4 Misunderstandings About Spravato The treatment of depression has undergone radical changes through the centuries. People have practiced trepanning (we advise against eating if you look it up), the theory of the four humors, electroconvulsive therapy, and now we are able to take advantage of such modern options as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and drugs like Spravato. We’ve recently added Spravato to our offerings and want to share more information about it. Check out more about Spravato at this link, this link, and this link. It’s understandable that a brand-new antidepressant will ..read more

Endogenous Versus Exogenous Depression In this blog, we’ve spoken about the many different types of depression. Classifying and treating mental disorders evolves all the time, and some labels for variations of depression are outdated. Doctors used to treat endogenous and exogenous depression as different things, but now each will get the broader label of MDD. The treatment for each patient should reflect their unique needs and situation. Exogenous means “from without.” Someone experiencing depression due to environmental factors has something called reactive depression, also called exogenous d ..read more

NeuroStar by Neuronetics Neuronetics is a publicly traded company based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, incorporated since 2003. Their mission is to invent and build devices that can be used for psychiatric treatments, particularly those that are non-invasive and targeted toward people with disorders that have proven treatment resistant. The treatments supported by the work of Neuronetics use the concept of neuromodulation, which involves stimulating certain areas of the brain that show abnormal activity to improve mood and function. In October 2008, Neuronetics became the “first and only Food and D ..read more

Work-Life Balance: Time Management A huge portion of a healthy work-life balance is good time management. Time management can be a hard task, and it’s an ongoing one, but the benefits of adapting time management strategies that work for you are worth the time and effort. Check out our other articles on time management here and here. Time management and mental health are strongly linked. Anxiety and stress are common symptoms of poor time management, and each grows off the other until the sufferer experiences burnout. Smart time management has a positive impact on everything from one’s workload ..read more

Work-Life Balance, Part 2: Boundaries  As part 2 of our series on work-life balance, this post will do a quick examination of boundaries. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a boundary is a line that marks the limits of an area. It can also mean the limit of a subject or sphere of activity. Boundaries can be real, like a fence around someone’s property. They can also be immaterial, like a time zone line. We cannot control many of our circumstances, but setting boundaries is an important way to deal with them. Here are just a few of the million reasons to work on setting boundaries: Bound ..read more

How to Talk to Your Doctor About Depression If you’re feeling depressed, it can be hard to talk about it. People are often afraid to burden others, have too much to do, or believe they won’t be taken seriously. Sometimes we just get used to our pain and forget that it doesn’t have to be normal to feel that way. Speaking up about your depression and asking for help is a hard thing to do, but it has to start somewhere. There are listening ears out there, and one pair of them belongs to your general physician. It’s perfectly fine to reach out to a therapist on your own, but there are some reasons ..read more

How to Improve Memory, Part 4 Head injuries are a significant cause of memory loss. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined by the Mayo Clinic as, “Brain dysfunction caused by an outside force, usually a blow to the head.” The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says a TBI of the non-penetrating kind, “is caused by an external force strong enough to move the brain within the skull.” TBIs can cause issues like bleeding within the cranium and lesions. TBIs, especially untreated TBIs, can cause lasting problems like headaches, sensitivity to light and sound, and mood changes. Memory is another ..read more

Defining Work-Life Balance Today, we want to look at work-life balance and the impact it has on people. A positive work-life balance means that the demands of someone’s career do not exceed the needs of their personal lives. This can be hard to achieve and maintain, as circumstances we cannot control change around us all the time. However, it is worth pursuing for any improvements that can be made. A positive work-life balance helps people work better, as we’ll look at more in a minute. Quality work- life balance is also beneficial for healthy relationships, as we are better able to decide how ..read more

The Depression Gender Disparity Depression is a global health concern. Among the non-fatal diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression makes up 10% of that burden. They also find that there is a disparity (using the gender binary) regarding the occurrence of depression, affecting far more females than males. The number fluctuates, but the difference remains. Why is this? The first major exposition of the gender disparity when it comes to depression was done by Myrna Weissman, PhD, in the 1970s. She called out the tendency of the medical community to dismiss depressi ..read more

How to Improve Your Memory, Part 3 This is our third article on how to maintain and improve your brain’s memory functions. Read the first one here and the second here. To maintain and improve memory, you have to keep brain cells growing and multiplying. A major factor in memory loss is simple cell death. Today, we need to talk about substances that not only damage the brain’s ability to make new cells but kill living cells and interrupt their ability to communicate with each other. Alcohol can severely damage short and long-term memory, so drink responsibly. Alcohol not only damages short-term ..read more