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Month: December 2022

Mental Health Reflection: What Have You Accomplished in 2022?

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Mental health reflection: What have you accomplished in 2022?

Now that we are at the end of the year, it’s time to look back on what you’ve achieved with a mental health reflection for all your mental health accomplishments throughout 2022 – no matter if you made strides through self-care, mental health treatment (ex., individual therapy), or with psychiatry and therapy. What Is Your Mental Health Reflection? You’ve likely heard the statistics on thoughts that humans have around 50,000 daily. Yet many people have trouble remembering their thoughts and don’t realize that most are negative. The reason is that we don’t take the time to reflect. The key to good mental health is to reflect more on the positive things in your life, like your accomplishments in 2022 regarding your mental health. Having good mental health is a process that is constantly evolving. According to the World Health Organization, positive mental health is a state of well-being in which you realize your potential, …

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Helping Children’s Mental Health

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children's mental health

By Ashley Barnes   The Current State of Children’s Mental Health. So many of us understand the deep emotional and mental toll that the pandemic and current events have created. Perhaps one of the hardest hit populations are children. Imagine moving through one of the most important periods of life where one’s social and emotional skills are critically important, where the brain is particularly malleable, only to be robbed of this crucial, enriching experience. We are merely starting to uncover the ways in which the pandemic (amongst other world events) have impacted children’s mental health. Even before the pandemic, children’s mental health struggled: According to state data, Suicide rates among Black youth doubled between 2014 and 2020. Incidents of youth deliberately causing self-harm increased 50 percent in California between 2009 and 2018, the state auditor reported.  According to a CalMatters analysis of state data, between 2019 and 2020, opioid-related overdoses …

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Seeking Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

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Seeking treatment for generalized anxiety disorder

Seeking treatment for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) isn’t always easy. People who struggle with this condition may experience the following thoughts or statements from friends and family: “You worry too much.”  “You worry over the smallest things.” “Just relax.” “You are so testy and irritable lately.” Everyone has moments of worry, which can motivate them to complete something. For example, your boss will give you a bonus if you complete the project by a specific date. You don’t want to miss out on the bonus. You feel nervous and worried, which motivates you to complete the project. For some, worry plays a much more significant role in their daily lives. They don’t necessarily worry over one specific thing but about everything, or so it seems. They likely have a generalized anxiety disorder. What is GAD? Generalized anxiety disorder is a constant feeling of dread, doom, or nervousness about things that …

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Should You Quit Cold Turkey for Addiction?

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Should you quit cold turkey for addiction?

To quit cold turkey means to stop doing something abruptly without help from a professional and use replacement medications. When someone says they will quit cold turkey, they aren’t usually smiling with joy. That’s because they know the awful, sometimes painful symptoms that follow quitting something abruptly, like an addiction or substance abuse problem. It is the withdrawal symptoms that cause most people to relapse on whatever their drug of choice. If you have ever tried to quit sugar or caffeine, you know the headaches, goosebumps, chills, nausea, and irritability that set in within six hours of not having them. For many, it doesn’t take much longer than that to use sugar and caffeine again. When someone wants to quit misusing alcohol or drugs cold turkey, they will experience much harsher withdrawal symptoms. Depending on their drug of choice, quitting cold turkey can be more dangerous than continuing to use the substance. …

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Comparing Esketamine vs Ketamine Infusion Treatment

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Comparing Esketamine vs Ketamine infusion treatment

Although Esketamine and Ketamine infusions can help manage treatment-resistant depression (TRD), each has its differences. Today, we will explore Esketamine vs Ketamine infusion treatment and find out how they affect the brain, how the administration and dosage work, what the side effects are, and much more. Esketamine vs Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression A few years ago, in 2019, psychiatrists anxiously awaited a decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They debated whether to approve Esketamine as a treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) for those diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) or at a higher risk for suicide. Treatment-resistant depression is a diagnosis given to someone who has tried two or more therapies or a combination of treatments to improve their mental health, including medication and counseling, without success. Current data shows that at least 30% of people with MDD are eventually diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression. Having either disorder can feel overwhelming, and …

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