Blog Articles

Our mental health affects how we feel and how we live our lives. We don't have to apologize for mental illness.

The oft-heard adage is true: Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. With time and help, everyone can feel better.

It’s true that there have always been countless distractions around us, but smart phones have taken that to a new level. A 2016 study showed the effects of continuous interruption on infants.

According to some research, strong religious beliefs coupled with a positive relationship with a higher power are connected to  lower levels of disordered eating and body image concern. 

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, isn't about brain wiring--it's how the brain fires. Here's some new info we're learning!

Depression tends to worsen with age. Now, during isolation and COVID-19, it is even more important to help our elderly maintain their mental health.

Scientists are looking into regulating glutamate--a neurotransmitter--to attack OCD symptoms in patients, and the research is beginning to come in.

For decades, mental health professionals have heavily emphasized medication in the fight against schizophrenia symptoms. A groundbreaking new study says we should turn that approach around: Focusing more on therapy than on medication yields better results.

When it comes to sleep, it looks like alcohol has an effect opposite the one many think it has. It turns out that not only is a nightcap a bad way to  send you off to bed, your drinking habits overall could be affecting the way you sleep.

I specialize in treating Bipolar disorder, which affects about 1 percent of people across all nations and cultures.

If there’s not enough serotonin in your brain, you learn, you’re more likely to be depressed. But there are still so many unknowns in depression treatment, even today!

People who have a tendency to make risky decisions lean toward solutions that provide short-term benefits despite the high risk, instead of solutions that are safer over the long term.

As we're leaping into mass online schooling in the U.S., it's good to teach our students how to cope with the stress of the unknown.

To expectant mothers: if you've had a history of eating disorders before conceiving, it's best to be open with your doctor about it.

What you eat can actual help combat depression: nutrient-dense foods help!

About one in 10 women have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). If you have PCOS, please know it can significantly affect your mental health as well.

Kids are suffering the effects of isolation and social distancing, just like adults. Here are some ways to help!

Getting social media use under control can help with your mental health.

In this time of social distancing, playing a little Pokemon Go may be just what you need to beat the blues.

Are you or a loved one battling schizophrenia? There are brain training apps that can help to improve memory!

In a 2015 study, the National Institute of Health found that boys are being prescribed antipsychotics much more often than girls are.

When my clients feel like an outsider, it's not good for their mental health.

The science of mental health is evolving to accomodate the "spectra" of certain mental illnesses and disorders. 

When you’re depressed, your behavior changes — enough so that your phone can tell the difference.

Where the system fails self-harming teens is right at the outset: they need compassion, and they need to not feel shamed for their behavior.

Can you track your heartbeat without feeling your pulse? If you can, you might be better prepared to cope with being excluded in social situations.

We’ve all experienced negative effects from lack of sleep — exhaustion, blurry vision, depression, irritability. But lack of sleep also interferes with your ability to store memories.

If you're an artist who struggles with mental illness, you're not alone! Some famous examples of people in your predicament include Vincent Van Gogh.

Even in middle age, it may be possible to detect signs of an eventual Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Depressed? Try eating more fish: their fatty acids can actually help increase mental resiliency.

Shaking off winter means good news for people suffering from depression and other mental health conditions.

You have so much power over your moods, even when things are difficult.

For parents who are suddenly homeschooling teenagers during COVID-19, here's a tip: let them sleep in. Studies show that extra sleep for teenagers actually helps shield them against depression and anxiety.

If you’ve ever felt physically exhausted after a long day of thinking too hard, you’re right: Mental exertion is physically exhausting.

A 2018 study shows that even light-to-moderate drinking can negatively impact the quality of your sleep.

Mindfulness meditation can make a big difference for clients dealing with depression and anxiety, and can also improve your heart health.

When families involved in depression treatment for U.S. veterans, outcomes truly improve.

Perimenopause--the time before a woman enters menopause--can be an emotionally challenging time. Here are some symptoms, treatment and support available to you or a loved one who may be in perimenopause.

As COVID-19 is beginning to spread within the United States, don't panic, but do prepare.

ADHD is a term thrown around so frequently these days, but what is it exactly? Let's find out.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can actually help children with Autism Spectrum Disorders better manage their anxiety.

Treatment means treating the whole person, which means that everyone has different needs--whether that means medication, lifestyle changes, or both.

Unemployment can really mess with your mental health, but a good job is a good cure. You just may need to open up your expectations to blue-collar work.

