Patients first!
One of the several reasons I don’t “take” insurance is discussed in the below article. While I do provide a statement of paid sessions as an “out-of-network” provider, so patients will get reimbursed by their private insurance provider, I will not be on the list of “preferred” providers on someone’s insurance carrier’s website. Most insurance companies reserve the right to dictate treatment in favor of their “best practices,” i.e. prescribing pharmaceuticals. They can do this by choosing to not pay a mental health counselor if she does not refer a patient to a doc for prescription. Personally, I feel that is unethical arm twisting. I work for you. Not Big Pharma.—MR
A Third of Docs Blame Prior Authorizations for Serious Harm to Patients
One in three physicians blamed prior authorization for a patient’s serious adverse event, including hospitalization, permanent impairment or death, according to a survey published by the American Medical Association (AMA) on Monday.
No good can come of it
When a patient begins counseling with me, one of the first questions I ask is “how much alcohol do you drink a week?” Even at a few drinks per week, it affects mental health negatively in so many ways, it simply can’t be sidestepped. As a clinician, I am thrilled by the fact that the medical industry is waking up to the fact that alcohol use is antithetical to the goal of having a happy healthy life. —MR
Tough to Swallow: Clinicians Are Neglecting Alcohol Use
by March 4, 2023
Most American adults drink alcohol, and 45% binge drink– five or more drinks per occasion for men, 4 or more drinks per occasion for women — at least monthly. There is evidence that any level of alcohol use is associated with an increased relative risk of morbidity and mortality, and the latest estimates indicate one in eight American adult deaths (ages 20 to 64) are attributed to alcohol… Importantly, reductions in alcohol consumption — even without abstaining completely — are associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health and functioning.
Loneliness hurts
Some say that people who feel lonely are not emotionally mature, that they have not learned to embrace the benefits of solitude. Nothing could be further from the truth. “So just go out and meet people” others say. Turns out, it’s not that easy.—MR
How Loneliness Reshapes the Brain
By Marta Zaraska, Quanta Magzine, February 28, 2023
The Neumayer III polar station sits near the edge of Antarctica’s unforgiving Ekström Ice Shelf. During the winter, when temperatures can plunge below minus 50 degrees Celsius and the winds can climb to more than 100 kilometers per hour, no one can come or go from the station. Its isolation is essential to the meteorological, atmospheric and geophysical science experiments conducted there by the mere handful of scientists who staff the station during the winter months and endure its frigid loneliness.
Give it a rest
Naps are short periods of sleep outside of a main nightime period. It is important to distinguish planned periods of daytime sleep from an irresistible need to sleep that is not intended. The latter could indicate significantly inadequate nighttime sleep, jetlag, a sleep disorder, or a neurological condition that requires medical attention. That warning given, you’re not being lazy to want to give your bodymind a short rest in the afternoon. It’s a good thing particularly for memory retention!–MR
How to nap
by Ruth Leong & Michael Chee, Psyche newsletter, February 22, 2023
You’re back from lunch and ready to get back to work except… you feel sleepy. Should you force yourself to stay awake, or should you let yourself doze off? Would it help, or would it ruin your night’s sleep? We are sleep scientists and we’re going to walk you through the science of napping and how to nap in a way that is of maximal benefit.
Food is life
Notoriously difficult to spot, an eating disorder is a self-destructive mental health issue that is created in childhood, but may appear at any point in the life cycle. Gently but consistently teaching children to eat well and nutritiously is one of the most important things a parent can do for them. Many kids attempt to passive aggressively control parents and manage their emotional reactions to family anxiety with what does or doesn’t go in their mouths developing lifelong dysfunctional eating behaviors that can wreck their health sooner or later. For example, it takes an average of 17 loving tries by a parent for a child to finally eat broccoli! Hint: Reward, not punishment, is key. Please get assistance if your child or yourself are not eating appropriate amounts of primarily nutritious foods.—M
Eating Disorders Are More Common Than You Think
… Many Americans, including health professionals, picture someone who suffers from an eating disorder as a thin, young, white woman who struggles with self-image. This stereotype has been hammered home in movies, television shows, and the media for decades.
Who are you?
Ego is another word for personality. A personality is a complex of survival behaviors learned in childhood. In other words, your personality is a collection of habits. You can change a bad habit, like smoking, lack of confidence or snotty comebacks IF you want to.—MR
The big idea: your personality is not set in stone
by David Robson, The Guardian US, February 13, 2023
Have you ever wished you could be better organized or more sociable? Or more inventive and original? Perhaps you’re a constant worrier and you’d prefer to be a little more carefree? Think you’re stuck being an introvert? The latest research suggests otherwise.
