Description: Quick question. Is having a dog good for you psychologically? Don’t do any searching on the question, just go with what you have heard or recall. Answer? Good for you, right? Maybe you have heard that regular time with dogs extends the lives of elderly people or that dog companions help their human friend… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Depression
Can We Treat Depression with De-Magicked Mushrooms?
Description: It is not a big secret so you have likely heard or read references to findings that antidepressant medications do not work for somewhere around 30% of those to whom they are prescribed and that most of those for whom they DO work will find at some point that they no longer work, and… Read more »
Which Treatment is Best for Self-Harming and Suicidal Teens?
Description: Perhaps you have heard about the alarming increases that are being observed in rates of self-harming behavior and suicidal thoughts and actions among teenagers. These stats are often discussed in relation to the question of whether they might be linked to recent generational jumps in use of social media and the attendant shifts in… Read more »
Mental Health Thermometers
Description: You drop into your doctor’s office and tell them you are not feeling well. Assuming COVID is not the issue (which would likely be picked up at the front desk of the clinic using screening questions) what is one of the first things the doctor will likely do? Take you temperature, right? (Or ask… Read more »
CBT Works But Is Its Theory Wrong?
Description: You know what Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is, don’t you? It is, perhaps the most widely used approach to therapy taken by psychologists treating clients with depression, anxiety and many other symptoms of mental illness or the lack of wellbeing. I suspect you also know something of what CBT involves: The challenging of irrational,… Read more »
Is Microdosing (With Hallucinogens) Effective or is it a Placebo Effect?
Description: Here is a “design a study” challenge. You may have run across discussions of recent research looking at the therapeutic use of drugs that are or were considered recreational and illegal, e.g., LSD, Ecstasy, or Psilocybin (magic mushrooms). What you may not have run across yet are discussion of more recent research looking at… Read more »
Review and Then Dig Into Social Media Use
Description: There has been a lot of discussion in the media about social media and about whether or not it is potentially harmful to young people and particularly to teenage females. I have posted a number of times regarding articles looking at this question (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4, Link 5). Throughout… Read more »
Neurofeedback: Breakthrough or Meh?
Description: Using even limited brain wave recording equipment such as externally applied recording electrodes rather than expensive brain scanning devices, it is possible to detect and describe patterns of brain wave activity and to distinguish between brain wave patterns associated with, say, a lack of attention (in ADHD) as compared to between brain wave patterns… Read more »
Post Partum Depression in Males?
Description: If I told you that a parent of a newborn infant was struggling with depression, but told you nothing else, what sort of person would come to mind? With your image of that person in mind, think about what their presenting symptoms would include. OK, now, did it even occur to you as an… Read more »
Is Child Happiness an Important Parenting Goal?
Description: What is up with kids these days? Ok, I know, an old question asked over and over generation by generation. But what about parents? Quick, without asking any other adults what they think answer these questions? What is the main goal of parenting these days? Is part of it that parents should be working… Read more »
Books for Success!