Displays of romance have been all around us. Flowers, chocolates, and jewelry are nice, but a more meaningful gift you can give anyone you love is the gift of listening.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) was developed in the 1980s to help people reprocess traumatic memories.

A cold shower might be just the trick to shock your brain out of a depressed mood.

I've seen fascinating research discussing what types of personality traits tend to lead to happier people. Spoiler alert: any personality type can learn traits that lead to more happiness!

From treating neuroses to reducing chronic pain, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been shown to help with many conditions.

There have been numerous articles extolling both the benefits and harmfulness of caffeine. When it comes to your mental health, I urge caution in how much you take in.

Part of the difficulty in identifying ADHD in children is because it can be confused with bipolar disorder because there tends to be a lot of overlap between these two brain diseases.

Did you know that increasing your Vitamin D can help manage symptoms of depression?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help lessen symptoms of ADHD in adults.

Did you know that aspirin can reduce symptoms of psychosis in schizophrenia patients? Or that ibuprofen may guard against Alzheimer's?

It’s resolution season, and I’ve got one for you: Make a goal to improve your mental health this year.

I have some patients with depression who have asked if taking St. John’s Wort is adequate in the treatment of Depression. My answer? It depends.

When I see patients in my office I would say that 75% struggle with insomnia, or have difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep.

What is the cause of anxiety disorders? It’s not fully understood, but we do know that anxiety disorders tend to run in families—probably a mixture of environmental upbringing and heredity. 

Sitting around watching TV for hours every day not only affects your body, research shows it’s bad for your mental health, too. 

Did you know that Omega-3 fatty acids may prevent onset of psychotic disorders in high-risk populations?

Secondhand smoke exposure may have a link to schizophrenia, depression, delirium and other psychological conditions.

Thanksgiving is coming up. It turns out that even science is behind the idea that gratitude is good for you!

Patients have a direct role and responsibility in their mental health. A person could have years of counseling and medication services, yet if there is no accountability on the patient’s part then what good would they do? 

A Danish study recently found that depression diagnoses go up significantly (8 percent) in the month following the change from Daylight Savings Time back to standard time.

Perfectionism — ever-unattainable! — is bad for your mental health. People who expect perfection are often overly critical of mistakes, which can lead to depression.

The Japanese practice of “forest bathing” — or taking in the forest atmosphere — is a concept I believe in and love.

When someone comes to me with depression, the first decision we make together is whether we’ll treat with therapy, medication, or both. In my experience, a combination of the two is the most effective approach.

Alzheimer's symptoms can look like emotion-related memory loss. How can you tell the difference?

Tourette’s causes so much pain, especially in social interaction. It can cause shame and social isolation for patients and their families, but things can get better with therapies and medication.

According to a new study, dysfunctional eating patterns and habits in overweight and obese adults can be triggered by early life experiences that are deeply rooted within patients' personality features.

Suicides among teens ages 15-19 are the highest they’ve been since 2000, says a new study by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Here’s a snippet from an NBC analysis of the study: The new study found that in 2017, 6,241 teenagers and adult

This is second in a two-part series about sleep. Click here to read part one. Last week I wrote about how poor sleep can negatively affect your mental health. If you’re thinking, “It’s not my fault, I just can’t fall asleep at night!” then try this metho

I can’t stress this enough: part of managing your mental health includes getting enough sleep. I’ve written about this here before: in my career I’ve seen how poor sleep can lead to suicidal thoughts, memory issues, even weight gain. According to an artic

New evidence is emerging that some medications for ADHD put teens and young adults at risk for developing psychosis. According to this study of more than 200,000 people ages 13 to 25, one out of 660 people had an episode of psychosis in a few months afte

As thrilled as kids are with summer break, it can be difficult on parents to muster the same enthusiasm. You’re all out of your routine and it can take time to get used to a new schedule, and get used to each other. If you have a child with developmental

A recent report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) makes a case for more mental health professionals–including nurses and social workers–in schools. From the report: School counselors, nurses, social workers, and psychologists are frequently

In 1958, researchers in the UK began collecting data from thousands of children born in a single week that year, creating the National Child Development Study (NCDS), which has been ongoing for nearly 60 years. This is so fascinating to me! Mental health

Nurses and doctors–those critical caretakers of society!–often carry heavy mental and emotional burdens in the course of their work. Think about it: nurses often witness the worst hours and days of a person’s life. Doctors take care of patients and their

