And by “one thing” I mean prescribing medication.
Aside from the cost of mental health care, one of the biggest patient complaints I’ve heard since beginning Mental Health Notes and becoming involved with NAMI is the way in which appointments with psychiatrists seem to go these days.
It’s become the norm for a patient to take a half or whole day off work to sit in a waiting room for an hour or more only to see a psychiatrist for a few minutes in order to discuss whether or not a particular medication is working, grab a new or adjusted prescription, and …read more

Well, they’re not all new, per se, but they’re some of the mental health blogs I’ve been checking out lately.
Recovering One Day At A Time is written by maryruth, a seriously busy American woman (she’s a single mother of four, a homeschooler to her special needs son, a writer, a NAMI advocate, and she just started working on her Master’s in Psychology!) who wants to share her “walk through mental illness to recovery.”
I’m Listening is written by “Wandering Coyote,” a Canadian lady who’s managing borderline personality disorder, dysthymia, and major depressive disorder and who seeks to bust the stigma of …read more

This post is part of Celebrity Health Week at the b5media Health & Wellness Channel. For more information about Celebrity Health Week posts here at Mental Health Notes, visit Introducing Celebrity Health Week: Celebrities And Mental Illness.
Now that we’ve nodded in the direction of celebrities who have bipolar disorder, let’s take a look at the illness itself so you can better understand what these famous folks are going through.
Keep in mind that this post is just an overview and by no means meant to act as a substitute for medical professional advice.
I gathered information about bipolar disorder from the same …read more

Grab Drug Advertisements by the Pills: Part Five
We’ve determined that most medications featured in drug advertisements are both the priciest and the newest drugs on the market, which unfortunately means you could end up emptying your pockets just to experience some pretty serious, unknown side effects.
However, there is good news. In addition to asking your doctor about cheaper prescription medications that have been around longer (and have better understood side effects), you could also ask your doctor about any lifestyle changes and alternative remedies that may provide similar management benefits and symptom relief.
For example, did you know that each of …read more

I Must Shave My Legs: The OCD Miniseries – Part 6
Once you’ve been properly diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, there are three main categories of treatment and management options for you: psychotherapy, medications, and self-care.
Psychotherapy
The Mayo Clinic gives a great, thorough definition of psychotherapy.
In short, psychotherapy is effective for both children and adults, and the form of psychotherapy called “cognitive behavior therapy” is generally used for treating and managing OCD. If your doctor suggests cognitive behavior therapy, you may engage in activities designed to help you retrain your current routines and thought patterns in order to squash compulsive behaviors, i.e. make …read more