Depression destroys lives. Healing is possible.
Dementia. Darn, it’s on the tip of my tongue
I am taking a break over the holidays. For the next four weeks, I will be republishing a few of my favourite blogs. I’ve noticed an alarming thing lately, although I should not be surprised. My patients are growing older. Teenagers I was helping with their self-destructive behaviours two decades ago are now anxious mothers. Anxious mothers whom I met 20 years ago are now looking at retirement. It shouldn’t be surprising; I am getting older too. So is the rest of the world. Life expectancy has been steadily increasing worldwide over the last two decades. This is largely…
Psychopaths- the wolves among us
The joy of my job is that I get to talk to a lot of people. I talk with them when they are at low points in their lives; when they are vulnerable and hurt. There is a lot of honesty, much barebones of stories, not much bull. As a result of my experience, I have concluded that 90% of humanity is mostly good. Granted, mostly good people can commit the most heinous of crimes, but the struggle is universal. We try our best for our children; we mourn the loss of loved ones. We feel pride, envy, love, fear and…
The Adolescent Brain- a treacherous frontier
My 10-year-old son is the sweetest, most easy going child. Recently, very occasionally and out of the blue, he has had a few moody days. It has been such a shock to me that I have been carefully listening to my friends and patients to hear what it is like to parent an adolescent. It seems as if most times adolescents are just wonderful. They are passionate, enthusiastic and eager to earn. But parents of adolescents also tell me of the dark side. The times when the teenager is moody, eye rolling and door slamming. When they push boundaries, lie and…
The highs and lows of cannabis
The world has gone cannabis crazy. It is in the news all the time. Should it be legalised? Is medicinal cannabis beneficial? Is cannabis dangerous? Patients come to me every day asking if they should try cannabis oils for various ailments. For many of the conditions, like chronic pain or insomnia, they have tried several medications and have been disappointed with the results or struggled with side effects. It is not a wonder that they want to try something “natural” since modern medicine has disappointed them so. Anecdotal evidence and various oil providers will tell you that cannabinoid oils are hugely beneficial for…
Diets do not work
You have had a look at yourself in the mirror and realised that you don’t like what you see. Your doctor has told you that you must lose weight. You have researched Atkins, Detox diet, Banting, Intermittent Fasting and a few others. You are ready to start your diet. Again. You probably feel that you don’t need to have your resolve weakened by reading a blog espousing that diets don’t work. Worse, a major risk factor for being 5kg heavier in a years time, is to be on a calorie restricting diet now. Dieting results in weight gain. Diets don’t work. A…
Going straight for the gut
We have always known that our mood affects our guts. My anxious patients complain of diarrhoea and my depressed patients of constipation. I could never have imagined how much of a role the gut microbiota plays in communicating with the brain and modulating behavior. I never took “gut feeling” literally! Our gut, the small intestine and the large intestine, is filled with over a kilogram of bacteria, the gut microbiota. That’s almost the weight of an average brain. These bacteria carry more than a hundred times the genes of the human genome. It is comprised of 150 common bacteria and…
Let’s talk about food
I am taking a break over the holidays. For the next four weeks I will be republishing a few of my favourite blogs. In continuing with thoughts about selfcare, I would like to talk about food. I hosted a dinner party the other night and there was a vegetarian, someone who was Banting-it and a gluten intolerant guest. We generally agreed that Trump was a disaster, wailed about corruption in SA politics and lamented the drought. But when we got to food, the opinions clashed and arguments got heated. I bet that Mrs Cavewoman host did not have these problems.…