A recent study shows that nearly one-half of all premature deaths of adults aged 20 to 55 in the United States are in fact deaths of despair, including intentional drug overdoses. While suicides increased by 17% in the years 1990 to 2016, opioid use disorders increased by nearly 350% accordingContinue Reading
We all know that alcohol is harmful and addicting but it is also toxic to our brain cells. It contributes to chronic conditions that reduce blood flow and thus increases the risk for all forms of Dementia. Recent studies of more than 1,000,000 adults who were diagnosed with Dementia duringContinue Reading
Delusions are a serious mental illness whereby a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. There are a lot of different kinds of delusions: Depressed Delusions – a person believes they have committed horrible crimes or sinful deeds; Somatic Delusions – an individual believes their body isContinue Reading
The term Dementia has been with us for a very long time. It was used in 50 BCE (est) by the Roman poet and philosopher Leucretius – its meaning “being out of one’s mind.” During the late 19th century, a detailed classification of mental illnesses included “Dementia Praecox,” meaning earlyContinue Reading
A new study suggests that lowering blood pressure may also lessen the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a degree of brain decline that is considered the gateway to dementia. The results of the study, which was funded by various agencies within the National Institutes of Health, were presented atContinue Reading
Suicide rates for middle age (45-64) people are higher than all other age groups except people age sixty-five to seventy-five, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report also showed that suicide rates among women age 45 to 64 increased nearly 60Continue Reading
Psychology teaches that we are born with a life instinct which drives us toward growth and creation, along with the death instinct, which drives us toward destruction and disintegration. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), said that to avoid being destroyed by our own death instinct, we employ our Narcissistic or, self-regarding lifeContinue Reading
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs lists the qualities he observed in successful people who aimed high but kept their feet on the ground. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) created a highly structured plan to explain his path of human motivation that people need to follow as they move to self-actualization. The plan isContinue Reading
It’s a sad fact that we lose brain matter as we enter old age. This loss, while measurable, is not linear or even predictable. Through analyzing brain MRI scans of thousands of elderly people, we know that the average sixty-five-year-old is shedding brain matter at the rate of about 0.5Continue Reading
There is no such thing as a normal reaction after the death of a loved-one. Nor is there a series of grief stages. Grief is often most severe when the death is sudden or before its expected time, as in the death of a child. Unexpected Death Most of usContinue Reading