In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is oppositional defiant disorder. Oppositional defiant disorder in the DSM-5 Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is typically diagnosed by the early elementary school years. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), diagnosis requires at least six […]
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I was recently reading an article that argued that to fully treat depression, one must do the inner work to get to the root cause. That didn’t sit particularly well with me, so I thought I’d write about whether there’s even such a thing as a root cause for depression. The problem with reductionism I’m
Is There a Root Cause for Depression? Read More »
The Addiction Nobody Will Talk About by Joshua Shea describes the events that caused his life to come shattering down, and how he began to rebuild and heal. Much of the book revolves around the local lifestyle magazine he started, which grew into starting a film festival and getting elected to city council. Interspersed throughout
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Do antidepressants increase the risk of suicide? There are certainly people out there who are very vocal in insisting that they do. However, as is so often the case, the loudmouths don’t tend to be especially well informed. The FDA black box warning Since 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required a
Antidepressants, Suicide Risk, and the FDA Black Box Warning Read More »
Just to get things started, I’ll say that I’m “mentally ill”, I “suffer from” depression, and I’m a little bit “crazy”, although the degree varies over time. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, there are a lot of people who like to take a stand against terminology that is thought to stigmatize
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is kleptomania. Yes, kleptomania is actually a legitimate psychiatric condition. It wasn’t a condition I had anything more than passing familiarity with, but it came up in a conversation with a fellow blogger, so I wanted to take
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Sometimes you’ll hear people argue that doctors don’t know how psych meds work, and therefore they shouldn’t be used. However, there’s a lack of clarity to these statements that, at least in my opinion, casts psychotropic meds in an unfair light. What is the mechanism of action? If we’re going to about how medications work,
Do We Know How Psych Meds Work? Read More »
The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Diary by Charlotte Dennis shares her experiences using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to manage her OCD. It’s designed as a workbook to be written in, so the paper version would definitely be a better pick than the ebook. The book is filled with exercises to help you reflect on yourself and
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In this emerging blogger post, Emma from Mental Health Matters writes about what it’s like to experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Hello, my name is Emma and this is a piece I wrote for my blog in 2018. Since writing this article, I have found a treatment that is helping me. I have a disease
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Sometimes, as part of anti-stigma campaigns, you’ll hear that we shouldn’t say people are bipolar, schizophrenic, etc. The thinking goes that phrasing it this way puts people in a little box in which they’re primarily defined by their illness. Yet at the same time, you’ll find many bloggers referring to themselves as “I am bipolar.”
Are You Your Mental Illness? Read More »
