Category: Anxiety

Why Women Aren’t Taking Their Antidepressants

Interview: Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D. on the issues surrounding women and antidepressants.

Dr. Colleen Cira is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Women and Trauma, so I’ve worked with hundreds of people struggling with depression and the medications that sometimes go along with it. Sometimes women have reservations about antidepressants and this prevents them from taking them regularly and as prescribed by their doctors. There are a few reasons for this:

1) There is still an enormous stigma when it comes to mental health. So someone who has taken the time to find a psychiatrist, make the appointment, go in for the intake and fill their prescription is doing a great job and is ahead of the curve!! AND they are still not immune from feeling that stigma that so many of us do when we acknowledge that we’re struggling with our mental health. So actually taking that pill might make a person, especially a woman, feel “crazy” which might get in the way of taking the medication.

Continue reading “Why Women Aren’t Taking Their Antidepressants”

The 5 Causes of Depression and Actionable Advice

Interview: Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D. on The Causes of Depression.

Dr. Colleen Cira is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Women and Trauma, so I’ve worked with hundreds of people struggling with Depression. There can be several causes of depression with some accompanying ways to cope with this condition.

Here are some talking points for an interview exploring The Causes of Depression:

  1. Genetic/Chemical: Some of us have a genetic predisposition toward depression due to our family history (yay, genes!) which can make everything seem a little harder especially when you’re in college and have so many new things to figure out.

In this case, research is very clear that therapy and medication are the best ways to manage depression when it seems clear that there is a genetic and/or chemical component. Research has also proven that both exercise and meditation can also be incredibly helpful (possibly just as helpful if not more than medication) as they both directly address the chemical component of depression for the better.

Continue reading “The 5 Causes of Depression and Actionable Advice”

5 Ways to Stay Calm and Cool When Flying This Summer

Interview: Dr. Colleen Cira, Psy.D.Dr. Colleen Cira is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Trauma, and has worked with hundreds of people struggling with anxiety and phobias, including aviophobia (fear of flying).

There are several things you can do to combat your nerves around flying:

Prep work

The preparation you do for your flight is more important than what you do when you’re actually on the plane! Don’t dismiss these just because they are not in the moment:

1. Imaginal rehearsal. This is the idea that you would picture in your head EXACTLY how you would want it to go. Picture in your minds eye, leaving for the airport, checking in, going through security, boarding, taking off, etc all in a perfectly calm way. Picture yourself using your tools and skills and having it go amazingly well. This is exactly what professional athletes do before big games: they set their expectations, which primes the brain to comply. Good stuff.

Continue reading “5 Ways to Stay Calm and Cool When Flying This Summer”

Getting Rid of Debt May Actually Make Your Brain Work Better

Interview:  Michael Taggart

Talking Points:

  • Researchers at the National University of Singapore’s Social Service Research Centre studied 200 low-income people who unexpectedly had portions of their debt paid down by a charity.