MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'chemical imbalance'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:59:20 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096341&cid=t_146208_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F08%2F04%2Fdoctor-is-my-mood-disorder-due-to-a-chemical-imbalance%2F Dear Mrs. ——– You have asked me about the cause of your mood disorder, and whether it is due to a “chemical imbalance”. The only honest answer I can give you is, “I don’t know”—but I’ll try to explain what psychiatrists do and don’t know about the causes of so-called mental illness, and why the term “chemical imbalance” is simplistic and a bit misleading. By the way, I don’t like the term “mental disorder”, because it makes it seem as if there’s a huge distinction between the mind and the body—and most psychiatrists don’t see it that way. I wrote about this recently, and used the term “brain-mind” to describe the unity of mind and body.1 So, for lack of a better term, I’ll just refer to “psychiatric illnesses.” Now, this notion of... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096341 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:35:19 +0100 5096341 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062294&cid=t_146208_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F24%2Fmental-illness-is-not-simply-a-brain-disease%2F Last month, Andrew Brown writing for the UK’s Guardian, noted when Professor David Nutt kept referring to depression as a “brain disease” on a popular UK television program. We commend Andrew Brown for his calling out Professor Nutt in trying to dumb down the portrayal of mental disorders to simply “brain diseases.” Mental disorders remain complex disorders that involve all aspect of a person’s functioning and life — their brain and biology, their psychological makeup and personality, and their social interactions and relationships with others. The cause isn’t just one of these things in the vast majority of people who have a mental illness — the cause is all of these things, in differing proportions. I’ve written about this in th... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062294 Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:36:25 +0100 5062294 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911664&cid=t_146208_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2Fr6MhbcUATqg%2F Let us highlight a couple of insightful and brief articles in the New York Times and a very powerful analysis in The New York Review of Books; they provide useful clues about Brain Calisthenics, Bilingual Brains, and Debunking Myths on Mental Illness. Brain Calisthenics for Abstract Ideas (NYT): Now, a small group of cognitive scientists is arguing that schools and students could take far more advantage of this same bottom-up ability, called perceptual learning. The brain is a pattern-recognition machine, after all, and when focused properly, it can quickly deepen a person’s grasp of a principle, new studies suggest. The challenge for education, Dr. Kellman added, “is what do we need to do to make this happen efficiently?” Experts develop such sensitive perceptual radar the old-fashi... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911664 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:12:58 +0100 4911664 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1215697&cid=t_146208_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F231123917%2F Not a day goes by without a significant depression-related announcement. Yesterday, one could read that Older Women More Likely to Suffer Depression (than Older Men; in the Washington Post). Today, we see that St. Jude Starting Trial On Brain Stimulation For Depression (CNN). A few days ago, Blue Cross of California Launched Maternity Depression Program (press release). Time to step back and ask ourselves questions such as, "What is going On", "What is Depression", "What Treatments Work, and What is the Latest Research". Fortunately, thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine, Jill Suttie offers a fascinating answers to those questions-and more. Enjoy. --------------------------- Closing the Circuit Helen Mayberg's research could revolutionize ... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1215697 Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:10:34 +0100 1215697 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1185752&cid=t_146208_109_f&fid=34800&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FClinicalPsychologyAndPsychiatryACloserLook%2F%7E3%2F225312518%2Fserotonin-monster-strikes-again.html Last Halloween, I discussed the legendary Serotonin Monster, that is, the alleged chemical imbalance that causes depression, anxiety, aggression, and God only knows what else. I ranted briefly and referred interested readers to an excellent article in PLoS Medicine from Jeffrey Lacasse and Jon Leo.Turns out that Leo and Lacasse are still on the case of the Serotonin Monster. They have a newer article, recently published in the journal Society, that sheds further light on this mysterious creature. The full text of the article is freely available online; I encourage everyone to read it. They are concerned that most people get their information from magazines or newspapers, which they believe presents the overly simplistic "chemical imbalance" theory of depression as if it were based on solid... Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1185752 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:55:00 +0100 1185752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1179968&cid=t_146208_109_f&fid=35671&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.anxietyinsights.info%2Flinkblog%2Fjump%2F%3Fi%3D501557 The “Chemical Imbalance” Explanation for Depression: Origins, Lay Endorsement, and Clinical Implications Published last year in the journal Professional Psychology: Research and Practice this paper explores the origins of the imbalance theory and the shaky ground on which it was built. Hat tip to Mind Hacks - www.mindhacks.com for the link (Source: Latest entries from www.anxietyinsights.info) Latest entries from www.anxietyinsights.info blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1179968 Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:07:00 +0100 1179968 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=994973&cid=t_146208_109_f&fid=34800&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FClinicalPsychologyAndPsychiatryACloserLook%2F%7E3%2F177765249%2Fghosts-goblins-and-serotonin-boo.html In an earlier post, I noted that I thought a key opinion leader had contradicted himself across two articles regarding the role of serotonin in depression. One reader posted a comment that challenged my assertion, to which I reply via this post. The reader, “Alan,” stated, in part, that He only said what he said -- that [serotonin] is clearly disordered and deficient in many if not most people with depression. And he is right. There's overwhelming evidence for that. (There's also great evidence for the therapeutic value of serotonergic interventions in depression, which he did not mention.) That's not to say that other things are not playing a role, or that serotonin is the sole problem area -- the "single fundamental neurobiological defect". He only said what he said. And this blogger... Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=994973 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:29:00 +0100 994973 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=861781&cid=t_146208_109_f&fid=34800&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FClinicalPsychologyAndPsychiatryACloserLook%2F%7E3%2F155030048%2Flinks-of-note-and-preview.html Many good items have appeared of late and I pass them to you below...Adverse drug event reports skyrocket. Furious Seasons has the story.AHRP goes after Lilly's potential blockbuster for schizophrenia. AHRP's take on Dr. Lieberman seems a little harsh, but it's still a good read.The Last Psychiatrist scores points with a hilarious bit on calculating a commonly used medical statistic (featuring the Flock of Seagulls) and also weighs in on Lilly's hopeful new schizophrenia drug (no Zyprexa pun intended).How 'bout some antidepressants for babies? Pharmalot has the scoop.The discredited chemical imbalance theory of depression rears its head again, courtesy of GSK, as reported by Fiddaman.A long overdue link to the Pharma Girls of Reality TV, courtesy of Cary Byrd.Coming Attractions: There were... Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=861781 Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:44:00 +0100 861781