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Turn on the television, and chances are good that popular dramas (especially hospital-oriented shows) will be showing an episode revolving around a mental health issue.
, in time for a commercial. Real life is messier.
“Unfortunately mental health story lines are much more likely to be fear-mongering and wildly wrong. As a psychiatrist, this both piques my interest and upends my work-life balance,” Dr. Gold writes. “Whether I’m watching everyone’s favorite medical drama or ‘reality TV,’ it’s impossible not to switch into physician mode, angry on behalf of all of my patients and the many viewers who are being misled.”
Do physicians hear women?
“Rebecca continues to be paranoid.”
That was a note written by someone involved in the medical care of a 30-something woman diagnosed with stage IIB cervical cancer, according to an article in New York magazine.
“There’s a whiff of old ‘female hysteria’ to [the note], with more than a hint of dismissal,” writes the patient’s sister, Kate Beaton. “Becky was scared, and perhaps that was the main takeaway that day. But she was also right.”
The article tells the story of a vibrant woman who, according to her sister, asked her doctors lots of questions, wrote everything down, and faced years of being dismissed when she explained her symptoms. Becky’s sister says she is telling her sister’s story in an effort to make a difference in the lives of other patients.
“[Becky] did not want anyone to go through what she went through, ever again,” Ms. Beaton writes.
Letting children roam free
Children of the 1950s and 1960s can remember tearing out the door after dinner with the parental order to be home before dark. Where we went and what we did was known only to us. Our parents trusted we knew how to look out after ourselves.
In that tradition, as explained by National Public Radio, some parents are actively turning away from the to-the-second scheduling of their children’s lives and Teflon coating them against the perceived danger of everyday life. Instead, they are letting their children be independent. It can be a powerful life benefit for a child. But it can come at a cost to parents. Parents in several states have been arrested for actions that include letting their children walk to school unattended.
“This very pessimistic, fearful way of looking at childhood isn’t based in reality,” says Leonore Skenazy in a story on NPR. “It is something that we have been taught.” Ms. Skenazy is founder of Free Range Kids, a group that promotes childhood independence.
Boundaries and remote work
More and more Americans are working from home, according to a 2017 Gallup survey. The survey says that 43% of people worked remotely for part of the time in 2016, compared with 39% in 2012.
But for parents who work remotely, separating their business and family lives is especially challenging, Marie Elizabeth Oliver writes in an article published in The Washington Post.
“Being a parent is isolating, but being a parent and working from home is really isolating,” author Karen Alpert says. “Especially as a mom, there’s so much pressure to do your job as fast and efficiently as possible.”
Experts advise setting boundaries by taking steps such as setting timers and checking in every hour, for example. Or using clothes to make the mental shifts between being on the clock, so to speak, and being in leisure mode.
“It’s not that you have to dress up,” author David Heinemeier Hansson says in the article, describing one of his employees who came up with a system that enabled him to set these boundaries using clothes. “It’s just that he knew, ‘I have my home slippers on right now, so I’m not responding to this email.’ “
Neuroscience as a remedy to heartbreak
The end of a romance can be both frustrating and embarrassing. A person may wallow in the emotional muck for a long time.
Such was the case for Dessa, a well-known rapper, singer, and writer from Minneapolis, who carried the emotional baggage of an ex-boyfriend.
“You’re not only suffering,” she comments in an interview on NPR. “You’re just sort of ridiculous. Discipline and dedication are my strong suits – it really bothered me that, no matter how much effort I tried to expend in trying to solve this problem, I was stuck.”
The stalemate ended when she viewed a TED Talk by Helen Fisher, PhD, a biological anthropologist and visiting research associate at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. Dr. Fisher used functional MRI to examine some people in the throes of lost love. The examinations revealed revved-up activity of certain parts of their brains.
This prompted the idea that techniques of neurofeedback could be used to wipe the pangs of love from the brain circuitry. It seems to have worked for Dessa, although a placebo effect cannot be ruled out.
“Before [the feedback], I felt that I was really under the thumb of a fixation and a compulsion,” she says. “And now it feels like those feelings have been scaled down.”
