MENTAL HEALTH – Page 2

Fewer Prescriptions Filled For Anxiety Medications In States With Medicinal Cannabis

9Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

Fewer Prescriptions Filled For Anxiety Medications In States With Medicinal Cannabis

With more Americans able to access legalized marijuana, fewer are picking up prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications – new research. In states where both medical and recreational marijuana are legal, fewer patients are filling prescriptions for medications used to treat anxiety. That is the key finding of my recent study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open. I am an applied policy researcher who studies the economics of risky behaviors and substance use within the United States. My collaborators and I wanted to understand how medical and recreational marijuana laws and marijuana dispensary openings have affected the rate at which patients fill prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications among people who have private medical insurance. These include: Benzodiazep...

13Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

What Is A Narcissist?

Selfish men... they need no introduction, do they? We know them all too well. Or do we? At one time, I thought I knew how to spot a selfish man, only to find, years later, I had no clue ... literally. When dating, we try to avoid selfish men. We want to date a caring and compassionate man, and any sign of selfishness is a warning sign. Women pay attention to red flags. They are there for a reason ... to warn us. But what happens when there are no red flags? What if the person you fell in love with never offered up any type of red flag at all? He appeared more caring and sensitive than any man you've ever met. You thought you had finally found your knight in shining armor. You fall madly in love, certain you will spend the rest of your life together. Years later, you wake up and realiz...

Treating Depression With Food And Exercise As Well As A Psychologist

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Treating Depression With Food And Exercise As Well As A Psychologist

Food and exercise can treat depression as well as a psychologist, our study found. And it’s cheaper. Around 3.2 million Australians live with depression. At the same time, few Australians meet recommended dietary or physical activity guidelines. What has one got to do with the other? Our world-first trial, published this week, shows improving diet and doing more physical activity can be as effective as therapy with a psychologist for treating low-grade depression. Previous studies (including our own) have found “lifestyle” therapies are effective for depression. But they have never been directly compared with psychological therapies – until now. Amid a nation-wide shortage of mental health professionals, our research points to a potential solution. As we found lifestyle counseling w...

Health Care Workers Dance, Write And Draw Their Way Through Burnout And On-The-Job Stress, With The Help Of Creative Arts Therapy Programs

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Health Care Workers Dance, Write And Draw Their Way Through Burnout And On-The-Job Stress, With The Help Of Creative Arts Therapy Programs

Creative arts therapy programs can help health care workers dance, write and draw their way through burnout and on-the-job stress. Doctors and nurses seldom learn in school how to tell a family that their loved one is not going to survive. Yet health care professionals face the immense burden of tragedy, illness and dying in an intensely stressful setting as a routine, ongoing part of their jobs. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, research was documenting rampant stress and burnout among health care professionals. The effects of this crisis are widespread in the U.S. In 2022, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy raised concerns about the alarming levels of burnout in the health care community in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies show that if current trends continue, the U.S. wi...

The Important Role In Anxiety And Depression Brought On By Blood Sugar Fluctuations After Eating

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

The Important Role In Anxiety And Depression Brought On By Blood Sugar Fluctuations After Eating

Blood sugar fluctuations after eating play an important role in anxiety and depression. The proverbial “sugar high” that follows the ingestion of a sweet treat is a familiar example of the potentially positive effects of food on mood. On the flip side, feeling “hangry” – the phenomenon where hunger manifests in the form of anger or irritability – illustrates how what we eat, or don’t eat, can also provoke negative emotions. The latest research suggests that blood sugar fluctuations are partly responsible for the connection between what we eat and how we feel. Through its effects on our hormones and our nervous system, blood sugar levels can be fuel for anxiety and depression. Mental health is complex. There are countless social, psychological and biological factors that ultimately ...

The Challenges Of Psychedelics — MDMA-Assisted Therapy For PTSD Treatment Rejected By FDA

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

The Challenges Of Psychedelics — MDMA-Assisted Therapy For PTSD Treatment Rejected By FDA

FDA rejects MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD treatment – a drug researcher explains the challenges psychedelics face. Drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics announced on Aug. 9, 2024, that the Food and Drug Administration declined to approve the company’s application for the use of MDMA-assisted therapy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is the first such decision issued on a psychedelic drug application. Many investors and researchers have been predicting a psychedelics boom, with MDMA being just the first of a number of psychedelics in the drug development pipeline. The FDA’s decision has disappointed psychedelic therapy advocates, and the stock prices of psychedelic industry leaders tumbled with the announcement. But the FDA did make recommendations as to how the applicat...

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Battling Workplace Boredom

How to battle boredom at work. Though neuroscience suggests that boredom can be good for us, we all try to avoid it. Even the most exciting jobs in the world — astronaut, nuclear engineer, helicopter pilot, virus hunter — can be filled with drudgery at times. Nobody is immune from paperwork and meetings. The problem with boredom at work is that its negative effects can linger. You might be able to power through a mind-numbing task, like putting stamps on 500 envelopes, but in doing so you harm your ability to accomplish subsequent tasks. Suppressing boredom doesn’t prevent its effects; it simply places them on hold until later. Like whack-a-mole, downplaying boredom on one task results in attention and productivity deficits that will bubble up again. In new peer-reviewed research, ...

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Social Media’s Addiction

Why students harmed by addictive social media need more than cellphone bans and surveillance. Recently, five school boards in Ontario filed a lawsuit against the major social media platforms: Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Their lawsuit says that these platforms are designed to be addictive and have caused all kinds of problems for the education system. The lawsuit says social media causes children to suffer from mental health issues, and it increases distraction, social withdrawal, and cyberbullying. And it causes damage and disruption to the classroom, putting all kinds of new burdens on teachers who are already dealing with shrinking budgets and increased class sizes. The $4.5 billion lawsuit follows over 200 lawsuits by school boards in the United States in the...

Too Much Psychological Arousal Can Be A Problem Particularly For Men

13Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Too Much Psychological Arousal Can Be A Problem Particularly For Men

Getting too excited can stop men from orgasming – but there’s a solution. The way sex is portrayed in pop culture films and music could easily give you the idea that it, at least physically, should happen easily – particularly for men. Sex may seem like a straightforward activity but it actually involves a high degree of coordination between the brain and body parts. Recent data suggests that erectile dysfunction affects around one in five UK men, with the figure rising to 50% for the 40-70 age group. With this data in mind, we set out to explore how we could mathematically model the essence of sexual response in men and improve the experience. We found that too much psychological arousal before or during sexual stimulation can make it difficult to climax. Until recently, little was known ...

11Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

Stress, How Much Is Too Much?

How much stress is too much? A psychiatrist explains the links between toxic stress and poor health − and how to get help. COVID-19 taught most people that the line between tolerable and toxic stress – defined as persistent demands that lead to disease – varies widely. But some people will age faster and die younger from toxic stressors than others. So how much stress is too much, and what can you do about it? I’m a psychiatrist specializing in psychosomatic medicine, which is the study and treatment of people who have physical and mental illnesses. My research is focused on people who have psychological conditions and medical illnesses as well as those whose stress exacerbates their health issues. I’ve spent my career studying mind-body questions and training physicians to treat...