This opinion piece about civility in politics got me thinking about kindness. How can we learn to be more understanding with those we disagree with? Columnist Dave Brooks gives practical tips on curating difficult conversations you have face-to-face, whet

There is increasing evidence that some of the preservatives, packaging and food coloring in America’s food may be harmful to kids’ physical and mental health. Also, putting plastic in the microwave and dishwasher may cause plastic to leach chemicals into y

This is the third post in a series about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). You can read part 1 here and part 2 here. Is there a connection between post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)? I believe there is, and

This is Part 2 of a three-part series on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). You can read Part 1 here. On this blog we’ve established how to recognize the signs of PTSD. This can befall mothers after a dangerous birth, a newly diagnosed cancer patient,

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you have major depression, especially when you’re living with it. For some people, depression is a pervasive feeling of sadness or hopelessness. For some, depression means feelings of anger or extreme irritability. People

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after living through extreme stress, a terrifying or distressing event, or a prolonged traumatic experience. What kinds of experiences could lead to PTSD? combat (for mil

I’ve written about this before: exposure to sunlight can help fight depression. Coupled with mild to moderate exercise, being out in the daylight can help fight carbohydrate cravings, weight gain, social avoidance, even fatigue! A 2014 study of office wor

In Gainesville, Florida, officer Shelly Postle teamed up with Makenzie Boyer, a mental health professional to handle calls regarding people with mental health issues. Postle and Boyer handled 434 calls in eight months, making a co-responder team that halt

The post-Christmas season can be a real emotional low point. Maybe there’s a backlog at work. Maybe your kids’ schedule is thrown off by late nights and holiday excess. Maybe you had a blowup at a family member during Christmas. Whatever may be dragging y

This title from Time Magazine really does say it all: “Being Generous Really Does Make You Happier.” Researchers from the Unviersity of Zurich in Switzerland told 50 participants that they’d be receiving about $100 in a few weeks. Twenty-five people promi

The Christmas season can be overwhelming. Managing traditions, a heavy end-of-year workload, financial stress, even time spent with extended family can contribute to poor mental health. Here are ways you can manage your stress during “The Most Wonderful Ti

Patients with advanced Parkinson’s are singing their way to better mental health, says Elizabeth Stegemöller, assistant professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University. (Click here to see a video of Stegemöller leading her singing group in 2017.) Stegem

The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger is an incredibly empowering book on trauma recovery, written by a woman who has sometimes been nicknamed “the Anne Frank who didn’t die.” The pain of Dr. Eger’s story is hard to fathom. Nearly her entire family, all Hungar

Grandmothers, take note: in Africa, mental health professionals pioneered a method where they used grandmothers and friendship benches to screen people for basic psychiatric services. In 2004, a man named Dixon Chibanda was one of only two psychiatrists i

I’ve written about the ways gratitude can improve your life. Gratitude can improve your romantic relationships, help you sleep better, decreases depression, even decreases suicidal thoughts. A 2017 study conducted at the University of Seoul, South Korea,

If you are in your 40s and suspect your memory is already slipping, stress could be the culprit. A new study found that forty-somethings who had high levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) in their bodies also had reduced brain volumes and lower cognitive

What causes nightmares, anyway? Nightmares tend to crop up when we’re stressed, anxious, depressed, on certain medications, or when our sleep is being consistently interrupted (hello, parents of a newborn!). Occasional nightmares are normal, but consistent

I’ve written about this before: when you use cannabis to manage your mental health, the long-term risks far outweigh the short-term benefits. There is research linking cannabis use to schizophrenia in teens, as well as hallucinations, paranoia and other ps

We’ve written about this before: treating depression can be a family affair. Recent studies are focusing on why a father’s mental health is just as important on their children. This 2017 study out of the United Kingdom drew a strong correlation between de

“We are not responsible for what breaks us, but we can be responsible for what puts us back together again. Naming the hurt is how we begin to repair our broken parts.” ― Desmond Tutu, The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our

Last week Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate judiciary committee about allegations of sexual abuse. This sparked discussions about sexual abuse in news and social media across the United States. (Several victims even call

There’s a debate swirling in American politics right now about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a woman who alleged that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a party when they were both teenagers. The arguments have been

When athletes battle mental health struggles alone, the consequences can be disastrous. Tyler Hilinski, a Washingston State quarterback took his own life in January 2018, only four months after an incredible triple-overtime victory over Boise State. Hili