ECT

Bias in What You Read Online About Psych Med Side Effects

You can find all kinds of stories online of people reporting negative experiences with different forms of psychiatric medication. However, there’s inherent bias in that kind of reporting of side effects, so you really can’t use that information to effectively generalize how safe or effective a treatment is. In this post, we’ll look at where …

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brain glowing with electrical charge

This One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: ECT in Real Life

Ask anyone of a certain age what comes to mind first when they hear the term electroconvulsive therapy (aka ECT, aka electroshock therapy, aka shock therapy), and chances are they will mention the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest starring Jack Nicholson. The reality is very different.

brain glowing with electrical charge

Somatic Treatments for Depression

There are a number of non-medication, non-therapy options for treatment-resistant depression. Somatic treatments involve stimulating electrical activity in the brain through the application of energy. Electroconvulsive therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation are the most well-known, but there are some more obscure options as well. So let’s dive in! Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has …

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Options for Managing Treatment-Resistant Depression

Wouldn’t it be nice if the treatment of depression was simple? Unfortunately, there’s nothing simple about depression treatment in the real world. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) refers to depression that hasn’t responded to trials of adequate duration and dosage of at least two antidepressants. When determining whether the illness is treatment-resistant, it’s important to consider whether …

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Mental Health @ Home book review: Birth of a New Brain

Book Review: Birth of a New Brain

Birth of a New Brain chronicles author Dyane Harwood’s journey with postpartum onset bipolar disorder. The story’s rich, vivid descriptions draw the reader along on the intense roller coaster ride of the author’s illness experience. Many elements of her story will be hauntingly familiar to those whose lives have been touched in some way by bipolar …

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