Top of Mind

Promoting Positive Food Habits in Children

  By Elizabeth Mariutto, PsyD, CEDS, Clinical Director of Eating Disorder Services “How do I encourage mindful eating for my kids?” I often have patients come in with histories of well-intended parents who promoted diets or restrictive eating in the attempts to help their kids become “healthy.” When they come to me to rewire their […]

“This above all: to thine own self be true…” – Shakespeare

By Tracy Suzanne Cummings, MD  Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry  If you have ever been a passenger on an airplane, you have heard the directive to don your own oxygen mask first before attempting to help someone else with theirs. Perhaps as February’s decorative hearts and cupids fill our visual fields, we can consider […]

A Look at Binge Eating Disorder: What it is and How to Treat

Byline:  Anna I. Guerdjikova, PhD, LISW Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder in adults. The lifetime prevalence of BED has been estimated to be 2.0% for men and 3.5% for women, higher than that of the commonly recognized eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Of note, BED is found in […]

Good Food for Great Mood

Nutritional Psychiatry and Wellness By Anna I. Guerdjikova, PhD, LISW, CCRC Director of Administrative Services, Harold C. Schott Foundation Eating Disorders Program The connection between health in general and the foods we consume has been known since the dawn of human kind, and Hippocrates is credited with the “Let food be thy medicine” saying. The […]

Pros and Cons of TMS Therapy – Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is an innovative treatment for depression. Depression is common and affects 1 in 10 adults. Only a fraction of individuals suffering from depression seek treatment. Of those who do, greater than 30% fail to achieve satisfactory improvement. Not all patients improve when treated with medications or psychotherapy. Up to 25% of […]

Grief During the Holidays

By Danielle J. Johnson, MD, FAPA Lindner Center of HOPE, Chief Medical Officer Many people have experienced loss of several types during the COVID-19 pandemic – employment, financial security, social connections, a sense of safety, and loved ones.  The way we grieve has changed because we cannot rely on our support systems to be physically […]

When To Seek Treatment For Anxiety

  By Angela Couch, RN, MSN, PMHNP-BC Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Lindner Center of HOPE Anxiety is a common symptom. Anxiety is a part of everyone’s lives, we have all experienced it to one degree or another. Believe it not, anxiety serves some useful purposes. Anxiety can help give you the drive to make a change, […]

Can you blueberry your way out of depression? The evidence on dietary supplements

  By Nicole Mori, RN, MSN, APRN-BC Research Advanced Practice Nurse, Lindner Center of HOPE Depression is a common mental health complaint.  Although there are effective treatments available, many patients fail to experience satisfactory improvement.  There has been increased interest in nutritional supplements as an adjunct or alternative to medications in the treatment of depression.  […]

Am I shopping too much?

  By Jessica Kraft, APRN, PMHNP-BC, Psychiatric Mental-Health Nurse Practitioner, Lindner Center of HOPE Everyone needs to shop from time to time, but at what point does shopping become a problem? And is this a diagnosis? Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is a mental health condition characterized by “excessive, impulsive, and uncontrollable purchase of products in […]

Gratitude During a Pandemic

Tuning into the news can be a stressful and anxiety provoking experience, even in the best of times. During a pandemic, it can be downright frightening. If all of this negativity is wreaking havoc on your emotions, maybe it’s time to put your energy into building a Gratitude Practice. Gratitude is the conscious decision to […]

How to Treat Psychosis with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp)

CBT and Psychosis Many think that psychosis cannot be targeted with cognitive behavioral therapy, but that is not the case. There is a specific form of therapy that was developed for psychosis called CBTp. One important point to mention is that the symptoms are only targeted when they are distressing to the client and they […]

Recent advances in the neuroscience of youth’s brain development and screen time exposure

Screen time recommendations vary by the child’s age. Presently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that for children younger than 18 months of age, the use of screen media other than video-chatting should mostly be discouraged. For children 2 to 5 years of age screens are acceptable for no more than one hour per […]

Binge eating disorder in primary care: Why should I screen my patients?

  Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder, with an estimated prevalence of 3% in the US population. It is also the most common eating disorder among men. BED is characterized by regularly recurrent episodes of eating unusual amounts of food within a discrete time frame (usually <2hrs), which are associated with […]

Psychological Disorders and Their Impact on Cognition

Fortunately, our culture has recently seen a gradual erosion of the stigma regarding emotional disorders, along with an increased understanding of such conditions. However, a less well-understood aspect of emotional disorders is the impact that they have on the cognitive functioning of those who are afflicted. Disorders such as Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Generalized Anxiety […]

Managing Suicidality During Isolation

In the United States, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death.  The rate increased 33% from 1999 through 2017 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention states that “suicide most often occurs when stressors and health issues converge to create an experience of hopelessness and despair.” […]

Living with Anxiety During Times of Stress

Times are uncertain. The world feels scary. Our normal day to day life has been turned upside down. Let me just start by saying this, if you are feeling anxious, scared, overwhelmed, frustrated… you are allowed to feel these emotions, it makes total sense why you feel this way, you are not alone, and you […]

Isolation and Loneliness During Social Distancing

Quarantine.Isolation . Lockdown. Who could have ever predicted that these words – so often associated with scary movies or rare, brief safety emergencies – would become so commonplace in our social language? The terms, themselves, being so casually thrown around that we’ve nearly become numb to their actual magnitude? The concept of loneliness is a […]

Pockets of Rest

“Take a rest.  A field that is rested give a beautiful crop” – Ovid, Roman Poet, circa 20 BC   Pockets of Rest By Valerie Martin, Spiritual Care Team It is not news that poor rest and sleep can have a negative effect on health.  But look at this: On the public safety side, besides […]

Managing OCD During a Pandemic

Many who struggle with OCD are probably noticing a spike in their symptoms during these unprecedented times. Stress and uncertainty can often make OCD symptoms flare. Those who struggle with specific types of OCD may be having an even harder time: specifically those with contamination concerns and those concerned with harming others. Another symptom of […]

Managing Depression During Times of Uncertainty

  Peter White, M.A., LPCC Lindner Center of HOPE, Addictions Counselor Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a period of unprecedented changes marked by great uncertainty shared by literally everyone. One of the complex realities of dealing with this much uncertainty is that we should feel a wide variety of difficult emotions – confusion, […]