Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Show 1350: Why Psychotherapy Matters: Lessons fr…
If you tell your healthcare provider that you’re feeling anxious or depressed, chances are they will prescribe you a medication. Millions of people take anti-anxiety pills or antidepressants, and ma…
Breaking the Nail-Biting Habit
Ask people who bite their nails why they do it and you are likely to get a range of answers: stress, boredom, anxiety, excitement. Sometimes a hangnail or roughness can trigger the urge to bite. It is…
Show 1237: Improving Your Mood With Food
Working from home during the pandemic has wrought havoc with a lot of healthy eating habits. It’s harder to shop safely, and minimizing time in the grocery store may mean people have stocked up on s…
Show 1204: How Brain Function Affects Mental Ill…
Mental health problems cause widespread disability in today’s world. Large numbers of people suffer with depression or severe anxiety. While these ailments are real, we may not be considering their …
Can Naltrexone Overcome Obsessions Like Hair Pul…
Don’t you just love medical terminology? Hair pulling is straightforward. You immediately understand what it means. But no, doctors have to use Greek or Latin. You get the tongue twister trichotillo…
Why Is Antidepressant Withdrawal So Hard?
It is estimated that one out of every eight Americans takes an antidepressant medication (JAMA Internal Medicine, Feb. 2017). According to the New York Times, roughly 25 million Americans have been ta…
Husband’s Obsessive Hand Washing Drives Wi…
Q. My husband is almost obsessive about washing his hands. Your columns have reinforced his worries that cold and flu germs lurk on every door knob, banister and elevator button. If he shakes hands wi…
Modern Mind Medicines Lose Luster
Hundreds of years ago, people with mental illness might be burned at the stake or locked away in a dungeon. In the early 20th century, some patients with schizophrenia were lobotomized with an ice pic…