Drugs is drugs
People who do not wish to take responsibility for their own thoughts are attracted to ketamine and other drug therapies. Not saying taking personal responsibility is the fun or easy way out, but that doing the work will work better for you and your family in the long run. Think “no side effects” and “permanent results.” Time to step up to the plate, stop blaming others and do some lifelong by learning to self regulate? Call a counselor today and you’ll be on your way.—MR
Ketamine Clinics Are Jumping Ahead of the Evidence — new mental health treatments must be approached with caution
Almost a quarter of US adults suffered from a mental illness in 2021, yet less than half of them received treatment. This has incredible impacts on individuals, families, the economy, and public health, and it is of utmost importance to address these untreated mental health needs. Understandably, innovation is important as people are often looking for creative solutions to treat their mental health concerns. Partially as a result, there has been a proliferation of “edgier” approaches, such as boutique ketamine infusion clinics and at-home psilocybin therapies, which are not yet FDA approved for psychiatric indications or may not be supported by rigorous research.
Alone in a crowd
With human populations bursting at the seams, we see people everywhere we go, but that doesn’t mean we get the social contact us pink chimpanzees need for good mental health. Right now, we’re living in a “social recession,” i.e. time spent with friends has contracted to less than three hours a week on average. For many of us, particularly seniors, that means zero. While chatting up the cashier at the grocery store does help, a dinner date goes a lot further to maintain brain health and prevent dementia. Fortunately, an added benefit to counseling is having a friend to visit an hour a week to help fill the gap while you figure out how to make new connections.—MR
Some weeks I only speak to the postman…
by Anita Chaudhuri, The Guardian US, February 2, 2023
The time we spend with our close friends has plummeted over the past decade. Here is an expert guide to making new connections and reviving old ones.
Betcha can’t eat just one
Remember comedian Bert Lahr as the devil repeating the 1967 slogan for Lay’s Potato Chips above? It may have been funny, but he wasn’t kidding. Highly-processed foods are addictive is because they trigger the release of dopamine (an opioid) in the brain’s reward system at levels comparable to nicotine or alcohol. Many of elders eat them not only because they require no preparation beyond opening a bag, but to trigger pleasure to cope with the difficult emotions associated with aging. Hmmm, perhaps we should call it “dope-of-mine?”
Addiction to Highly Processed Food Among Older Adults
Ashley Gearhardt, Ph.D, University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, January 30, 2023
Highly processed foods like sweetened beverages, chips, and fast food can be addictive for some people, just like cigarettes and alcohol. Symptoms of addiction to highly processed food include feeling a loss of control over consumption, intense cravings, and signs of withdrawal (e.g., irritability, difficulty concentrating, or headaches). In July 2022, the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging asked a national sample of adults age 50–80 about symptoms of addiction to highly processed food and explored how these symptoms related to their physical and mental health and feelings of social isolation.
Learn a new life
Here’s a personal self disclosure. I deeply believe in the power of education to change lives. When I was was 55, I got a masters degree in counseling and EVERYTHING changed for the better, not only my career. Even an evening class in Thai cooking or a morning class in horse back riding will wake up your brain to make changes that go far beyond flowers or horses. And I am not talking about online education. It takes interacting with real people in real time to shake up your brain to create real change. Actually, that is what counseling is: a learning experience.—MR
Meet the people who took an evening class… and changed their life
by Michael Segalove, The Guardian US, January 8, 2023
Whether you are stuck in a rut or have ambitions you’d still like to pursue, adult education gives you a second chance. Six people tell how taking a course inspired them.
Things are looking up!
Finally! Twenty-first century medicine is finally realizing that “depression” is not a genetic disease like Huntington’s, but a symptom, a condition, like a “rash.” Lots of things can cause a rash, e.g. measles, stress or poison ivy. Lots of things can cause depression, e.g. repressed anger, alcohol, or intestinal dysbiosis, and while a one-size-fits-all pharmaceutical, a serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI), might work for a few folks, for millions of Americans who will exhibit depression this year, this class of psych meds will not work at all. Finding a psychotherapist who can help you get to the bottom of your particular complicated reality and get moving on a treatment that WILL help is the ticket to living a life you love. You’re not genetically broken. You’re off balance. Let’s figure out how.-–MR
The Cause of Depression Is Probably Not What You Think
By Joanna Thompson, Quanta Magazine, January 26, 2023
People often think they know what causes chronic depression. Surveys indicate that more than 80% of the public blames a “chemical imbalance” in the brain. That idea is widespread in pop psychology and cited in research papers and medical textbooks. Listening to Prozac, a book that describes the life-changing value of treating depression with medications that aim to correct this imbalance, spent months on the New York Times bestseller list.
Get a move on!
Even seven minutes of moderate activity a day protects against dementia! The more the better…—MR
Midlife Cognition Linked With Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activity
by Judy George, MedPage Today, January 23, 2023
Moderate and vigorous physical activity was linked with midlife cognition, a U.K. study showed.
Music to your ears
You don’t need a music therapist to receive benefits from listening to music. You do need to be careful. Each of us has a different reaction to different kinds of music. For example, some folks can’t stand Country music, some love it. If the music you are hearing evokes a feeling of safety and comfort, relaxation or inspiration, it’s most likely therapeutic. If it doesn’t, turn it off or put in your earplugs. It’s just excessive noise stressing your nervous system.—MR
Music therapy heals: License its practitioners in WA
It’s time for the state of Washington to recognize the vital role that music therapy can play in healing and recovery, and to take the necessary steps to protect patients by licensing music therapists.
