At what point does an emotionally healthy person cross into depression, and can it be predicted? One depression therapy is to ask patients to record their mood throughout the day in order to track mood patterns and potential triggers. What if your smartphone were to question you repeatedly through the day about how you were…
DetailsChronic pain is the accepted term for significant pain that lasts for anywhere from weeks to years instead of resolving rapidly with or without treatment. Opioid medications are a powerful class of prescription substances frequently used to ease the effects of serious and chronic pain. However, ongoing use of prescription opioids comes with a considerable…
DetailsMental illness affects many of our family members, neighbors and co-workers, yet attitudes remain negative. In the U.S. 11.4 million adults and 2 million adolescents, around 20 percent of the general population, suffer with some form of mental illness. In Canada 6.5 million live with mental illness or substance abuse. Too often people don’t search…
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No one, it seems, wants to go to rehab. It is a necessity for many addicts, but not a choice that is easy to make. And it isn’t easy to follow through with that choice and go. One of the most important factors holding many people back from going to rehab is fear. Not all…
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Cannabis abuse is the term for a non-addicted pattern of marijuana/cannabis consumption that nevertheless interferes with the ability to maintain stable, productive daily routines. The condition forms part of a larger health problem called cannabis use disorder. In a study published in September 2014 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, a team of Brazilian…
DetailsChances are, the first time you heard the term “thigh gap” it was from someone warning you not to worry about having one. In this world of lightening-fast information dissemination, it can be nearly impossible to trace the course of a term, idea, image, etc., that has gone “viral.” But all to often, it seems…
DetailsDelay discounting is a term psychologists and psychiatrists use to describe the human tendency to favor tangible short-term rewards over potentially greater long-term rewards. The same term applies to the human tendency to weigh obvious short-term losses against potential long-term losses. In a study slated for publication in 2014 in the journal Addictive Behaviors, researchers…
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It’s discouraging watching a loved one struggle with alcohol dependence as the addict is compelled to make decisions that are self-destructive and damaging to their relationships, career and families. The individual may be fully aware of the problems they’re creating and yet be unable to make healthy choices. A new study provides clues to unhealthy…
DetailsBipolar disorder is a mood disorder affecting literally millions of Americans. Some of those struggling to overcome intense mood swings are brand new mothers. A study of women with various kinds of mental health disorders found that pregnant and post-partum moms with bipolar may have the toughest time of all. Researchers from Brown University conducted…
DetailsAlcoholism (known more formally as alcohol dependence) is the well-known addiction characterized by such things as a physical/mental reliance on alcohol consumption and a destructive pattern of alcohol-fueled behavior. After going through the initial stages of alcoholism recovery, people affected by this addiction have a common goal of maintaining their sobriety for the remainder of…
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