If it’s May, it must be Mental Health Month, that special, warm, cozy time of the year that we all gather around our medication bottles and sing a little mental health happiness song.
Yes, I’m starting a new tradition. Please join in if you’d like.
But for most Americans, Mental Health Month is meant to highlight mental […]

I love Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, two Fox shows hosted by Gordon Ramsay, OBE, a British celebrity chef and very strong personality. Watching this season of Hell’s Kitchen reminded me of the stress and rigors that chefs in training regularly undergo. And something rarely mentioned on these shows — substance and alcohol abuse amongst […]

Fear of what others may be thinking of us is common, but exaggerated fears are more common than previously thought. Most research into paranoia (defined as “unfounded mistrust”) involves psychosis and schizophrenia, although it’s been estimated 10-15% of the population suffer such fears. New research finds that lesser degrees affect many more.
Researcher Daniel Freeman at […]

According to research by Zogby International, 37% of the American workforce experiences bullying on the job. Further, according to the NY Times, the common workplace bully is much more subtle than “the playground” bully, which makes it difficult for the person being bullied to report him/her.
It may start with a belittling comment […]

“Basically, if you can learn to control your own inner experience, then you can fundamentally alter your experience of life,” says cognitive [thought] neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Saksida.
This international calendar of events will guide you to special events happening offline in your community during Brain Awareness Week, March 10-16.
Online, learn more about things like sugar […]

Fatigue is an ongoing concern that affects millions, and yet there are few reliable treatments for it, and worse yet, no agreed-upon way of diagnosing it. Where does plain tiredness end and fatigue begin?
An article in yesterday’s Washington Post examined the issue of fatigue:

In this era of burning candles at both ends (whoever works the […]

Look, you might be 22 or 42, but there are some things you should think about even if you think it’s premature or “I’ll get to that later.” While it’s a morbid topic for some, it’s one that’s important enough that I have to write about at least once. That topic is your own death, […]

The practice of acupuncture is believed to have been developed in China and has been around for centuries to treat many common physical ailments. Recently though, acupuncture has been gaining momentum in mental health applications as well.
A New York Times article reports that acupuncture and “ear seeds” in particular is a growing […]

Fans of Kay Redfield Jamison rejoice: here’s the vintage half-hour video An Unquiet Mind: Personal Reflections on Manic-Depressive Illness. A captivating speaker, she’s authored many papers and books on the subjects of bipolar, manic depression and recurrent depression. She is Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and is bipolar herself.
Newly unearthed […]

Scientists have long believed that since schizophrenia is associated with abnormal brain structure and functioning that a mothers’ stress during pregnancy could adversely affect brain development in the fetus, even causing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Now there is strong evidence to support these assumptions. According to a report in the Archives of General […]

Two stories out this week suggest that you have a lot more to worry about than just getting shot at by the enemy in today’s Army.
Today, the Army reported that suicides for 2007 jumped 20% over the previous year, up to 121 soldiers. CNN has the story:

Internal briefing papers prepared by the Army’s psychiatry […]

Today while looking at cnn.com, I came across interesting new alternative technique for the prevention of depression called “Compassion Meditation”. The method was inspired by Tibetan Buddhists, specifically the Dalai Lama, who is now an associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta where the new meditation process is being studied.
Dr. […]