Tag: depression
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Brain Stimulation and Depression: Does tDCS work?
Transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, is an alternative psychological treatment primarily targeting depressive symptoms. tDCS delivers a direct electrical current to the scalp via electrodes placed on key areas of the skull corresponding to different regions of the brain. Related treatments include transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). These treatments…
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Are Anxiety and Depression Truly Different Disorders?
This question was raised in a book I am currently reading titled “Lost Connections” by Johann Hari (2018). In addition to many surprising insights about what really causes depression, he asserts that anxiety and depression typically co-occur in many individuals. Think about it: if you had severe, debilitating anxiety, wouldn’t that make you depressed? Or,…
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Prayer for Mental Health
Does calling for divine intervention via prayer lead to reduced human suffering? Can this be studied scientifically? Numerous studies, including randomized controlled trials, have tested the effectiveness of prayer and religious interventions on physical and mental healing. This study is the first of its kind to apply a randomized crossover trial to in-person (vs. remote…
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Does declining religious participation affect “deaths of despair”?
In this “working paper” (which means it has not been subjected to peer review), the authors propose an interesting hypothesis: “Deaths of despair” (DOD) are connected to reduced religious participation which may have resulted from the repeal of “blue laws.” They point to the fact that the rise in DOD happened earlier than 1999, beginning…
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Do declining economic conditions explain the rise in “deaths of despair”?
In three publications (2015, 2017, 2020), Case and Deaton identified the alarming trend in “deaths of despair” (DOD) among White middle-aged Americans with less education and proposed that declining economic conditions may have contributed to the high rates of DOD among this population. Ruhm set out to address the question: can DOD be accounted for…
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EMDR: Is it for YOU?
Keywords: PTSD, therapy, depression Overview and Procedure Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, was developed by Francine Shapiro in 1989 as a treatment for PTSD. Since that time, over 30 randomized controlled clinical trials have been conducted to identify the effectiveness of this treatment. Results show it to be effective, with a 36-95% reduction…