Want a daily dose of good health for your kids? Send them outside to play! As child and youth psychiatrist, every day I treat young people with stress, low motivation, anxiety, and depression. One prescription for all my patients (kids and parents) is to go play in the great outdoors. For humans and animals, free-play is directly linked to the development of the brain’s prefrontal ... Continue Reading
Each choice is a step toward feeling well (guest post).
When you’re tired, drink coffee. When you have a headache, take Advil. When you have acid reflux, swallow Prilosec. When you can’t sleep, try melatonin. Eczema? Cortisone cream. Easy. Fast. Done. But there is a fundamental problem here. Treating symptoms instead of causes is like plugging holes in your bucket of water with chewing gum while you keep shooting it with your BB gun. We ... Continue Reading
Depression is no joke.
It's April Fools day (which to my chagrin the child has discovered. lately everything has included APRIL FOOLS!!! shouted at random intervals), but since we be silly every OTHER day around here Ive skewed serious. It's kinda like Halloween. Since I tend to dress in costume the *other* 364 days of the year---on Halloween I dress (finger quote) normally (unFQ). Spring allergies are slamming ... Continue Reading
Navigating depression (guest post).
Ever since my experience with allergies and depression my perspective has shifted. I *thought* I grasped depression. I *hoped* I was supportive and helpful to friends when they suffered. I learned I pretty much had no clue. Please to welcome my friend, Denise. Her beautiful, haunting words are the perfect reminder how there's so much more to HEALTH than just the physical. Sometimes ... Continue Reading
Seasonal allergies & depression: my misfit PSA.
To know me (I typically add "in real life" here, but this time Im fairly certain I held it together notsomuch online either) is to know I've struggled recently. I havent been myself. Instead of leaping out of bed excitedly to greet the day---Ive dragged my sorry ass up & to the coffee maker whining the entire way. Lamenting how exhausted I am. Moaning about how I dont want to work. ... Continue Reading
Self-objectification.
Whether you are familiar with this term or not---Im pretty confident in saying we're all familiar with the concept. Technically defined self-objectification is defined as when we choose to evaluate ourselves based on appearance because that's how we believe others adjudicate us. (many believe that the media plays a large role in teaching us to do this---but that's a post for a different ... Continue Reading