Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental illness that can cause severe anxiety or depression – or both – to those who experience it. It can be the result of having something violent or unexpected happen to you (car accident, mugging, military service for example) or something that you feared may happen to you. It may also be the result of you seeing something happening to another person. In other words, it’s caused by a psychologically traumatic event.
To understand a bit more about PTSD, Karen J. Erickson, an alternative health practitioner, answers some questions for us.

The United States FDA has granted marketing approval to a new drug to help treat schizophrenia. Called Fanapt (iloperidone), the medication is intended to treat adults with schizophrenia while in the acute phases. It isn’t yet known how long they should be kept on the medication once the acute phases is over, but researchers agree that if the patient is responding, continuing with the treatment is encouraged.

According to a company press release , “The approval was supported by two placebo-controlled Phase III clinical studies comparing Fanapt(TM) to placebo and active control in patients with schizophrenia, as well as safety data …read more

For anyone who has ever struggled with addiction, this bit of news may be of interest. The doctor who oversees research at the National Institute on Alcoholism says, “alcoholism has reached a point similar to one depression reached 30 years ago — when the development of Prozac and other antidepressants took mental health care out of the asylum and put it in homes and doctors’ offices.” In other words, there might be drugs available now that can help.

One drug, Topamax, reportedly “reduced the number of days on which alcoholics drank heavily” more than with just therapy alone. …read more

13 out of the top 20 feeds on my cardiac news reader were all pointing at one topic. And I mean all of them…
Depression, women and heart disease.  I have written about this so many times in the past. Our emotional and physical self all works as one. Never be too proud to admit when it is time to seek help for depression.
Symptoms of depression include:

Loss of interest in normal daily activities
Feeling sad or down
Feeling hopeless
Crying spells for no apparent reason
Problems sleeping
Trouble focusing or concentrating
Difficulty making decisions
Unintentional weight gain or loss
Irritability
Restlessness
Being easily annoyed
Feeling fatigued or weak
Feeling worthless
Loss of interest in …read more

Here we go again.. or so it seems. Your mental health is so important in how you deal and heal from illness. Depressed patients are more at risk for developing complications following a heart attack. It is very important that we take check and let ourselves feel and be scared and all that comes with such a life altering episode.
“There is good evidence that if a person has depression after a heart attack, they are more likely to die from cardiac causes in the following months and years,” said lead author Jeff Huffman, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard …read more

Here at the health and wellness channel it is theme day- and it is all about mental health and Alicia has the roundup at Mental Health Notes. With that being said, I have a few things to offer you…
Increased risk of heart disease due to depression is right on the mark and is a vicious cycle indeed. Depression medications lead to weight gain, food cravings and feelings of lethargy. Feelings of lethargy lead to a sedentary and less than “healthy” lifestyle. And a round and around we go!
How do we break the cycle? The more depressed one is the higher …read more