Although all of us desire longevity, at the same time one of our greatest fears is any decline in our mental powers. One day, you might wander through your home, forgetting what you were looking for. Or you might finish a book and the next morning can barely remember the plot. You miss appointments unless you write them down. Friends and family members comment on your forgetfulness. With a chill of horror, you think, “Alzheimer’s disease!” Actually, this is very unlikely. You’ve just not been paying attention to your brain health. This has a name, “cognitive decline,” a description of what you’re experiencing, rather than an actual disease.
Category: Mental Health
Depression
Usually when I hear someone complain about “feeling depressed,” it just means they’ve had a bad day or are feeling temporarily down. As a medical condition, however, depression is quite different: It’s a mood disorder that can range from mild but persistent melancholy, to alternating moods of elation and despair, to a despondency so severe that a person can even feel suicidal. Fortunately, there are lots of options for people with depression. At WholeHealth Chicago we suggest a wide range of treatments–from counseling, lifestyle changes, and natural therapies to supplements and even prescription medications.
Anxiety and Panic
Everyone has occasional episodes of worry. It’s part of being a person. I mean, you’re almost supposed to worry a bit when your company is downsizing, or you’re unprepared for an approaching exam or the notice of a tax audit arrives in the mail.
Alzheimer’s Disease
The whole world awaits a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The irony is that the worse the condition gets, the easier it becomes emotionally for the patient–and the more wrenching an experience for the caregivers. In fact, if you are a caregiver, please join a support group. Don’t tackle Alzheimer’s alone. Doctors generally acknowledge Alzheimer’s as hopeless, and the only approved drugs are marginally effective at best. In light of this bleak outlook, the integrative team at WholeHealth Chicago believes that we all need to be especially alert for anything new on the horizon.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Most of us have heard about ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in kids. It’s often cited as a major cause of learning and behavior problems at schools. But what most people, including many doctors, don’t realize is that ADHD is also a big problem in adults. In fact, since the condition is estimated to affect 5% of the population, ADHD may well be the single most common chronic unrecognized mental health disorder in the United States.
St. John’s Wort as Effective as Pharmaceuticals for Mild Depression
Several years ago, the herbal antidepressant St. John’s Wort (SJW), best known for its excellent combination of effectiveness and absence of side effects, was dealt a serious and unfair blow by the US pharmaceutical industry. But there’s a hopeful end to this tip, so read on. In an example of how the industry’s greed will […]
Q&A: New Year’s Resolution
Click here for the Health Tip link. Q: Dr Edelberg, if you could recommend one new year’s resolution to your readers and patients, what would it be? A: Let’s face it, 2008 has been a very rough year and we keep hearing that it may be a walk in the park compared to 2009. During […]
Holiday Cheer
The holidays are fast approaching. For most people, this is a time of great anticipation, and also a lot of work. There are presents to buy, decorations to put up, preparations for travel or for guests, and this year, there is the added financial uncertainty. So, as wonderful as this time of year is, it […]
Resistance, Sigmund Freud, and Getting Well
Click here for the Health Tip link. Physicians worldwide agree that Sigmund Freud was one of the two or three most influential figures in medical history. It’s hard for us to imagine a medical landscape with virtually no mental health counseling whatsoever, except for a few primitive asylums. A landscape where patients for years simply […]
Case History Part 2: Resistance to Getting Well
Last time I started the story of a patient I call Catherine and her chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a case history intended to illustrate the concept of resistance. Now in my office for the first time, a sad Catherine asked if she could relate her story while lying down. I reviewed dozens of pages of […]
Case History: Resistance to Getting Well
Click here for the Health Tip link. In my last health tip I promised you a story that would illustrate the concept of resistance. Here’s a case history (patient’s name changed) from my files. Catherine, a pale thin woman in her thirties, was into her third year with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). She’d been “everywhere,” […]
Are You Reluctant to Get Well?
It’s very possible that your immediate response to this question is anger, resentment, or hurt feelings. You might think to yourself, “I don’t need to hear this. I thought he was empathetic.” You may even be tempted to move your cursor to “unsubscribe” and click hard.
Your Brain: Maybe You’re Depressed
Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.
The same holds true for similar disorders, like anxiety, fatigue, and fibromyalgia.
Anger, Part 2
While you’ll probably never be able rid your world of people or incidents that enrage you, you can learn to control your reaction to them. Here are a few tips to help you get started: • Think before you speak. When you feel yourself entering into anger, pause. The ancient Greeks tell us that the […]
Anger
Today’s tip and Wednesday’s are adapted from my book, The Triple Whammy Cure. Anger is one of those everyday emotions that we’re stuck with because we’re human. In the long run, anger serves no useful purpose and we’re all better off without it. If you put the brakes on an episode of anger and thoughtfully […]
Fear Factor
Posted 01/09/2008 Readers of this newsletter regularly hear about the dangers of stress to their health. We experience the emotional and physical reaction known as stress whenever we’re in a situation where we can’t control the course of our lives. The minor stresses (late for an appointment, a botched recipe) are unavoidable, part of life […]
December Stress
It’s December. Does the very mention of the holiday month bring you joy? Stress? A mixture of the two?
My patients often tell me that December is their worst month, with extra activities, lists, and entertaining high on the roster of stressors.
The Fine Art of Asking for Help
Your dinner guests are arriving in an hour and things are nowhere near ready. The table hasn’t been set, the guacamole not started, the wine unopened. And the dog hair on the couch?
But instead of signaling for back-up help from your family, you do it all yourself. Within moments, you feel your face muscles tense into that mean little frown you’ve seen in the mirror. And you’re completely frazzled by the time the doorbell rings.
Wintertime Blues: 10 Steps to Turn Them Around
The wintertime blues, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), usually begin when the days get shorter and the sky clouds over into perpetual gray. Many people with SAD dread late autumn because the clocks move back an hour and, in a single day, autumn twilight becomes dark night.
An Easier Way to Overcome Psychological Problems
Periodically, a new development in natural/holistic health really lives up to its hype. This is the case with energy psychology.