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 [...]
The 8-Week Challenge
OK worriers. Here is the challenge for you. I will dedicate this blog for the next eight weeks to giving you the tools to get a handle on your worries. But it’s going to require some work. Are you willing to actually do something to deal with your worries?
All of us worry at [...]
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 [...]
Last week in Boulder, Colorado where I live, the heat wave broke. We had torrential rain, which is totally uncharacteristic of our desert-like climate, and vastly cooler temperatures when the sky cleared. For the most part, in a place where air conditioners are either non-existent or politically incorrect and swamp coolers rule, you’d think that [...]
