It’s true that you can feel better just by receiving another’s affectionate touch. After all we all have receptors in our skin that send messages directly to the brain. Just think about the last time you were given a hug or a pat on the back or someone putting their arm around your shoulders. And…

We know that anyone can suffer from PTSD, but there is a clear gender difference in how common PTSD is in men vs. women. According to the National Center for PTSD, about one in ten women suffer sometime in their life with PTS. About half the number of men suffer from PTSD. Data shows us…

Nearly one-fifth of U.S. workers rate their mental health as fair or poor. Generalized across the U.S. workforce, this results in missed work estimated to cost the economy $47.6 billion annually in lost productivity. Although many people and organizations do not treat it as such, mental health is as important as physical health and needs…

Depression can drain people of initiative and desire. When this happens, lots of important things in their life can fall by the wayside, personal hygiene being one of those things. When depression has somebody feeling at their lowest point, the last thing on their mind can be marshaling the strength and focus to take a…

Stress often has a very negative effect on healthy sleep, impacting quality and duration. It does this in a number of ways, including extending how long it takes to get to sleep and fragmenting sleep. A lack of healthy sleep can then actually increase your stress levels and have a severe impact on physical and…

The FDA just approved Rexulti (brexpiprazole) for the treatment of agitation associated with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. The FDA approved the drug based on new data from two separate three month studies in which patients showered “statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements” on the commonly used Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory scale. This is a widely…

The new study by Jennifer A Rieker et al. published in International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health (May 2023) shows us very clearly that, as one would image, an active social life outside of work is crucial to a person’s ability to undertake professional responsibilities in a productive, positive and competent manner. And interestingly…

The news media have been covering ways to reduce stress – and whether “holding your hand over your heart” like actor Pablo Pascal can work in this regard.  It’s important to understand that it causes your body to release stress or anxiety hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which can in turn make you even…

Isolation and loneliness can have a terrible effect on a person’s health. They contribute to more hospital visits, dementia, anxiety and depression. Fully one-third of adults state they are feeling increased isolation and loneliness, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In fact, just today US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, issued a report on loneliness and…

It’s been said many times that “we are what we eat.” And as a psychiatrist, I believe it’s clear that the food we put in our bodies has a large effect on our mood, including whether we experience anxiety and/or depression. There’s lots of research out there on this topic, which is sometimes referred to…