Understanding Impulse-Control Disorders

Understanding Impulse-Control Disorders

General

Impulsivity refers to a tendency to respond hastily to internal or external cues. For instance, impulsive people tend to speak as soon as a thought occurs to them.  Or to purchase an item immediately and spontaneously, with little internal debate about the quality,...
Dual Diagnosis: Mental Health and Addiction

Dual Diagnosis: Mental Health and Addiction

General

According to Luna Greenstein at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), as intuitive as the term “dual diagnosis” may seem, it actually doesn’t mean having two mental health conditions. Dual diagnosis (also referred to as a co-occurring disorder) is a term...
Recognizing and Treating Trauma in Children

Recognizing and Treating Trauma in Children

Children Mental Health

Young children are particularly vulnerable to trauma.  For instance, compared to other age groups, children younger than four years of age have among the highest rates of nonfatal injuries (e.g., falls, drownings, poisonings, burns).  Furthermore, over half of child...
Dementia and Mental Health

Dementia and Mental Health

Depression, Geriatric Psychiatry

According to the Mental Health Foundation (MHF), dementia is a term used to describe a range of conditions that affect the brain. It’s caused when the brain is damaged by diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, or by a series of strokes. Dementia mainly affects people over 65,...
Prolonged Grief and Its Treatment

Prolonged Grief and Its Treatment

General

Each year, in California alone, a quarter of a million people die.  In the US as a whole, three million do. As these statistics suggest, many of us will, at some point in our lives, lose a loved one and experience grief. From normal to prolonged grief Grief refers to...