Turn on the television, and chances are good that popular dramas (especially hospital-oriented shows) will be showing an episode revolving around a mental health issue.
, in time for a commercial. Real life is messier.
“Unfortunately mental health story lines are much more likely to be fear-mongering and wildly wrong. As a psychiatrist, this both piques my interest and upends my work-life balance,” Dr. Gold writes. “Whether I’m watching everyone’s favorite medical drama or ‘reality TV,’ it’s impossible not to switch into physician mode, angry on behalf of all of my patients and the many viewers who are being misled.”
Do physicians hear women?
“Rebecca continues to be paranoid.”
That was a note written by someone involved in the medical care of a 30-something woman diagnosed with stage IIB cervical cancer, according to an article in New York magazine.
“There’s a whiff of old ‘female hysteria’ to [the note], with more than a hint of dismissal,” writes the patient’s sister, Kate Beaton. “Becky was scared, and perhaps that was the main takeaway that day. But she was also right.”
The article tells the story of a vibrant woman who, according to her sister, asked her doctors lots of questions, wrote everything down, and faced years of being dismissed when she explained her symptoms. Becky’s sister says she is telling her sister’s story in an effort to make a difference in the lives of other patients.
“[Becky] did not want anyone to go through what she went through, ever again,” Ms. Beaton writes.
Letting children roam free
Children of the 1950s and 1960s can remember tearing out the door after dinner with the parental order to be home before dark. Where we went and what we did was known only to us. Our parents trusted we knew how to look out after ourselves.
In that tradition, as explained by National Public Radio, some parents are actively turning away from the to-the-second scheduling of their children’s lives and Teflon coating them against the perceived danger of everyday life. Instead, they are letting their children be independent. It can be a powerful life benefit for a child. But it can come at a cost to parents. Parents in several states have been arrested for actions that include letting their children walk to school unattended.
“This very pessimistic, fearful way of looking at childhood isn’t based in reality,” says Leonore Skenazy in a story on NPR. “It is something that we have been taught.” Ms. Skenazy is founder of Free Range Kids, a group that promotes childhood independence.
Boundaries and remote work
More and more Americans are working from home, according to a 2017 Gallup survey. The survey says that 43% of people worked remotely for part of the time in 2016, compared with 39% in 2012.
But for parents who work remotely, separating their business and family lives is especially challenging, Marie Elizabeth Oliver writes in an article published in The Washington Post.
“Being a parent is isolating, but being a parent and working from home is really isolating,” author Karen Alpert says. “Especially as a mom, there’s so much pressure to do your job as fast and efficiently as possible.”
Experts advise setting boundaries by taking steps such as setting timers and checking in every hour, for example. Or using clothes to make the mental shifts between being on the clock, so to speak, and being in leisure mode.
“It’s not that you have to dress up,” author David Heinemeier Hansson says in the article, describing one of his employees who came up with a system that enabled him to set these boundaries using clothes. “It’s just that he knew, ‘I have my home slippers on right now, so I’m not responding to this email.’ “
Neuroscience as a remedy to heartbreak
The end of a romance can be both frustrating and embarrassing. A person may wallow in the emotional muck for a long time.
Such was the case for Dessa, a well-known rapper, singer, and writer from Minneapolis, who carried the emotional baggage of an ex-boyfriend.
“You’re not only suffering,” she comments in an interview on NPR. “You’re just sort of ridiculous. Discipline and dedication are my strong suits – it really bothered me that, no matter how much effort I tried to expend in trying to solve this problem, I was stuck.”
The stalemate ended when she viewed a TED Talk by Helen Fisher, PhD, a biological anthropologist and visiting research associate at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. Dr. Fisher used functional MRI to examine some people in the throes of lost love. The examinations revealed revved-up activity of certain parts of their brains.
This prompted the idea that techniques of neurofeedback could be used to wipe the pangs of love from the brain circuitry. It seems to have worked for Dessa, although a placebo effect cannot be ruled out.
“Before [the feedback], I felt that I was really under the thumb of a fixation and a compulsion,” she says. “And now it feels like those feelings have been scaled down.”
