Topic: mental health issues

Adult Onset Claustrophobia: Is It Curable?

In January, I wrote a Blisstree post called Panic Attacks: Coping With Adult Onset Claustrophobia. Now, I’ve never actually been professionally diagnosed with this condition (or sought a professional diagnosis, for that matter), but having recently experienced some of its unnerving symptoms has made me curious about the ins-and-outs of claustrophobia. In daily life, lots of us may casually comment that we feel “claustrophobic” (in an elevator, a crowded subway train, a packed Bikram yoga class), but I wonder if we’re actually engaging in erroneous self-diagnoses. So what is claustrophobia? Where does it come from? Does it mean that I’m crazy? Can it ever go away? I got tired of wondering, so I talked to Dr. Yoav Cohen — a clinical psychologist in New York City who specializes in treating anxiety disorders and phobias — for some straight answers about the scary truths about adult onset claustrophobia. Here’s part one of my Q&A with the good doctor: More »

Don’t Rely on Your GP for Advice About Ambien

A couple weeks ago I wrote a Blisstree post called Drug Addiction: I Was an Ambien Junkie and Didn’t Know It. A few days later, I was talking to Dale Archer, an M.D. and board-certified general psychiatrist, about another post (Drug Addiction on A&E’s Heavy: There’s No Such Thing as a Partial Relapse), and we got to chatting about my Ambien tale of woe. He had read my post, and had taken particular interest in the part where I said that I could’ve sworn my GP at the time had told me that Ambien was not an addictive sleep aid. Turns out, my doctor later said she’d actually told me that it was, in fact, addictive. (Or, at least, she claimed to have told me that.) At the time, I thought maybe I was going crazy (perhaps as a result of sleep deprivation or my newfound prescription drug addiction?), or that I’d just absorbed the medical info that had sounded good to me, or that my doctor was just plain incompetent. More »

The Problem With Mental Health Isn’t Overmedicating, It’s the Health Care System

People who’ve read only the first part of my book, Beyond Blue, often categorize me as being “anti-med” or a “psychiatrist-hater,” because in the early chapters I describe the arduous journey through hell and back trying to find a doctor who could properly treat me.

The first six failed miserably.

Especially the one whom I dubbed “Pharma King” because his toxic cocktail of 16 or so pills a day nearly killed me. That was in addition to the Ativan he told me to pop every hour if I was feeling anxious, even though I had disclosed to him a history of substance abuse. More »

Dear Gyms and Personal Trainers: You’re Not Helping Women With Eating Disorders

I just got back from the gym and the anorexic — well, one of them — was there again. No, I do not know for an absolute fact that she’s anorexic, but it’s really not all that hard to diagnose, especially when you’ve had some experience with the subject. This one in particular has all the telltale signs of someone with an eating disorder, whether it be anorexia, bulimia, or exercise bulimia: Sunken cheeks with simultaneous facial swelling (from purging), furry forearms (lanugo), constant presence (over many years) in particularly intense spin classes, and a bony butt that distracts me from class as it bounces up and down on the saddle. Oww.

There’s another one who looks very young and very sickly — tall and gangly, on the elliptical trainer for easily an-hour-and-a-half at a time. She’s got terrible form but psycho stamina, and ribs and pelvic bones that protrude sharply through her skin as she stands naked before the locker room mirror, doing her makeup and hair before putting on a stitch of clothing. The other women always do that slick you-can’t-tell-I’m-staring-but-I’m-staring thing, like many people do when they spot a celebrity, and we all hold our breaths until she’s slipped herself back into her baggy sweater and jeans and left the premises. More »

Dear Charlie Sheen: If You Really Want Help, Step Away From the Media

Dear Charlie Sheen:

We read an excerpt from your new exclusive interview with Life&Style magazine in which you make the following claims: “I’m really starting to lose my mind,” and “I’m ready to call anyone to help.”

Well, Chuckles, look no further. Blisstree, your friendly health and wellness website (for men, too, not just for goddesses!) is here for you. We are anyone.

To prove it, we’d like to offer you some health advice based on the stuff you spouted in that Life&Style article. Now, we’re not medical doctors or psychiatrists or bitchin’ rock stars, but you don’t seem to hold the former two in very high regard anyway, so this relationship could work out nicely for both of us. No offense, but the ladies and gentlemen with whom you reside and fraternize on Sober Valley Ranch don’t necessarily seem to have your best interests at heart. We do. More »

Dealing With the 5 Stages of Grief: Acceptance

The five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. The fifth stage is acceptance. We often misinterpret it to mean, you are “all right” or “OK” with what has happened. This is not acceptance. Will we ever feel OK or all right about the loss of a loved one? This stage is about accepting the reality that our loved one is physically gone and recognizing that this new reality is the permanent reality. Acceptance looks like remembering, recollecting, reorganizing and reinvesting. As hard as it is, we begin to realize sadly that it was our loved one’s time to die — always too soon for us, and probably too soon for him or her, too. Perhaps he was very old or full of pain and disease. Perhaps her body was worn down and she was ready for her journey to be over. But our journey still continues. It is not yet time for us to die; in fact, it is time for us to heal. More »

