Tips for Living With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Personal ResourcesBy Promises AustinSeptember 4, 2013Obsessive-compulsive disorder (often referred to as simply OCD) is a complex and challenging mental health condition that impacts millions of people. Symptoms that typically begin in childhood or adolescence will often plague an individual throughout his or her lifetime, especially if the disorder is never treated. Even with proper treatment, the nagging symptoms of OCD…
Don’t Be Defined by Your Illness Personal ResourcesBy Promises AustinSeptember 4, 2013Has your search for feeling better reached the level of obsession? The more you acknowledge that there is a part of you that is OK, the more you can feel OK and just relax. Depression, anxiety, personality disorders–for many women, we manage our symptoms while we manage a busy family life. Feeling bad (and “bad”…
Cyclothymia: A Story of Shifting Moods Mental HealthBy Promises AustinSeptember 3, 2013Alice tracked her life in moods—she was happy and productive, super productive, in the spring when she met Charlie; irritable and depressed in the summer, even though the weather was so lovely and warm; and fine again until Christmas when all hell broke loose with the stress of the holidays. But she thought that was…
Five Obstacles to Effective Therapy TherapiesBy Promises AustinAugust 30, 2013Whether you have a serious psychiatric disorder, such as major depression or OCD, or are struggling with a major life issue, such as going through a painful divorce, therapy can be highly effective and very beneficial. It can also be a waste of valuable time and money. So what makes the difference between effective therapy…
Promises Praised on Fox News for Success in Celebrity Rehab Promises NewsBy Promises AustinAugust 28, 2013Some celebrity rehabs have become more dangerous than the addicts themselves, says alternative sentencing and criminal justice expert Wendy Feldman after the death of “That’s ’70s Show” actress Lisa Robin Kelly. Feldman, who works with courts to find appropriate facilities for troubled adults and recently helped to facilitate Lindsay Lohan’s move from Betty Ford to…
‘Negative Urgency’ Leads to Impulsiveness, Substance Abuse Drug Addiction InfoBy Promises AustinAugust 27, 2013Negative emotion is a state of mind that typically causes distress and reduces the sense of equilibrium or well-being. People who constantly or repeatedly experience negative emotion have a personality trait that psychologists and other mental health experts sometimes refer to as neuroticism/negative emotionality. According to a study published in 2007 in the journal Drug…
Surgical Anesthesia Appears to Treat Drug-Resistant Depression DepressionBy Promises AustinAugust 21, 2013Treatment-resistant depression is a form of major depression marked by a poor response to the treatment options typically used to address depression symptoms. When depressed people fail to respond to standard medications called antidepressants, doctors frequently rely on a form of controlled brain stimulation called electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, for a number of reasons, some…
Seven Myths About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Mental HealthBy Promises AustinAugust 16, 2013It is estimated that about 2 percent of the population suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). But despite the attention it has received in the media and from medical professionals, this condition is still not fully understood by most people and, consequently, there are many mistaken beliefs floating around about what OCD is, who is most…
‘Bath Salts’ More Addictive Than Meth, Study Finds Other AddictionsBy Promises AustinAugust 16, 2013“Bath salts” is the common, collective nickname for a group of artificial, mind-altering drugs sold illegally or illicitly throughout various parts of the United States. All of these drugs contain at least one form of a group of amphetamine-related substances called synthetic cathinones. Doctors and mental health researchers are well aware of the severe health…
Geriatric Alcoholism: A Story About Denial Alcohol AbuseBy Promises AustinAugust 16, 2013Let’s start off with full disclosure: I am a psychotherapist and have worked in addiction and mental health settings for a couple of decades. I am no stranger to identifying and naming alcoholism when I see it, which does not exactly make me popular at cocktail parties or family gatherings. Sometimes, however, being able to…
