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…
Ketamine NYC Single vs. Repeated Infusions of Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression It has been well studied that ketamine has rapid and powerful antidepressant effects for people in whom traditional antidepressants haven’t worked. However, most studies’ protocols only include effects after a single infusion, not multiple infusions with maintenance dosage. The few studies that have looked…
Cognitive functioning is one of the main symptoms of major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression and affects the daily quality of life in these patients. Cognitive functioning is defined as the ability to process and comprehend new information that allows us to carry out daily tasks and is often assessed by testing memory or ability…
Research into optimal TMS treatment parameters for a given disorder is ongoing. The paper we will consider here, by Kozel and colleagues, looks at frequency of pulse delivery, specifically low versus high frequency TMS in the treatment of PTSD. The effect TMS has on the brain is contingent upon many factors – frequency being one of them. Broadly speaking, TMS is…