Facing Major Life Changes with Bipolar Disorder
Major life changes. They say for those of us with mental illness that major life changes can be more difficult. Things like making a move to a new home, a…
Antidepressants
Depression Treatment: Where We Are Missing the Mark
Depression affects 450 million people worldwide and 15 million adults in the United States (U.S.) alone. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, claiming over…
Don’t Tell Me to Shut Up: The “Et Tu, Brute” Stigma of Mental Illness
After sharing my eccentric journey to recovery in a new book, I’ve been accused of being anti-psychiatry. I’m not anti-psychiatry. I’m only anti-psychiatry if it means questioning the long-term efficacy…
How Genetic Testing Saved My Life from Debilitating Clinical Depression
The psychologist’s qualifications are proudly displayed in frames on his wall: a doctorate in clinical psychology, board certifications in clinical psychology and clinical neuropsychology. Maybe this means he can help…
A Few Metaphors to Better Understand Depression
Depression is a difficult illness to understand. It’s hard to understand for the people suffering from it, but it’s downright impossible to know everything that a person who deals with…
Which Antidepressants Cause the Least Sexual Side Effects?
Sexual side effects and one’s libido are an important issue when it comes to antidepressant medications and depression itself. All too often, this issue is ignored when antidepressants are prescribed…
Not Just for Attention: Stop Teen Suicide
The subject of depression and suicide, especially in the case of children and teens, is a tremendous concern. Unfortunately, many cases go missed not necessarily because those surrounding these young…
Increase in Suicide Rates and Teen Depression
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on January 11, 2017, detailing our country’s progress in twenty-six public health categories. The report is based on…
Preventive Therapy for OCD?
The postpartum period is sometimes accompanied by anxiety, depression, and even obsessive-compulsive disorder. Studies on preventive therapy for postpartum OCD have shown promising results. What a great idea! Stop OCD in its…
Medications for OCD and Activation Syndrome
It seems to me that there are more commercials than ever before on television for all kinds of medications, including SSRI’s (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors) which are antidepressants also used…
Anxiety, Worry, and Stress, Oh My: The Bugaboos of Modern Life
Anxiety, worry, and stress are all afflictions of life in the modern world. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 10 percent of the American population, or 24…
Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride)
What is Effexor? Effexor’s chemical structure is unlike any other antidepressant. It works to restore the balance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters — specifically serotonin and norepinephrine. Effexor is in…
Exercise and Depression in Pregnancy and Beyond
Research suggests that exercise can have a moderating influence on the risk of depression in pregnancy as well as in the postpartum period. A lack of exercise during pregnancy has…
Habilitation Therapy for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care
According to Silverman, Flaherty and Tobin (2006), …”[I]t is a better understanding of the psychology of dementia – how a person thinks, feels, communicates, compensates, and responds to change, to…
Chronic Depression and Codependency
Dysthymia, or chronic depression, is a common symptom of codependency; however, many codependents aren’t aware that they’re depressed. Because the symptoms are mild, most people with chronic depression wait 10…