Sleep as a Mood Stabilizer in Bipolar Disorder
If you have bipolar disorder, getting the right amount of sleep at the right time of day is absolutely critical in achieving and maintaining mood stability. Good sleep at night clearly exerts mood-stabilizing benefits. This article addresses several strategies for improving mood stability in bipolar disorder and discusses the tradeoffs faced in regulating your activities and schedule.
Controlling Your Emotions in Parenting: Helping Yourself First
While children can be quite wonderful, our kids can also pull emotional responses out of us that leave us feeling exhausted and frustrated. This article covers the importance of taking care of your emotional health as a means of enjoying parenting more and increasing your effectiveness as a parent.
Universal Screening for Depression and Sustained Sadness in Kids to Prevent Youth Suicide
Screening kids for depression (and sustained sadness) and connecting them with mental health services is an effective step in preventing suicide in youth. This article reviews recent research that supports this intervention and includes other data that shows this approach to be logical, strategic, and a high-yield use of suicide prevention funding.
Never Delay Dealing with Depression
Some people avoid dealing with their depression only to find out that they waited too long. This article addresses the reasons for dealing with depression immediately. Depression can become a pattern in the brain, so doing activities that alleviate depression and getting rid of your depression as quickly as possible will give you the best outcomes.
Behavioral Shaping: Getting More Positive Behavior from Your Kids with the First Rule of Parenting
Many parents find that trying to convince their kids to have more positive behaviors is either ineffective or backfires. This article addresses the strategy of behavioral shaping for parents to enhance positive behaviors and reduce conflicts when their kids are off-task. This basic parenting strategy, colloquially known as Grandma’s Rule, when consistently applied, can help life at home go more smoothly.
Stigma and 7 Million American Christians with Depression
7 million Christians in the US experience major depression each year. While attendance of religious services might be protective, it is not protective enough. This article discusses research on Christians with depression, the impact of stigma and how I calculated the number of depressed Christians.
The Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act (SBHPA): An Enormous Step Forward in Mental Health Parity
The Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act (SBHPA) was a major step toward mental health parity in the US. Before its passage, many Americans, especially those with ERISA-based health plans, were not protected by federal and state mental health parity laws. This article describes the history of mental health parity and what people can do to advocate for themselves.
How Good is Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (iCBT)?
Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (iCBT) is a computerized version of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that is delivered over the internet. This article addresses hard questions critics have about iCBT, research supporting its benefit, the impact it can have in communities and who can benefit from the treatment.
Supportive Psychotherapy: How Good is “Treatment as Usual”?
Supportive psychotherapy is commonly used as a comparison intervention or “treatment as usual” in mental health research studies. While it is often expected by the scientific elite to be less effective than newer, manualized therapies, it has been proven to be an effective intervention for many conditions. This article covers basic approaches in supportive psychotherapy and who might benefit from the treatment.
Helping Depressed Friends and Family
Helping someone you care about who is depressed can be a challenge, but your informed persistence can make all the difference. This article addresses ways of supporting the people you care about in their fight against depression.
A Stepwise Approach to Medications for Depression
Many people are not told what to expect when prescribed an antidepressant medication. Basic information, such as the dosing range, the goal of treatment, how side effects can be overcome and how long to stay on the medication, is frequently left out of a clinical encounter. This article outlines a methodical approach to antidepressant treatment for depression.
How Record Keeping Can Help Treatment-Resistant Depression
Many people with longstanding depression believe that they have tried every treatment out there. A detailed review of their history often reveals that they are mistaken and that there are several strategies that they have never tried. This article addresses what information is needed to make a well-informed decision about what treatment to try next and how a history of past treatments combined with a strategic, methodical approach can open up options to newer and potentially more effective treatments.
What to Do When You Know Why You Are Depressed
Some people have severe depression despite having a relatively good life. Others know exactly why they are depressed and can identify the specific cause or situation that is worsening their mood. This article focuses on depressive symptoms caused by maladaptive patterns and life toxicities and what to do about them.
Light Therapy for Depression: Are You Doing It Right?
Light therapy works not just for seasonal affective disorder but also is used to treat major depression and bipolar depression. It is important to follow the right steps in light therapy to determine if it works for you.
Depression Rating Scales – Getting Unstuck
Rating scales for depression are being used routinely in primary care, but not all psychiatrists and therapists are using them. The use of depression rating scales shines a bright spotlight on your current mood and the progress you are making toward full freedom from depression. This article addresses how rating scales can help get you unstuck in your depression treatment.
How Does Yoga Help Depression?
There is growing evidence showing that yoga is beneficial for depression. Researchers are looking at biological mechanisms, but are there other factors involved? Yoga practices vary, which makes determining the mechanism of its benefit difficult. However, observing yoga from a holistic perspective, rather than only from a neurobiological standpoint, may lead to insights into how yoga helps depression.
A Plan for Stubborn Depression
When depression hits, it’s nice when the first treatment that you try works. On the other hand, depression that gets partially better only to worsen again is frustrating and demoralizing. Having a plan for treatment-resistant depression will get you better faster. This article outlines basic steps that are part of a larger plan for getting rid of your depression.
Stanford’s SAINT Study: a TMS Breakthrough for Depression?
It has been definitively proven that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an effective treatment for treatment-resistant depression. The researchers in the Stanford SAINT study achieved better results in a shorter time, getting 90.5% of severely depressed patients to full freedom from depression.