Behavioral Medicine Solutions

Many suffering people are quite hesitant to avail themselves of therapies due to the current biased trend in literature. We hear almost daily that antidepressants are no better than placebo.  These medications although are by no means a panacea (you can find my view on the fallacy of the label ‘antidepressant’ in my earlier posts), leading to a change [...]

There was another report in the news this week about the widespread use of the antidepressants in modern American society. We can analyze this trend from many perspectives including medical, philosophical and sociological angles.  My purpose today is to raise awareness of a subtle question: Are we hardwired to experience dread, anxiety and dissatisfaction to motivate us to transform our lives from [...]

Unrealistic expectations set people up for treatment failures, especially when it comes to treatment for anxiety disorders. The changes that take place with the initiation of therapy are gradual and subtle. I conceptualize these changes as palliative as opposed to curative. For example:  If you have been prone to constant states of worry or irritability , [...]

 The most challenging aspect of treating depression and anxiety is, ironically, the process of discontinuing the medications when indicated clinically.  The purpose of this post is not to replace the necessary medical care that this process requires, but to shed some light on various challenges inherent in such a decision.   We now know that  stopping the [...]

  A recent study claims that antidepressants are no better than placebo; this  has led to an avalanche of articles, blogs and heated  discussions. the polarization of opinions reminds me  of ideological wars and not  scientific discussions. such is the nature of debates over mental health issues! my own interpretation of this data goes back to the  conceptual fallacies of what we [...]

the term antidepressant is a bit like ‘weapons of mass destruction’!! it is poorly defined and has historical roots which we won’t get into here. These would be better conceptualized as ‘modulators of our neural apparatus communication system’!( OK, you see why ‘antidepressant’ is a more palatable way to get the message across!). the bottom [...]

antidepressants have been reported to lead to both weight loss and weight gain. the mechanism for this is still poorly understood although there a few theories out there regarding glucose metabolism. I address this in my practice first by emphasizing a healthy diet and exercise regimen at the onset of therapy and altering the course [...]

a common misunderstanding in the treatment of depression, anxiety and attention problems is magic of the RIGHT dose of the medicines. like many things in life, one size does not fit all. pharmaceutical companies are obliged to publish data reporting results of clinical trials before their medicines are approved. the populations they study have many [...]

many people erroneously believe that being treated for depression means sacrificing a normal sex life. it is true that some antidepressants could impair libido and orgasmic phase of sexual activity. there are ways however to manage this side effect; some points to consider to address this problem: 1. staying on the lowest effective dose of [...]

Antidepressants have been used to treat some forms of migraine headaches. Paradoxically, they could CAUSE headaches as a side effect or lead to headaches when abruptly discontinued. The moral of the story is to listen to your body and if your symptoms are not resolving or are getting worse, bring the matter up with your doctor. [...]