I almost laughed when I saw the title of the Evidence-Based Mental Health journal article, “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with poorer academic performance.” Not a “ha, ha, that’s funny” type of laugh. More of a, “well yes, of course,”... Read more →

It’s a funny thing, being diagnosed with a mental disease. As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, instead of a scientific tests, most mental illness diagnoses are made after you’ve talked to someone, answered specific questions, even completed a questionnaire. I know that someday diagnosing... Read more →

Welcome to the thirty-third edition of Brain Blogging. In this round, we cover a range of topics from personality disorders, crying men, mastering self-control, total body detoxification, and working out your brain to Martian invasions. If you were left out, just leave a comment with your blog entry.... Read more →

Adult attention deficit disorder or AADD is characterized as a condition causing inattentiveness, organization problems, procrastination and difficulty completing work. It is believed that adults can see an onset of AADD later in life maybe as a carryover from childhood, but in order to receive a diagnosis... Read more →

GAD or generalized anxiety disorder is defined as a disorder characterized by irrational, uncontrollable worry about everyday issues and events. While someone without GAD may find themselves anxious in certain scenarios, persons with GAD may be almost paralyzed with anxiety in situations that should... Read more →

It has been known for years that babies in utero (womb) suffer ill effects from their mothers’ exposure to tobacco, drugs and alcohol. A new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and performed by Michael Rivkin of Children’s Hospital Boston showed that children exposed to these... Read more →

There is new research suggesting that panic and anxiety attacks may be brought on by a few, shallow breaths of stale air. The theory goes that breathing excess carbon dioxide is responsible for anxious feelings and feelings of panic. If this theory were true wouldn’t all of us experience unusual... Read more →

Back in September, Sudip Ghosh offered a review at Brain Blogger of a new book on anorexia, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters. One of the many aspects of the complex problem of eating disorders is body image. It was informative, then to come across an article summarizing a wide variety of research findings... Read more →

Sleep is one of our most enigmatic functions. The uncertainties of why we sleep and the utter necessity of sleep are being incessantly investigated. Based on what we do know, it is fairly safe to assume that sleep is certainly vital to our well-being. The necessity of sleep can be determined by each... Read more →

Of all the mental health disorders, the two most common, and perhaps the most disruptive and distressing, are schizophrenia and bipolar. Even though the two share few similarities in symptoms and characteristics, they are both treated and medicated very differently. Schizophrenia is the most devastating... Read more →