What’s the difference between clinical depression and just having ‘sad mood’ (sadness) or ‘feeling blue’? This often-asked question is often asked and sometimes, it may indeed be hard to tell whether there are already signs of depression if someone has been feeling depressed for some time. To try clarify this question to some extent, feel […]
To a high extent, the work of a psychotherapist consists of the treatment of the various forms of depression, so I’ve always tried to improve my understanding of this particular form of mental disorder – and of its most extreme form, the idea to commit suicide. So I’ve continuously gathered data on suicide – here […]
Today, I stumbled upon an impressive and moving interview with the survivor of a suicide attempt that was published in a newspaper article in September 2000. In a state of presuicidal constriction / presuicidal syndrome, Kevin Hines jumped of the Golden Gate Bridge and survived this jump only by extremely fortunate circumstances . Today he […]
Andropause is an onset of hormonal changes in men – mostly between the ages of 40 and 50 -, which is triggered by reduced testosterone levels. Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and is produced in the testes. It affects all body cells and is responsible not only for sexual development, but also for […]
“Burnout in Thailand? Impossible!” That’s probably what most of us would think. But symptoms of ‘burnout‘ are not always linked to high workload alone, they can also have other causes. I have identified 3 groups of people that are vulnerable to symptoms of burnout, even in a sunny, tropical country like ‘mai bpen rai’ (‘everything […]
Women treated for severe psychiatric conditions including major depression shortly after giving birth were more likely to be diagnosed as bipolar later in life compared to those whose first psychiatric episode happened at any other time, in a new study from Denmark. Researchers said they didn’t know if some postpartum depression or schizophrenia-like episodes were […]
Adolescents who were abused and neglected have less gray matter in some areas of the brain than young people who have not been maltreated, a new Yale School of Medicine study shows. The brain areas impacted by maltreatment may differ between boys and girls, may depend on whether the youths had been exposed to abuse […]
There is a weakness that is particularly frequent among people in service professions, causing burnout and depression rates in the service industry to be some of the highest. The ‘Helper Syndrome‘ describes a strong drive to make other people feel better. In some cases it is done to ease or divert the helpers from their […]
Beauty surgeons and the cosmetic industry love it (critics claim that they are even doing their best to support? it): the ‘Dorian Gray Syndrome‘ describes a phenomenon where people turn into heavy users of cosmetic products and medical procedures in an attempt to preserve their youth. Oscar Wilde’s famous novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ […]
“What can I do, it’s in my genes!” In recent years, this has become a standard explanation for many of the health problems we have to face in our lives. Indeed, there are few human diseases without scientific studies trying to pinpoint ‘genetical causes’ as the root. Consequently, there are efforts to find genetic roots […]