Being alive
Snicker…. The French wine industry must hate this! It’s hard to be truly conscious when under the influence. It’s hard to be healthy when addicted to a toxic substance. It’s hard to be in relationship with anyone else when your first love is a bottle of wine. If you’re in an abusive relationship with Al Cohol, you may need some help getting out…—MR
‘A trend is starting’: France leading way in alcohol-free drinks boom
by Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian US, December 30, 2022
When Nicole, a retired executive assistant, began preparing her new year get-togethers with family and friends, her first purchase was an artisan bottle of French alcohol-free gin.
Lights out!
One of the most helpful things you can do for your mental health is get a good night’s sleep, i.e seven or eight hours. That’s hard for many of us in this day and age. There’s a lot working against sleep, such as low-grade addiction to substances such as alcohol and cannabis that wake us up in the night when they wear off. Not enough daily walking. Jobs that have irregular schedules or night time hours. A room that’s warmer than 65 degrees. Eating after 6PM. The list goes on and on, but one of the easiest to correct for is having your sleeping space dark and quiet. Make sure ALL lights are out. If it’s still not dark, get black out curtains and use foam ear plugs to silence noise. They take some getting used to, but you’ll sleep a lot better and that’s the more important thing!—MR
Why we need to make the world a darker place
By Johan Eklof, The Guardian US, December 19, 2022
It’s not just bats and other animals that suffer the effects of light pollution – humans need darkness too.
Blue light blues
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) affects thousands of folks in the Pacific Northwest. We literally become sad. Gosh, we live more than 3,200 miles from the equator and the sun has taken its winter break in New Zealand. One of the things that can make SAD’s symptoms worse is blue light from computers and cell phones. If you cannot reduce device usage or fly to Mexico for the winter, try some of the tips in the article below.—MR
How to combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) while living through the Big Dark
The turning of the seasons, while beautiful with vibrant leaves and the not-so-distant sound of holiday cheer, also casts some into a state known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or winter depression. The condition may leave its victims feeling listless, anxious or deeply in their feels, among other debilitating symptoms. In the Pacific Northwest, the mood swings to match the sky, making way for doom and gloom to set up camp.
A new life is possible
Twice in my life I experienced a “miracle” cure. These two are why I became a mental health counselor almost two decades ago, i.e. I wanted to share what I had learned with others who suffer. The first cure, in my 20s, was from a decade of weekly debilitating migraine, and the other, at 50, was from lifelong chronic fatigue syndrome which allowed me to go back to school to become a counselor. If you have either or both of these issues, let’s talk!—MR
A catalogue of losses: what chronic fatigue syndrome took away from my life
by Mike Mariani, The Guardian US, November 28, 2022
Whether anybody else could see it or not, I had lost someone: my former, healthy self. On Friday, 14 December 2012, I would experience the sudden onset of an illness that, looking back almost a decade later, bears a powerful resemblance to the narratives of those suffering from long Covid.
Bodymind basics
Bodymind Counseling is results oriented. I want you to feel better fast. So to not waste your time and money, before we uncover important psychological, emotional, mental or relational issues that may be negatively affecting your mental and emotional health, we start at ground zero. We ask if there are physical things bothering your brain? Getting at least seven hours of restful sleep most nights—preferably between sundown and sunrise—in which you resolve emotional issues in your dreams is crucial to a sense of well being.–MR
It’s killing us all slowly: how the night shift is taking a toll on US workers
by Michael Sainato, The Guardian US, November 18, 2022
Roger Reinhardt works the third shift at a beer production facility in Michigan from 10pm-8am, four days a week. He started working nights because it was the only shift available when he was hired, but he has continued doing it for the extra pay.
Intentional kindness
Once upon a time, the Dalai Lama was famously asked by to a Western journalist to explain his Tibetan Buddhist religion. He replied, “my religion is kindness.” Jesus would probably agree. There is nothing you can do to emotionally feel better fast than perpetrate a kind act. Even if it’s only a shy smile.—MR
Why we all need to be a lot less hesitant about being kind
by Claudia Hammond, The Guardian US, November 13, 2022
While researching a book on kindness, I found that being kind enhances the mood of not just the receiver – but the giver, too.
Why pick poison?
Pharmaceutical antidepressants have repeatedly been scientifically proven to generally not give patients what they hoped for over time. Here’s another study that proves other treatments with fewer side effects work just as well. I would suggest they work better, because over time a patient has learned how to deal with her emotions. The drugs do not correct chemical imbalance, they just repress emotion, so at the end of pharmaceutical treatment patients are not only addicted to a drug that contributes to dementia but are in the same or worse place they began emotionally.—MR
Antidepressants are not associated with improved quality of life in the long run…
Science Daily, April 20, 2022
Summary: Over time, using antidepressants is not associated with significantly better health-related quality of life, compared to people with depression who do not take the drugs, according to a new study.
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