HEALTH & WELL-BEING | Therapy in Los Angeles

covid- psychological health and well-being.

COVID 19 is a MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS TOO: DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, SUICIDE RISK, SUBSTANCE ABUSE

May 26, 2020May 26, 2020 chrisjo Anxiety, coronavirus, COVID 19, Crisis, depression, overdose, substance abuse, Suicide

COVID 19 is a MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS TOO. Two-plus months into sheltering at home due to the COVID 19 crisis, and beginning to re-open our economy, we are in the midst of another kind of health crisis. This one has to do with psychological health and well-being.

HEALTH & WELL-BEING

GOOD OR BAD – MORE THAN ONE FAMILY MEMBER SEEING THE SAME THERAPIST?

This discussion centers on whether different forms of therapy should occur with the same therapist with members of the same family.

COVID 19, grief, loss, mourning, coping, resilience

GRIEF HEALTH & WELL-BEING

COVID 19 PROMPTS GRIEF IN MORE SUBTLE WAYS

April 27, 2020April 27, 2020 chrisjo coping, COVID 19, Grief, loss, mourning

Covid 19 Prompts Grief in Subtle Ways. When we think of grief, we usually think of mourning the death of a loved one, family member, close friend, or perhaps charismatic and important leader (JFK, Martin Luther King, FDR, Nelson Mandela)

HEALTH & WELL-BEING

AMERICANS ARE LIVING SHORTER LIVES

February 27, 2020March 13, 2020 chrisjo drug abuse, drug overdose, early death, substance abuse, Suicide

Drug overdoses, suicides, and also diseases involving internal organs have caused an increase in middle-aged deaths. So much so that the life expectancy in the US has actually declined since 2014 after increasing for the previous 60 years. The largest increase in deaths was in New England and the Ohio Valley. (Ken Pope: US Life Expectancy Down in Recent Years After Increasing for Decades).

HEALTH & WELL-BEING

Is Counseling a Part of Good Health Care?

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 chrisjo Anxiety, cardiac care, depression, diabetes, Health, obesity

“Fifty percent of the patients seeing me for cardiac care are really dealing with psychological issues.” So said a cardiac physician in an informal conversation recently. “So, I quiet myself, listen quite a bit, and then watch for an opportunity to counsel the patient about his anxiety, depression, etc.” This comment was made about patients receiving care after a procedure had been completed.

HEALTH & WELL-BEING

How Does Childhood Stress Cause Serious Health Issues?

July 26, 2019August 15, 2019 chrisjo adverse childhood experiences, Anxiety, depression, Health, stress, suicide risk

In fact, if the adults had four or more instances of childhood exposure to stress, they had a greater risk of alcoholism, drug abuse, depression or suicide attempts at a rate of 4 to 12 times greater than adults who had experienced no ACE’s.

DEPRESSION HEALTH & WELL-BEING WELLBEING

FIGHTING DEPRESSION THE NATURAL WAY

Tom sat down for his first hour after his initial evaluation. I asked him, “How are you doing today?”ffffff

Tom responded slowly, “That’s a good question. I know that we met last week and I’m beginning to understand some of the feelings I’ve had for a really long time. I also feel that it will take quite a few hours for us to settle my particular issues. In the meantime, I do feel depressed some of the time. I don’t want to take any medication. I can’t afford it because I don’t have insurance and I can’t handle the frequent side effect of weight gain. What can I do to feel less depressed while we’re doing this work? I used to drink alcohol but I don’t want to do that anymore either.”