Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Anxiety”
A recent conversation with a patient (call him Bill) brought up a pattern we’ve seen before: his anxiety scores on tests for levels of anxiety have not improved, but Bill reports that he is feeling more in control of his life, the anxiety has less power over him now. Like many people with severe anxiety problems, Bill uses procrastination and …
Exploring the links between stress, anxiety, and depression Stress and mental illness The stress response is unfortunately very familiar to modern people. We all know that when something bad happens, our brains flood our bodies with chemicals that would have been useful in the remote past, stimulating the “fight, flight, or freeze” response. Useful for dealing with a hungry sabre-toothed …
Marijuana and Bipolar-Yes or No? The use of marijuana in treating many and various illnesses is a hot topic among many of our San Francisco-area patients. Since legalization for medical uses, and even for recreation, seems to be spreading throughout the country, more and more people are looking into helpful uses for this ancient but little-understood plant. However, medical advice …
Even today, people still have a lot of stereotypes about mental illness, and one of them is that it’s a “First World” problem, meaning that people in poorer places don’t have time for mental illness. But studies consistently find that rates of severe mental illness are pretty constant across economic, religious, cultural and geographic boundaries. Here are some stories from …
More evidence for Mindfulness Mindfulness practices continue to gain in acceptability and evidence of effectiveness in a variety of settings. MoodSurfing has reported on several of these studies in the past, and we continue to monitor the state of the current research. A recent study1 looked at anxiety and considered pharmaceutical intervention compared with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), finding similar …
Can full-time work stabilize mood? We had a really encouraging session with a patient this week; she had a lot of insight into her needs, and also had begun taking her medications regularly, which had been almost impossible for her in the past. What made the difference? She had started working full time. After huge layoffs in 2020, the job …
A discussion with a patient this past week really brought into focus the power of the mind to affect the world. Or maybe it would be better to say how we decide to live in the world. Our patient, I’ll call her “Amy”, is a teacher’s aide in a crowded, underfunded special ed. classroom, and she was saying she is …
Fall is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere, and the impending seasonal change means impending mood changes, too. For every person who goes into September with a New Year’s feeling: new school year, new challenges, new friends; there is another who starts the autumn with anxiety, melancholy, or even dread of the dark days to come. Our agrarian …
What is rumination and how can it be overcome? Rumination, or repetitive negative thinking, can be a symptom, and possibly even a cause of depression. But where does it come from, does it have any upsides, and what can you do about it if you feel stuck in an endless loop of regret, recrimination and overthinking the past? Psychologists distinguish …
Exercise is more than just cardio Moderate exercise is associated with lower rates of depression, longer life and reduced cognitive impairment in a number of recent studies. Evidence is accumulating that exercise is for more than just cardio-vascular health, and confers significant benefits at all stages of life. A 2019 observational study looked at exercise rates correlated with depression rates …
Living with mental illness or mood disorder day after day can be taxing and tiring. You have to be more disciplined, stronger, more organized and more on top of things than anyone else you know. You are bombarded with advice about dealing with a chronic illness: exercise helps, diet is important, be sure to get enough sleep, but not too …
Gardening improves mood Spring has sprung and people are looking to the outdoors, plants and gardening for a mood lift, a lifestyle change and a tried and true path to happiness and fulfillment. For those who think such attitudes are maybe a tad over-optimistic, we can show a surprising amount of research on the mental and physical health benefits of …
Aerobic exercise has long been recognized as an important adjunct to prevention and management of mental illness, especially mood disorders, depression and anxiety. A new study from Sweden looks at almost 200,000 people who participated in cross-country ski racing there, and found that participants (whom researchers considered a “proxy” for physically active people generally) show a much reduced incidence of …
Insomnia has often been related to anxiety and worry at bedtime, but recent research has linked daytime worry and rumination to nighttime insomnia. People often realize that their thinking patterns at night are keeping them awake, but may not consider the impact of worrying that they did earlier in the day to their sleep patterns at night. Anxious, repetitive thinking …
We were talking with a patient who had taken a jump into what seemed like a potentially difficult situation, by joining an online support group. She had hesitated to join the group for a long time, sharing that she had created a list of “things that could go wrong” about the group. When she joined the group, she initially got …
Low Serotonin – What do you need? Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and hormone that our bodies produce naturally and that is used by the brain to regulate and support several systems throughout the body. The body produces serotonin using building blocks synthesized from nutritional input. The amount of serotonin produced can vary depending on a number of circumstances, some of …
Misalignment of daily schedule and body clock linked to depression Are you a morning person or a night person? This may be more than just a preference for day work or night work, researchers have isolated genes that are linked to differences in circadian rhythms, and are now studying how this genetic preference may play out in people’s work and …
What do parents really want for their children? Most would say “a happy, healthy, well-balanced life”. But are the kids getting the message? When researchers asked teenagers what their parents wanted for them, they said “get good grades, go to college, get a well-paying job.” Even before the pandemic, surveys noted a rise in stress, anxiety and depression and substance …
What are the connections between social media use and depression? Between social media and anxiety? Does social media cause depression, or do depressed people turn to social media more, or is there some third factor that accounts for any association or correlation? New research keeps coming out, and it’s kind of a jungle trying to follow it all. Screen time …
Empathetic listening reduces loneliness Loneliness can be a serious problem, and is a risk factor for several illnesses. Loneliness is implicated in higher rates of depression and anxiety, and with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, reduced human contact has raised red flags as a potential source of health concerns. Especially among poorer and more vulnerable populations, loneliness is emerging …
