Description: In most jurisdictions we recently “fell back” as we turned out clocks back an hour and returned to Standard Time after spring, summer and fall on Daylight Saving Time. What was somewhat different about this most recent “fall back” is that many states and provinces and countries are contemplating perhaps never doing that again… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Clinical Neuropsychology
Just How ARE ACE’s Related to Mental Illnesses?
Description: You have likely heard about the data that is piling up regarding the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and beyond childhood incidences of mental and physical illness (if not there are a couple of links in the Reference section below that will provide you with an overview of that work). An obvious question to… Read more »
Mental Illness: Beyond the Biomedical Model
Description: Do we (Psychologists and Psychiatrists) know what caused mental illness? When I teach the Psychological Disorders and Treatments sections on my Introductory Psychology course, after talking about the drugs used in treating the symptoms of various mental disorders (like depression or schizophrenia) I will usually ask if people think that because there are drugs… Read more »
Is Video Gaming Addiction Real Addiction?
Description: OK quick, answer this question: can someone become addicted to video gaming? Now, do you mean addicted as in the general use that suggests that many people like many different things a bit too much? Or do you mean addiction as in addicted to heroin or nicotine? And, is this distinction one we need… Read more »
New NeuroPsychology of Anxiety: New Treatment Potential?
Description: Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20% of North Americans suffer from some form of anxiety disorder that impacts their relationships, their schoolwork and/or their jobs. There are many things Psychology can suggest that people do or try in order to cope with their feelings of anxiety but what if there was an “underlying disease… Read more »
A Brain Reset Treatment for Depression?
Description: Perhaps you have heard about the use of ECT (electroconvulsive shock therapy) to treat “treatment resistant depression. It involved(s) the induction of a grand mal seizure (random firing of all neurons in the brain) through the application of electrical stimulation of the brain. Why does it work (when it does)? It seems to “rest”… Read more »
Seeking the Causes of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder with Epigenesis
Description: What causes schizophrenia? If you said something like “a chemical imbalance in the brain” you are not alone and that fits with what else you likely know which is that there are a wide array of drugs available that are used as parts of efforts to address that “imbalance.” However, you know those drugs… Read more »
Suicide Prevention: Multifactorial Odds
Description: Do you think you would be able to tell if someone close to you was contemplating suicide? There ARE things you could/should look for (more on those below). However, how do you think a mental health professional (Psychiatrist, Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatric Nurse, or Social Worker) would respond to this question? Does the typical “what… Read more »
How ARE Childhood and Adult Stress Levels Linked?
Description: We are seeing more and more research in recent years examining the physiological and developmental consequences of stress. For example, we now better understand the ongoing impact of developmentally early traumatic experiences on subsequent development and psychological functioning and well being at both an observational level and increasingly at a physiological causal level. We… Read more »
If Rats Have Empathy Do We Understand What Empathy Involves?
Description: How would you define empathy? Would feeling another person’s feelings capture it or at least part of it? Some sort of positive response would likely also need to be included in the definition, but it could be seen to follow from the first part. So how do we feel what someone else feels? We… Read more »
Books for Success!
