by Michael Heitt | Aug 16, 2017 | anxiety, depression, medication
The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics just put out a report about the increasing use of antidepressants. As a psychologist (as opposed to a psychiatrist), I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, there have been many studies that have...
by Michael Heitt | Dec 19, 2016 | depression, medication, placebo
A recently published meta-analysis of over 3000 studies suggested that switching antidepressants after the first drug doesn’t produce the desired results is not better than staying the course and/or exploring options other than trying a different drug. This is...
by Michael Heitt | Jul 19, 2016 | benefits of therapy, medication, placebo, Psychotherapy, side effects
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal summarizes some of the explanations about how we think placebos work. If you read an earlier blog post I wrote about placebos, what I find so fascinating about all this is that even when subjects/patients are told they are...
by Michael Heitt | Mar 15, 2016 | benefits of therapy, human behavior, Psychotherapy
In a recent presentation, US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy said, “If there was a factor in your life that could reduce your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke, that could increase your chances of living longer, and would make your children less likely to...
by Michael Heitt | Feb 10, 2016 | benefits of therapy, medication, Psychotherapy, side effects
The American College of Physicians has released a new clinical guideline on the treatment of depression in the Annals of Internal Medicine. They suggested that psychotherapy is as effective for treating depression as antidepressants, and “given its relative...
