“Stance “ and how to get more of it
Introduction Confidence has always been an enigma to me . Why is confidence so easy to lack? Perhaps it is a legacy of the past. Schools and institutions may have crushed your spirit or well meaning parents sent out subtle messages of assault to your inner sanctum . Grown ups don’t actually have all the […]
Stress and its effects on the body
Research shows that up to 70% of patients who visit their primary care provider do so because of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, stress and burnout. Stress is defined as a process in which environmental demands strain an organism’s adaptive capacity resulting in psychological demands as well as biological changes that increase the risk […]
From Mortal to Mental: Closing the gap in mental health treatment for people living with HIV
To prioritize mental health in the context of HIV we must first place into perspective the HIV pandemic’s treatment trajectory. It is 2023 and I live and work in Cape Town. Clients with HIV face first world challenges now such as adjustment disorders, existential crises related to a new diagnosis, the breakup of a relationship; […]
Would you swap your antidepressant for a mushroom?
By Claire Tweedy May 24, 2022 30% of people with depression don’t respond to treatment with antidepressants. It often takes a long time to respond to such drugs. This causes some people to stop taking them after a while. Psilocybin — the ingredient in magic mushrooms that makes people hallucinate — has been shown to […]
Managing Depression: Moving Beyond The Prozac Era
A short history of serotonin The serendipitous discovery of clinically useful antidepressant medication occurred about 60 years ago. So, what are monoamines? Monoamines are essentially chemicals in your brain, for example serotonin, dopamine and noradrenalin. These are the transmitters most implicated in psychiatric disorders from depression to bipolar and to schizophrenia. Neurons communicate with each […]
An overlooked workforce: How these mental health paramedics can ease depression & anxiety in SA
By Zano Kunene October 11, 2022 South Africa has a workforce of more than 2 000 mental health workers who are specially trained to provide basic mental health services in communities without psychologists. Registered counsellors can work in hospitals, prisons and schools. But a lack of job opportunities means very few of these practitioners are […]
Doctor Burnout
Doctor burnout happens due to prolonged exposure to high levels of stress and the workload in the medical field. Doctor burnout is a state in which medical professionals experience chronic exhaustion, both physically and emotionally. It leads to feelings of detachment from work. It causes negativity in thoughts and cause a reduced sense of accomplishment. […]
Cognitive distortions: Check in on your reality
Upon reading an article about physician assisted suicide (available in Canada and Switzerland), I came across the term Cognitive Distortions. Not knowing the meaning of this terminology, I sought out the simplest and most concise definition. Cognitive distortions are negatively biased errors in thinking that are purported to increase vulnerability to depression (Dozois &Beck 2008). […]
Effect of acute antidepressant Administration on Negative Bias in Depressed Patients
A study published in the American Journal of Pschiatry 2009 by Harper et al revealed : Antidepressant drug administration modulates emotional processing very early on in treatment before changes occur in mood and symptom improvement. Evidence suggests that depressed patients are more likely to remember negative than positive emotional information. Previous studies in depressed individuals […]
Best time for taking antihypertensive medication
Excerpt from article by Thomas Khan Department of Cardiology, Danderyd University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden Nighttime blood pressure shows a higher association to future adverse cardiac events than day time blood pressure. This has been taken to suggest that taking the medication at night may improve nocturnal blood pressure control . The recent publication of the […]
