine, Mental Illness, News, Psychiatrists by on May 9th, 2018. Comment.
Gag me with a spoon.
Psychiatric diagnosis is never a controversy. It is always a mess.
Within the first week of my residency training, my respected preceptor in child psychiatry told me “You aren’t going to child psych very much, Estelle. There isn’t much evidence for most of what we do. The research is about 20 years behind adult psychiatry.” Read more on The Alleged Controversy About Childhood Bipolar Illness…
Filed under Mental Illness, News, Psychiatrists by on Apr 6th, 2018. Comment.
Current science consensus: the state of the bacteria in your gut could seriously have something to do with whether or not you end up having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD). PTSD has been a horrible side effect of war for a really long time. Read more on The Colon (yucch) As A Factor In PTSD…
Filed under Brain, Mental Illness, News by on Mar 11th, 2018. Comment.
Should I be inclined to comment on the physical or mental health of a public figure, I would need to start with a humongous disclaimer.
I suppose it is common decency that would force me to say I had never met the patient and/or had never been their doctor and/or had never had any access to their medical or psychiatric record. Read more on Approach, Not Author…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, Diagnosis, Disease, Doctors, medicine, Mental Illness, News, prescription drugs, Psychiatrists by on Feb 27th, 2018. Comment.
No, mental health care is not what it used to be. Especially inpatient units.
Even though this is a 2014 article, and British, it may articulate the losses more clearly than anything else I have read recently. Read more on …
Filed under medicine, Mental Illness, News, Psychotherapy by on Jan 19th, 2018. Comment.
I always considered myself a naive person in many ways.
From my overprotective family, who had serious worries about my crossing the street without someone holding my hand even when pushing forty, I moved, through several exotic domiciles, into a marriage where my husband would never dream of permitting me to cross a street without holding my hand. Read more on You Think YOU Got Stress?…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, depression, Diagnosis, Disease, Dissociative Disorder, Doctors, medicine, Mental Illness, News, prescription drugs, Stress, Stress Relief by on Dec 26th, 2017. Comment.
Sexual harassment has been making the news lately. Dozens of powerful men in Hollywood (especially) and business and government are being accused of misconduct by vulnerable young women (and men in some cases).
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can result from any trauma. Car accidents, animal attacks, a bad fall — not just sexual assault or war.
A high-school student doing a report for school recently wrote to me asking about PTSD. I thought my answers might be of interest to others, so I’m sharing them with you. Read more on Student Questions About PTSD…
Filed under abuse, Alternative Medicine, depression, Diagnosis, Disease, Dissociative Disorder, Doctors, Mental Illness, News, Psychiatrists, PTSD, Research by on Nov 3rd, 2017. Comment.