A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, June 2007 issue addressed the effect of sibling relationships on a person later developing depression. We’ve known for years that troubles in childhood significantly impact one’s future risk of developing depression or other emotional disturbances. However, the childhood troubles mostly focused on our relationship with our […]
What You Do Before Bedtime Matters
We don’t fully understand the mechanism of insomnia (defined as difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep). But some theorists believe untimely central nervous system arousal plays a large part. Our brains are always on, however when we think hard about something, our brain is more activated or aroused than when we are not consciously thinking about […]
Are Generic Medicines Just as Good?
I’ve always been a firm believer that brand didn’t matter much and you should save your money by passing up the $6 Advil for the $2 Ibuprofen. When I was in medical school and residency, we learned generic names for drugs so as not to give too much credit to the drug manufacturer and recognize […]
Benzodiazepines are Not Good for Sleep
I’ve frequently prescribed benzodiazepines (benzos) such as Klonopin and Ativan for patients with anxiety. For some patients who are particularly anxious in the evenings, taking the medication can help relax them to the point of falling asleep easier. I usually tell them it’s not a good long term solution for sleep and the most obvious […]
What is Sleep Architecture?
You may have heard this term used before, it refers to the different stages that make up our sleep. Understanding these stages of sleep help scientists and clinicians target treatments for insomnia. Sleep is divided into two stages: Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and Rapid eye movement (REM). NREM is further divided into four stages, numbered […]
Sleep is Essential
This may seem like an obvious statement, but it’s not. Our culture rewards hard work and often that comes at the expense of sleep. Millions of people do not get enough sleep each night and it can have serious consequences to our physcial and mental health. I’ll be doing a series of posts on sleep […]