The Guilt

Feelings of guilt often accompany major depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. That you are having difficulty functioning on a very basic level, while knowing that you “don’t have it that bad” (or, that’s what your *insert family member* is telling you) has you feeling even worse. Your family and friends may not understand what you're going through, and from their perspective, have trouble grasping why you can’t just pick your head up and work through this. You tell yourself, ‘I'm not DYING, for God’s sake…,’ but it doesn’t help a thing. 

When You're Stuck in Your Head

“You know, depression is sort of a selfish feeling,” someone told me last week. “I just sit there, thinking only about myself and my life.” So, when she is able, she volunteers with a local hospice. On the days she volunteers, her depression is not as bad.

The Struggle is Real.

You don't like taking antidepressants. They take too long to work. The side effects of this antidepressant are worse than the last one you tried. Is your depression treatment resistant?

Laughing Until We Couldn't...or Could...Breathe

In 2010, following my father’s cancer diagnosis, I accompanied him to MD Anderson for one of his two-day appointments. Interested in the ancillary services they offer to patients and their families, I looked at the Integrative Medicine department’s events calendar when we arrived. Ten o’clock a.m.: Laughing Yoga. How could we pass that up!? My dad reluctantly agreed to participate.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in ketamine infusion therapy as a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. From refractory depression to chronic pain, ketamine has shown remarkable potential in providing relief where other treatments have fallen short. But what exactly are ketamine infusions, and how safe and effective are they?

Picture this: A stressful event happens. Your brain interprets it as a physical or social threat, which results in the activation of the regions of your brain associated with pain. Your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) triggers the ‘fight-or-flight’ response, followed by cascade of physiological events, which results in the production of inflammatory proteins and stress-related changes in your genes. This response to stress happens over and over and if not managed can become chronic, increasing your risk for inflammatory-related diseases, such as arthritis, asthma, certain types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and psychiatric disorders. 

A woman recounts her experience: “It happens after I eat chocolate or drink red wine, or right

before I start my period. I know it’s coming on because I start to see flashes of light in my peripheral vision. That’s when I brace myself, wherever I am, knowing my day’s plans may be shot. Best-case scenario, I’ll take prescription medicine and kick it before it kicks me. Worst-case, I’ll have to leave work and will be confined to my bed, in the dark, drinking cups of black coffee with an ice pack on my head, until the pain subsides. Sometimes the pain doesn’t let up for a day or two. When I do finally feel some relief, I am exhausted and hungover.”

If you have been battling depression, you might feel helpless because nothing you've tried lately is working. However, there is more to treating depression than finding the right medication or the right therapist. While the right medication coupled with effective therapy can be paramount to treating severe depression, there are lifestyle factors to consider.  The choices you make on a daily basis can have a profound effect on your mood and on your mental health, in general.

In a previous blog entry, we wrote about the ketamine infusion experience. Let me expand on that today, as I focus on recovery from ketamine infusion therapy. 

Memorial Day         

What time are we eating!? What can we bring!? Will the kids swim!? Oh, what a bummer that it’s raining…we were gonna take the boat out! 

While you might be seasoning meat to grill, making potato salad, drinking beer, slathering sunscreen on your kids’ faces, or just enjoying a long weekend, take a moment to remember the men and women who died while serving in the Armed Forces.