Question: My friends and I go out drinking a lot, and I’m worried that one of my friends is an alcoholic. She has repeatedly drank to the point of blacking out, and it happens so often. Can repeated blackouts indicate an alcohol problem? Answer: Yes, repeated blackouts can be indicative of an alcohol problem. A…
Question: I’m a 30-year-old male and I was just diagnosed with adult ADD. My doctor told me that I need to take medications to control it. What are the side-effects of attention deficit medications? Answer: Adult Attention Deficit Disorder has become a more commonly recognized condition. It used to be believed that ADD only manifested…
Question: I’m a 20 year old that has been dealing with depression for 4 months. What are good anti-depressants? Or should I see a doctor? Answer: (Dr. Ziv Cohen): Fortunately, there are many good antidepressants. The first antidepressants–developed in the 1950s–were highly effective but caused side effects like constipation, dry mouth, and sleepiness. Today’s first…
Question: My daughter vomited tonight, and she has a big social event coming up tomorrow that she’s very nervous about. Is it possible that she vomited because of stress? Answer: Stress is a very common source of physical symptoms. In fact, the gut is a prime area for these symptoms to manifest because there are…
Question: I have depression, but I noticed that I’ve been feeling anxious a lot of the time. Why does depression cause anxiety? Answer: Depression and anxiety often run together. You can think of them as two threads that together weave a fabric. On occasion, we do we see patients who have only depression, without significant…
Depression is a highly recurrent disorder. Estimates are that more than 50% of patients experience repeat episodes of depression (Kupfer et al., 1996). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an evidence-based therapy for the acute treatment of major depression, with a high rate of treatment response. Following adequate response to an acute course of TMS (i.e.…
In addition to being used as a treatment for refractory depression, ketamine has also been studied and is being used in the treatment of anxiety. A 2017 study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology looked at the use of ketamine in those with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder who did not respond…
When ketamine was originally approved for its anesthetic properties, it was a highly desirable drug because unlike other anesthesia medications that tend to rapidly decrease blood pressure and heart rate, ketamine actually increased blood pressure and heart rate. This is recognized as a desirable side effect in anesthesia, as low blood pressure during surgery could…
TMS in Pregnancy – A pregnant woman with depression is in a difficult situation. In order to manage the depression, she might require antidepressant medication; however, seeing as the medication not only affects her but also the developing fetus, she may prefer to avoid medication. But if the depression goes untreated this will likely result…
Repairing Damaged Brain Circuits: A Theory on How Ketamine Works for Depression – Although it is now well documented that ketamine has the ability to rapidly and effectively relieve the symptoms of depression that has failed to respond to traditional antidepressants, no one is sure exactly how it does so. There has been research done…