Category Archives: Depression

Fighting the Winter Blues with SAMe

Fighting the winter blues with complementary and alternative therapies This is the second in a series of posts on complementary and alternative (CAM) approaches to depressed mood. As I write I am thinking of many of my own patients who … Continue reading

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Fighting the Winter Blues the Natural Way

Dealing with depression over the holidays Many people who struggle with chronic depressed feel more depressed as the holidays approach, the weather gets colder, and the days get shorter. If you currently take an antidepressant but you are having disappointing results … Continue reading

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Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Depressed Mood

Introduction Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) also called microcurrent electrical stimulation or cranioelectrotherapy stimulation (CES), is a technique that applies extremely weak electrical current to the head and neck to treat mental health problems. In a recent blog post I … Continue reading

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Acupuncture in Mental Health Care: A Concise Review

Challenges in acupuncture research Acupuncture is widely used in Asian and Western countries to treat diverse mental health problems. Evaluating the clinical efficacy of acupuncture in depressed mood and other mental health problems poses many methodological challenges because of differences … Continue reading

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Energetic Therapies in Mental Health Care

Energetic Therapies in Mental Health Care: A Short Introduction This blog post is intended as a short introduction to diverse ‘energetic’ therapies and their uses in mental health care. Future posts will review the evidence for individual energetic therapies in … Continue reading

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Cranioelectrotherapy Stimulation (CES): An Important Emerging Therapy

How cranioelectrotherapy stimulation works Cranioelectrotherapy stimulation (CES), also called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or microcurrent electrical stimulation, is based on the application of extremely weak electrical current to the head and neck to treat anxiety, depressed mood, insomnia, and … Continue reading

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Exercise improves depressed mood, reduces anxiety and helps prevent dementia

How exercise works to improve depressed mood Many studies show that infrequent physical activity increases the risk of developing depressed mood. Physical exercise increases the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and may enhance neural plasticity and new synapse formation. … Continue reading

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DHEA is effective against depressed mood but not cognitive impairment or psychosis

What it is and how it works in the brain Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a precursor of testosterone and other hormones. The sulfated form of DHEA—DHEA-S—is the most abundant steroid in the body. DHEA is an important neuroactive steroid and modulates … Continue reading

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Regular exposure to high-density negative ions for seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Regular exposure to high density negative ions may be as effective as bright light therapy for seasonal depressed mood I recently posted a blog on the health benefits of light. In addition to bright full-spectrum light and (to a lesser … Continue reading

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Limitations of conventional approaches used to evaluate depressed mood

Approaches used in biomedical psychiatry to evaluate depressed mood provide ambiguous information about possible underlying biological or other causes. Conventionally trained psychiatrists rely on structured interviews to obtain salient information about medical, psychiatric, family and social history that may be … Continue reading

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