The effect of culture on the field of psychology has become a main consideration for researchers and clinicians. In the delivery of appropriate and comprehensive treatment, some may feel that if everyone is treated the same that you are addressing the issue of cultural differences by acting for the larger concept of global humanity. Yet [...]
I have long believed that much of what we cardiologists treat relates to what goes on from the neck up-namely patient emotions. My book, Heartbreak & Heart Disease, which I wrote back in 1996, covers one aspect of the emotional equation.
Stress in the form of suppressed emotions-from heartbreak and overwhelming sadness to hostility and [...]
What is depression? Is it a disease? A mental disorder? A brain dysfunction? A psychological syndrome? An existential or spiritual crisis? Several of my fellow PT bloggers posted on depression recently. I want to discuss depression here as a clinical and forensic psychologist who has been practicing psychotherapy for more than three decades.
For me, the [...]
Every student learns the definition of what is termed, “Bipolar Disorder,” as the next disorder after depression and manic moods in a typical curriculum course. It seems logical that one mood disorder would simply relate to another mutant disorder with similar behaviors, similar to the way we classify animals. If you go through a traditional [...]
How does a person become a “chronic pain patient”?
That label, chronic pain patient, can often lead to prejudice on the part of the health care profession. This prejudice can be manifested as chronic pain patients being treated as simply drug-seekers and/or stigmatized as individuals better left to psychiatric intervention.
Unfortunately, psychiatrists and psychologists tend to become [...]
