Monthly Archives: September 2016

In 1990, Congress designated the first full week of every October to be National Mental HealthAwareness Week. This year that week is October 7-13, 2007 and October 11th is both National Depression Screening Day, sponsored by Screening for Mental Health, … Continue reading →

Mood stabilizers are medications that can treat the extreme highs of bipolar disorder. Find out about the risks and benefits of these drugs. Key Takeaways Mood stabilizers are used along with antidepressants to balance out the extreme highs of bipolar … Continue reading →

Like most mental health writers, I have compareddepression to illnesses like diabetes in the past, and stressed the biochemical aspect of mood disorders in my efforts to reduce stigma. Somehow talking about the gene G72/G30 located on chromosome 13q (that … Continue reading →

In the fall of 2007 Mother Teresa graced the cover of Time magazine when her private writingswere published, many of the excerpts filled with surprising doubt, despair, and a kind of spiritual anguish. Some journalists questioned whether or not she was … Continue reading →

Picnics at the beach. Afternoons by the pool. Three months of summer bliss. Or not. For many people, the summer months are the most difficult. In fact, 10 percent of those diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder suffer symptoms at the … Continue reading →

I have a theory: Many people who suffer from chronic severe depression and anxiety are allergic to sugar and foods like white flour that the human body processes like sugar. Like most of my theories, I have tested this one … Continue reading →

Last year, I was seeing four different doctors: a psychiatrist for my mood disorder; an endocrinologist for my pituitary tumor and thyroid issues; a cardiologist for my aortic valve regurgitation; and a primary care physician for some digestive problems and … Continue reading →

Introduction Definition of Meditation The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine defines meditation as a “mind-body” method. This category of complementary and alternative medicine includes interventions that employ a variety of techniques that facilitate the mind’s capacity to affect … Continue reading →

Overview Medications can play a role in treating several mental disorders and conditions. Treatment may also include psychotherapy (also called “talk therapy”) and brain stimulation therapies (less common). In some cases, psychotherapy alone may be the best treatment option. Choosing … Continue reading →

This class of drugs is used to treat a range of mental illnesses. Antipsychotics are a group of drugs that are used to treat schizophrenia. The medicines are also sometimes used to treat other mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, … Continue reading →