Relationships: Balance vs. Imbalance
Relationships are all about control when there’s a power imbalance, when there’s a dominating partner, a submissive partner or even both. […]
Making Peace With The Sandman
Infants can sleep anywhere. As a frequent flyer, I notice this often. In spite of the hustle and bustle of getting the passengers onboard and the roar of jet engines upon takeoff, little ones find dreamland, safely tucked away in the arms of a loved one. This can get you to thinking that sleep is a birthright. It’s not, and this becomes increasingly obvious as we age. […]
Melatonin
Melatonin can be your best friend if you have difficulty getting to sleep. It is a hormone manufactured by the pineal gland in the brain and is derived from the amino acid tryptophan. Melatonin is linked to letting our bodies know when it is time to fall sleep and wake up. […]
As I See It: Vol.1 Issue #3
I’m a fan of the famous advice column Dear Abby begun in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name Abigail Van Buren and carried on today by her daughter Jeanne Phillips. […]
Timing
You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase, “timing is everything” in life. It’s not. Timing is indeed an important component when it comes to success in any area of our lives, but to maximize its benefits two critical precursors must be in place: planning and action. […]
Spirituality, Religion and Mood
A study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry examines the effect of religion and spirituality on depression. Those claiming that religion was important to them only had approximately 1/10th the risk of experiencing depression – compared to those not holding religion in high esteem. […]
As I See It: Vol.1 Issue #2
We’ve all been hurt by someone or have found ourselves on the short end of some situation. And when treated unfairly, there’s a natural tendency to want to right the wrong or level the playing field, so to speak. […]
Initiating Antidepressant Selection: What’s Important
For clients being prescribed an antidepressant for the first time, here are some important considerations: How the depression presents. There are some 12 subtypes of major depressive disorder, but none of them are reliable predictors of antidepressant response. Nevertheless, there needs to be a starting point for the selection process. For example, is the client’s depression accompanied by anxiety and insomnia or is it characterized by melancholia, hypersomnia and a vegetative state? In the first example, any of the SSRIs [...]
Three Reasons Why I’m Not Looking Forward to a DSM 5
The absence of clear biological markers to aid us in establishing an etiological basis for diagnosing mental health disorders will translate into a manual that is more of the same. Lacking such markers, lists of symptoms will continue to be grouped into syndromes that are different in name only. […]
Mental Health Diagnosis: A Model for Success
Diagnosing mental health conditions is more art than science – always was, always will be. The diagnosis of general medical conditions is not without an art component, but physical medicine has a major advantage over mental health medicine: the ability to objectify findings. Diagnostically speaking, there is an obvious, self-evident advantage to be able to confirm findings by way of blood work, scans and pictures (as in X-rays). In mental health, there is not one single blood test or reliable [...]