What it is and how it works in the brain Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a precursor of testosterone and other hormones. The sulfated form of DHEA—DHEA-S—is the most abundant steroid in the body. DHEA is an important neuroactive steroid and modulates … Continue reading
Virtual Reality Graded Exposure Therapy (VRGET)–What it is and how it works VRGET is a technology-based exposure therapy with important implications for the management of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as severe phobias that are difficult to treat using … Continue reading
Existing models of care and conventional therapies are limited Existing models of care and available conventional treatment approaches fail to adequately address the global crisis of mental health care. Mental illness accounts for about one-third of the world’s disability caused … Continue reading
How light therapy works Light of different intensities and colors is used in conventional biomedicine and many nonconventional systems of medicine to treat both medical and psychiatric disorders. Diverse mechanisms of action are probably involved, including regulation of melatonin and … Continue reading
L-theanine increases brain levels of several neurotransmitters The amino acid l-theanine found in green tea is widely used in China, Japan, and other Asian countries to treat anxiety and depressed mood. Animal studies confirm that l-theanine increases brain levels of … Continue reading
Dementia and mild cognitive impairment: overview Dementia is a chronic condition characterized by severe persisting impairments of short-term and long-term memory and severe deficits in other areas of cognitive functioning such as abstract reasoning, language, impaired capacity to perform routine … Continue reading
Depression: overview Depressed mood has many psychological and biological causes. Some people are born with genetic factors that significantly increase their risk of developing severe depressed mood. Known medical causes of depression include thyroid disease, heart problems and anemia. When … Continue reading
Anxiety: overview Generalized anxiety is a chronic condition characterized by both psychological or physical symptoms such as feelings of tension, excessive worrying, and heightened arousal that significantly interfere with work, going to school, being in a relationship or functioning in … Continue reading
Psychosis has many complex causes Symptoms of psychosis may be temporary or chronic and moderate or severe in their intensity. Schizophrenia and other chronic psychotic disorders are characterized by so-called ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ symptoms. Positive symptoms include auditory hallucinations, paranoia … Continue reading
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has enormous psychological and social consequences Approximately one third of the world’s population experiences chronic symptoms of inattention, distractibility, impulsivity or hyperactivity that meet requirements for a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. ADHD is the most … Continue reading
