Recently several folks have asked us questions about diet, hunger, weight gain, and nutrition. Certainly for many people with depression, gaining weight is an important issue, both as a cause and consequence of depression. Let’s begin by trying to make some sense of hunger. In other posts we will be talking about how stress and the hormone system relates to …
A Healthy Lifestyle
Jan Graham, MFT, is a Life and Wellness Coach who encourages people to make the change from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one. Incorporating exercise into your daily routine will not only reap physical benefits, but will also have a positive effect on your brain. With more physical activity, comes a healthier, sharper mind. Many people have heard this …
Life Energy
Freud came up with the term libido to describe the sum of all the human instincts related to love. In his view, there was a limited amount of this libidinal energy and it was important to use it wisely. Invest it in the wrong activities and you could end up with nothing to show for it. This notion of limits …
Mood and the Brain’s Clock
As we slowly move from summer to fall, it may be timely that the issue of Biological Psychiatry that arrived in the mail today is devoted to how the brain’s clock affects mood. It points to growing evidence that part of what drives mood cycles are disruptions in the brain’s daily (circadian) rhythms. It appears that people who are vulnerable …
Hypothyroidism Diagnosis Confusion
Hypothyroidism elicits many similar symptoms to other mental health disorders. Dr. Kristi Estabrook, MD, explains where the symptoms overlap and how unfortunately those experiencing Hypothyroidism are misdiagnosed. First, what exactly is hypothyroidism? Hypothyroidism is a thyroid hormone deficiency and there are two types: Primary and Secondary. In Primary, the thyroid gland does not respond to thyroid stimulating hormone correctly. Causes …
Drunkorexia
There is a new kind of eating disorder that has been recently plaguing many college students. This disorder is referred to as Drunkorexia. Drunkorexia is a mix of starving yourself and binge drinking. People engage in Drunkorexia in order to make up for the calories from alcohol by not eating regular food. The demographic that most commonly falls victim to Drunkorexia are college females. These …
Later Retirement and Alzheimer’s Prevention
A study conducted by Carole Dufouil, a scientist at the French governmental agency INSERM reveals that if individuals stay in the workforce longer, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s is greatly reduced. In the study, 500,000 people in France were used as participants. The information gathered from these individuals included age of retirement and whether or not they had dementia. The results …
Yoga Nidra as a Strategy to Cope with Insomnia
Many adults struggle with insomnia several nights a week. To maximize good health, it is important to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep a night. More sleep can help decrease the risk of getting heart disease, stroke, or breast cancer. Insomnia can be extremely frustrating to deal with, for it can be exhausting to try all the recommended sleep …
Stress Free and Happy
It can be extremely difficult to lead a balanced lifestyle. When we are driven to reach a goal, it is easy to become stressed and obsessed with reaching a particular outcome. At what point does all the stress start to have a negative impact on our personal happiness? It is great to have ambitions and to work hard to reach …
The Loving Brain
Get ready, because the month of July has an exciting event coming up! Rick Hanson, Ph.D. is hosting a free interview series called the Loving Brain starting July 15. For the 8 following Mondays, experts will be giving talks on how to develop positive relationships with others and establish a healthy self image. If you happen to miss a speaker …
Runner’s High
A great way to gain both physical and mental strength is to make running a part of your workout. A lifestyle that includes running promotes well being and reaps both cognitive and mental benefits. When running, the body releases endogenous opioids, like endorphins, that relieve stress. The feeling some people call a runner’s high is due to the activation of …
Know Your Body
Geneen Roth talks about how infatuated she was with her imperfections while growing up. She was constantly thinking of how much better looking she would be if she didn’t have certain features. If only she could cut out all the flaws, so just her best features would remain she could be happy. Roth tried to reach self improvement through shaming …
Sleep Deprivation and Increased Hunger
Often, after a late night with little sleep, we wake up the next day and are starving! This phenomenon is no coincidence. A study was conducted with healthy non-obese adults to see the effects of sleep deprivation on appetite levels. The results revealed that students that had four-and-a-half hours of sleep compared to students who had eight-and-a-half hours of sleep …
The No Motivation Blues
Today, I met with a couple of women whose central concern was the fact that they felt a complete loss of motivation. One of these women is finishing graduate school. Only a few weeks away from graduating, she has found that she is not completing the assignments that she needs to in order to graduate. She knows that she can do …
Losing Control: A Tale about Binge-Eating Disorder
Individuals facing stress, anxiety, or depression will sometimes fall prey to eating disorders. While anorexia and bulimia have received a lot of attention, one of the most prevalent eating disorders is binge-eating disorder. Binge-eating disorder can be detrimental to both a healthy mental and physical state. A man who suffered from binge-eating disorder shared his story with the New York …
Destructive Duo: Diabetes and Depression
According to Dr. Coleman M.D., it is common for individuals to experience comorbid Diabetes Mellitus and Depression. Diabetes Mellitus is also known as Type 2 diabetes. On its own, each diesase acts as a risk factor for the other disease. For those with diabetes, the chances of also experiencing depression is 15-30%. In addition, individuals with depression have twice the …
Food for Thought
Studies have shown that what you eat affects the way you feel. However, there are so many diet plans out there that it is hard to know which diets promote the best physical and mental health. The Paleo diet is rumored to help with weight loss and mood improvement, so I decided to investigate. The goal of the Paleo diet …
The Value of Mood Charting
When it comes to understanding the factors that cause us to feel a certain way, mood charting can be extremely useful. Recently, Dr. Forster met with a patient named David that claimed he was “doing better than he should.” He felt that his overall mood was pretty good, but he was also experiencing difficulty with his memory and concentration. David …
Sit Back, and Relax
Yoga and mindfulness meditation have been rumored to increase resilience by inducing the relaxation response. The body exhibits the relaxation response by producing antidepressant, antianxiety, and anti-stress effects. Dr. Roy-Byrne, MD set up an experiment to see whether the relaxation response would not only reduce physiological stress but also actually change gene expression. The gene expression of peripheral blood cells …
Brain Food
Many treatments these days can be pretty expensive. However, you can start a fantastic, low cost, risk free intervention with a healthy diet. According to Dr. Drew Ramsey, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, the brain uses at least 420 calories per day and needs omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish oil), fiber, coline, and a series of …