Turn on the television, and chances are good that popular dramas (especially hospital-oriented shows) will be showing an episode revolving around a mental health issue.
, in time for a commercial. Real life is messier.
“Unfortunately mental health story lines are much more likely to be fear-mongering and wildly wrong. As a psychiatrist, this both piques my interest and upends my work-life balance,” Dr. Gold writes. “Whether I’m watching everyone’s favorite medical drama or ‘reality TV,’ it’s impossible not to switch into physician mode, angry on behalf of all of my patients and the many viewers who are being misled.”
Do physicians hear women?
“Rebecca continues to be paranoid.”
That was a note written by someone involved in the medical care of a 30-something woman diagnosed with stage IIB cervical cancer, according to an article in New York magazine.
“There’s a whiff of old ‘female hysteria’ to [the note], with more than a hint of dismissal,” writes the patient’s sister, Kate Beaton. “Becky was scared, and perhaps that was the main takeaway that day. But she was also right.”
The article tells the story of a vibrant woman who, according to her sister, asked her doctors lots of questions, wrote everything down, and faced years of being dismissed when she explained her symptoms. Becky’s sister says she is telling her sister’s story in an effort to make a difference in the lives of other patients.
“[Becky] did not want anyone to go through what she went through, ever again,” Ms. Beaton writes.
Letting children roam free
Children of the 1950s and 1960s can remember tearing out the door after dinner with the parental order to be home before dark. Where we went and what we did was known only to us. Our parents trusted we knew how to look out after ourselves.
In that tradition, as explained by National Public Radio, some parents are actively turning away from the to-the-second scheduling of their children’s lives and Teflon coating them against the perceived danger of everyday life. Instead, they are letting their children be independent. It can be a powerful life benefit for a child. But it can come at a cost to parents. Parents in several states have been arrested for actions that include letting their children walk to school unattended.
“This very pessimistic, fearful way of looking at childhood isn’t based in reality,” says Leonore Skenazy in a story on NPR. “It is something that we have been taught.” Ms. Skenazy is founder of Free Range Kids, a group that promotes childhood independence.
Boundaries and remote work
More and more Americans are working from home, according to a 2017 Gallup survey. The survey says that 43% of people worked remotely for part of the time in 2016, compared with 39% in 2012.
But for parents who work remotely, separating their business and family lives is especially challenging, Marie Elizabeth Oliver writes in an article published in The Washington Post.
“Being a parent is isolating, but being a parent and working from home is really isolating,” author Karen Alpert says. “Especially as a mom, there’s so much pressure to do your job as fast and efficiently as possible.”
Experts advise setting boundaries by taking steps such as setting timers and checking in every hour, for example. Or using clothes to make the mental shifts between being on the clock, so to speak, and being in leisure mode.
“It’s not that you have to dress up,” author David Heinemeier Hansson says in the article, describing one of his employees who came up with a system that enabled him to set these boundaries using clothes. “It’s just that he knew, ‘I have my home slippers on right now, so I’m not responding to this email.’ “
Neuroscience as a remedy to heartbreak
The end of a romance can be both frustrating and embarrassing. A person may wallow in the emotional muck for a long time.
Such was the case for Dessa, a well-known rapper, singer, and writer from Minneapolis, who carried the emotional baggage of an ex-boyfriend.
“You’re not only suffering,” she comments in an interview on NPR. “You’re just sort of ridiculous. Discipline and dedication are my strong suits – it really bothered me that, no matter how much effort I tried to expend in trying to solve this problem, I was stuck.”
The stalemate ended when she viewed a TED Talk by Helen Fisher, PhD, a biological anthropologist and visiting research associate at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. Dr. Fisher used functional MRI to examine some people in the throes of lost love. The examinations revealed revved-up activity of certain parts of their brains.
This prompted the idea that techniques of neurofeedback could be used to wipe the pangs of love from the brain circuitry. It seems to have worked for Dessa, although a placebo effect cannot be ruled out.
“Before [the feedback], I felt that I was really under the thumb of a fixation and a compulsion,” she says. “And now it feels like those feelings have been scaled down.”