Category: Treatment
Brain Fitness and The Mind of a Monk
Posted by info in Anxiety, CBT, Treatment, meditation Monday, 11 January o 21:20 No Comments
I saw an interesting blog post several days ago on the site of the Huffington Post about the potential benefits of meditation – or at least about what one woman thinks might be the benefits.
Priscilla Warner writes about the contrast between Tibetan monks’ apparent calm, evident even on brain scans, and her own anxiety disorder.
Ms. Warner says that she suffers from panic disorder, a severe form of anxiety in which a person can have multiple anxiety attacks every day, even in the middle of the night. Her post is titled “I Want the Brain of a Monk” Although most people don’t suffer from anxiety this severe, many people have symptoms of anxiety. And research has consistently shown that higher levels of anxiety are related to more memory problems.
What’s the relation to brain fitness? In my brain fitness class, I often mention the usefulness of meditation in helping reduce stress and anxiety, both of which have negative effects on memory. You don’t have to go to Tibet to get the benefits of meditation. If you simply take 10 minutes several times a day to break in to the ongoing rush of getting things done, you’ve made a start. Use those 10 minutes to sit quietly, relax your muscles, and breathe deeply.
If you do that every day for two weeks, I think you’ll notice that you feel calmer and better able to focus. And if you’re better able to focus, you will be better able to pay attention and remember things.
Do GAD and Depression Overlap?
Posted by info in Treatment Monday, 11 January o 21:07 No Comments
An article in this month’s Archives of General Psychiatry presents a study that looks at the relation of depression to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
The relation of anxiety to depression is complex at least in part because of the way the two conditions overlap. Most people with depression have at least some symptoms of anxiety, and many people with anxiety have significant symptoms of depression.
The study reported in the Archives shows that patterns of GAD over time are similar to those of other anxiety disorders, such as social phobia and panic disorder. At the same time, the course of depression was different from the anxiety disorders.
This study shows again that in spite of similarities, GAD and other anxiety disorders are in many ways distinct from mood disorders. In spite of the overlap in symptoms (and often, treatments), GAD may be separate from depression.
Reference:
Beesdo K, et al. (2010). Incidence and risk patterns of anxiety and depressive disorders and categorization of generalized anxiety disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67, 47-57.
Simple Ways to Cope with Anxiety without Medications
Posted by admin in Anxiety, Treatment, Worry Monday, 2 March o 08:10 No Comments
With all the uncertainty in the economy, more and more people are asking about how to manage anxiety. Although several types of medications can be helpful in coping with anxiety, some of them (drugs in the group of benzodiazepines, such as Valium, Xanax, and Ativan) can actually have a negative impact on your memory. Other patients whom I see simply don’t want to take medicines for their anxiety. Since anxiety and stress can make your memory worse, managing your anxiety should be near the top of your brain fitness list.
Top ways to manage anxiety without medications:
Find out what you’re anxious about, and do something about it. Many patients have vague anxiety and aren’t quite sure what it’s about. See if you can figure it out. Talk to a friend about how you feel. Sometimes just talking about a problem can help make it clear. Another person’s viewpoint may help you to see a problem in another light.
Exercise. Both aerobic (walking, running, bicycling, swimming) and nonaerobic (weight training) can help you manage anxiety. People usually feel less anxious after exercising. If you aren’t exercising now, check with your doctor to make sure it’s OK to start. Even 10-15 minutes a day of walking can make a difference.
Relax and breathe. Researchers long ago noticed that it’s almost impossible to breathe deeply and feel anxious at the same time. Take 10 minutes twice a day to sit quietly, relax the muscles in your neck and back, and breathe fully. If you do this for a week you’ll feel better.
Meditate. Researchers have shown that almost any kind of meditation improves anxiety. I believe that meditation that helps you develop attentional focus will not only relieve stress and anxiety but also improve your memory. Mindfulness meditation is one form of meditation that is very helpful.
Distract yourself. Sometimes you can’t solve a problem but just have to live with it. Even after you exercise and meditate, you may still have to confront a problem over which you have little control. Try to find things that you enjoy doing that can help give you a break from feelilng anxious. Hobbies can often help people distract themselves. Doing something that is intellectually challenging is also good for your brain health.
Cognitive Therapy and Post Partum Depression
Posted by info in CBT, Depression, Medications, Treatment Friday, 2 January o 07:10 No Comments
A reader recently reported that she is suffering from post partum depression and asked whether cognitive therapy might help her. She wondered whether cognitive therapy might help her get off her current medications.
It’s not possible for us to comment on any specific case in this blog, because it’s beyond the scope of the blog to provide treatment. At least one study has shown that cognitive therapy is helpful in post partum depression (Misri S, Reebye P, Corral M, Milis L. The use of paroxetine and cognitive-behavioral therapy in postpartum depression and anxiety: a randomized controlled trial. J Clin Psychiatry. 2004 Sep;65(9):1236-41), so it may be worth considering this treatment option.
What’s most important is that anyone with post partum depression get treatment! I would suggest that anyone interested in this issue first consult with the person who is prescribing the medication for depression. Don’t stop the medication without the advice of the clinician who is prescribing the medication!
If your clinician doesn’t know any competent cognitive therapists, you can contact the Academy of Cognitive Therapy for a possible referral (Academy of Cognitive Therapy website).
Insomnia
Posted by info in Treatment Friday, 16 February o 19:12 No Comments
After 50, a lot of us don’t sleep as well as we used to. In my work with people over 50, sleeping difficulties are one of the most common complaints I hear. As people get older, sleep changes (it’s not just your imagination). To understand this, you have to know a little bit about what happens when you go to sleep.
Sleeping is an active process. It isn’t that your brain just shuts down and then restarts itself in the morning. When you go to sleep, your brain activity changes. Sleep doctors talk about sleep stages. Stages are defined by what’s going on in your brain at any given moment, usually based on looking at brain waves recorded from the skin on your head. As your sleep changes, the brain waves change. You go through several sleep stages in cycles during the night, from a shallow kind of sleep to a much deeper kind of sleep.
As you get older, the light sleep stage gets even lighter. You may wake up more easily, and may have more trouble going back to sleep. You may not feel as well rested when you wake up, too.
Doctors talk about different types of insomnia. Initial insomnia is when you have trouble getting to sleep in the first place. People with initial insomnia may lay in bed worrying about things that happened during the day. Middle insomnia occurs when you get to sleep OK, but then wake up during the night. Final insomnia happens when you wake up early in the morning and can’t get back to sleep. There are a number of causes for any of these insomnias, but anxiety and depression are common causes of insomnia. There are a number of physical causes, too, so anyone with insomnia needs to have a regular check up.
Although most people think about using some kind of sleeping pill for insomnia, there are some major drawbacks to taking sleep medication. Some people may have daytime sleepiness, memory loss, and problems with balance. Having said that, there’s no doubt that medications can be really helpful.
Another treatment option is cognitive behavioral treatment for sleep problems. The core idea here is to use psychological techniques to treat the insomnia. Research studies have shown that this approach to treating insomnia works, and people may avoid some of the problems that come along with using medications for insomnia.
More next time about cognitive behavioral treatments for insomnia.