Oftentimes when looking to improve mental health, the first ideas to come to mind are things like beginning therapy, exercise or meditation. One of the most overlooked steps is to simply remain properly hydrated. In this next article, I will discuss the mental health benefits of water and a simple experiment you can do for yourself to see what you notice when you are properly hydrated.
Did you know that there is a “hidden lobe” in the brain that is not well known by many mental health professionals, yet serves one of the most critical functions in the experiencing of one’s own emotional state of being? In this next article, I will highlight how the insula went from relative obscurity to a starring role in what it feels like to be human and what that may mean for psychiatric treatment in the future.
You may recall that last spring I shared an acrylic painting of North America that was based upon a dream I had. This next painting is a companion to that painting but is much simpler in design and was completed in just 4 months. At first glance, it looks like a bunch of animals surrounded by a lot of water but take a really good look at it to see if you can figure what the painting is really about. In this next article, I will highlight what this painting is based upon and discuss some of its details.
Early on in my psychiatry career, I would often lament about the lack of innovative treatments in psychiatry. While it was true new medications were always coming out, it seemed to me most of the time that they very similar to the ones that were already being used. However, in the last decade, that has been changing with the introduction of brain stimulation.
Over the years, I have worked with many patients who are afraid of dying and of death, and with how that fear complicates both the healthy consideration of their own death as well as their grieving process when someone close dies. In this article, I will discuss what I believe is behind these fears as well as a grassroots movement that offers a change in how we prepare for death, personally and collectively.
Grief is not a mental illness, but rather a normal, healthy and pretty rational reaction to extreme loss. Under normal circumstances, grief or bereavement does not require formal treatment with a therapist. In this next article, I will discuss how to distinguish between normal grief and complicated grief and at what point treatment might be useful.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a disorder marked by an obsessive idea of perceived defects or flaws in one’s appearance. A flaw that to others, is considered minor or not observable. In this next article, I will provide awareness and knowledge of BDD in the hopes of bringing people with BDD out of hiding and increase access to treatment as BDD does not go away on its own.