Morning Links: Arizona Shootings Raise Mental Health Issues

The Arizona shootings on January 8 have put sharp focus on mental health; these are just some of the issues surfacing in light of the tragic event:

Arizona Shooting Inspires New Kind of First Aid – The recent shootings in Tuscon have sparked interest in “mental health first aid” courses, to learn how to identify and assist individuals with mental illnesses. (Washington Post)

Mental Health Warning Signs – In hindsight, Arizona shooter Jared Loughner was mentally unstable; here are six warning signs someone you know could suffer serious mental health issues. (TIME)

Social Media Desensitizes Disaster Response – Online interactions and social media messages aren’t taken as seriously, in law and in life, but should they be? (Psychology Today)
More »

Private Practice Graphic Rape Scene: Is Sexual Assault Made for TV?

For better or worse, sexual assault is all over media: When we sat down to think of famous rape scenes on film and TV, we came up with so many, we made a second list. Typically, rape is either depicted as a terrible, violent crime, or glorified as part of a sexual fantasy. The former scene type made its most recent appearance on ABC’s Private Practice last Thursday, when Charlotte King (sexology specialist, Chief of Staff at St. Ambrose Hospital, and fiancee to Cooper) was violently raped in her office by a mentally disturbed man.

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10 Yoga Myths Debunked By Our Private Instructor

Myth #1: Yoga is a religion.

Fact: Yoga is not a religion. Yoga is an ancient science that originated in India, dating back thousands of years. The word yoga means “union” or “to bring together.” This system of breathing techniques and poses connect mind, body, and spirit, often leaving one feeling inner-balance, harmony, and peace.

Myth #2: Yoga is too easy (or too difficult).

Fact: The practice of yoga can be as physically challenging or as restorative as anyone wants. It depends on the practitioner knowing what he/she wants, and then finding the style of yoga and teacher that best suits his/her needs. Regardless of the style, yoga postures help the practitioner gain flexibility, strength, and balance. Some classes leave you sweaty and in serious need of a shower, while others leave you feeling relaxed and renewed.

Myth #3: Yoga is only for the fit and flexible. More »

Yes, Birth Control Pills Make You Bat S#*! Crazy

Check out this post about birth control by Emerald Catron on Lemondrop.

Talk about a lose-lose situation: Whether you have kids or are actively trying to ward off the baby virus, somebody’s going crazy up in your house. That is, if we’re to believe two recent studies in hormone research.

According to new research, taking the pill can increase feelings of aggression and jealousy in women. More »

Turns Out, Unfaithful Men Have Unique Personalities!

Check out this post about serial cheaters by Liz Ozaist on Lemondrop.

We’ve either dated them or had the unfortunate opportunity to meet them through friends who’ve made the mistake of marrying them. We’re talking about controlling, mega-ego men with Lothario tendencies. You know, good guys like “Mad Max” star Mel Gibson. Psychologist Dr. Abby Rosen and author of a new book, “Lasting Transformation,” knows them so well that she’s even given a name to their type: NCCDPD. It’s a mouthful — just like these men can be a handful — so we asked Rosen to dish on the curious disorder. More »

Society has this image of doctors as disembodied brains walking around without body parts, kind of like pastors or kindergarten teachers — you know they have body parts but you don’t really want to think about it. So they don’t know what to do with me when I talk about my own experience. Doctors are trained to be very clinical about it, but I’ve gone out of my way to not be that way, and people aren’t quite sure what to make of that. It makes people uncomfortable.

Society has this image of doctors as disembodied brains walking around without body parts, kind of like pastors or kindergarten teachers â�� you know they have body parts but you donâ��t really want to think about it. So they donâ��t know what to do with me when I talk about my own experience. Doctors are trained to be very clinical about it, but Iâ��ve gone out of my way to not be that way, and people arenâ��t quite sure what to make of that. It makes people uncomfortable.

– Gynecologist and author Lissa Rankin on her philosophy of talking openly about women’s sexual health (and society’s reaction to it), from our post: We Probe Lissa Rankin, Author of What’s Up Down There? on Vaginas, Sex, and Aging

We Probe Dr. Lissa Rankin, Author of What’s Up Down There? On Vaginas, Sex, and Aging

If you don’t already have a copy of Dr. Lissa Rankin’s new book, What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend, you should. Rankin, a practicing gynecologist and founder of The Owning Pink Center in Mill Valley, California, sifted through thousands of questions from her friends, patients, blog readers, and Twitter followers to create a book filled with real questions about our ladyparts — including stuff like: “What’s the most common labia size, and please don’t say that all vaginas are different and special. Seriously, what’s the most common?” Her answers are hilarious, candid, personal, racy (she confesses everything from what her vagina tastes like to her STD history, something we’ve never heard from our doctors), and full of the real answers we spend all night looking for on Google.

We recently sat down with Lissa to do what everyone else wants to do with her: Ask questions. More »

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