Dr. Payton

Previously I blogged about the stress relieving benefit of slow, even breathing. Since then it continues to come up directly or indirectly with different approaches to stress management. It is frequently referred to as “mindfulness.” This has been defined as consciousness without thought. I wonder if it may be better defined as a calm, alert…

Diagnosing bipolar depression vs unipolar depression [major depression] remains difficult. So why be concerned? Well, there is building evidence that taking antidepressants and having a mood swing to a manic or hypomanic mood is associated with a poorer prognosis that includes more depressive mood swings [rapid cycling?], not responding as well to mood stabilizing medications,…

In an earlier blog, “Risk of Suicide and of Suicide Attempts,” I described a study by Hart and Risley that followed 42 families for 3 1/2 years counting the number and nature of words directed to young children aged 7months to 2 1/2 years with the families divided into three groups identified as professional, working class and…

In the October 31, 2013 [Vol.369, No. 18] New England Journal of Medicine, Drs. Bair-Merritt, Zuckerman, Augustynand Cronholm report on the fact that there are evidence-based recommendations from the Institue of Medicine and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force regarding detecting the presence of domestic violence [termed Intimate Partner Violence [IPV]] and reducing the impact…

Children who are being bullied are more than twice as likely to have psychosomatic [physical complaints caused by stress] complaints compared to children who are not being bullied. This was reported in a study in Pediatrics by G. Gini, Ph.D. and T. Pozzoli, Ph.D. They did a meta-analysis of 30 studies involving more than 219,000…

I have met people who inspire me by how they live their lives. I often can’t pinpoint what it is about them accept a feeling that they seem to be sharing with others. After I get to know some of these inspirational people, I wonder if part of their inpiration comes from being aware of…

I have written before about our being creatures of habit. I keep being reminded of how important this is when I am are trying to change behaviors [my own]. My brain is very good at maintaining patterns of behavior/thinking/feeling. It seems to be able to do this effeciently with little energy output and seemingly almost…

I recently attended a memorial service for a friend of mine. During the service, my friend was repeatedly described as having character and being very generous. He did not need to have credit for what he achieved over his lifetime as he was happy to have others get this recognition. Someone else, in describing my…

I have previously written about the fact that we are not statistics and that any one individual may not fit where most people [statistically about 68%] can be grouped when making diagnostic and treatment decisions. It is clear that 32% of people fall outside one standard deviation from the mean and may not fit diagnoses…

It has become very clear how damaging chronic stress is for our bodies and our minds. It is also becoming clearer how many children are traumatized by different types of events and suffer from chronic stress. TF-CBT was developed to specifically treat symptoms of chronic stress [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)]. This has been adapted…