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 Personality Disorder #4: Narcissistic Personality Disorder 

One personality disorder that we don’t encounter often at Rochester Holistic Psychiatry is narcissistic personality disorder. However, we often encounter people suffering from the effects of people around them with narcissistic personality disorder, or NPD. 

It may sound unkind, but NPD is one of the personality disorders that is most damaging to those around the narcissist, whether they be spouses, children, friends, co-workers, and so on. People with NPD don’t choose to be born with the disorder, and NPD is especially hard to treat, but we’ll

 Manic Depression or Bipolar Disorder 

Updating Our Terminology 

Before we talk about manic depression, it should be mentioned that “manic depression” has recently become an outdated term. Manic depression has been rolled into the bipolar disorder (BD) diagnosis, but the term is still widely used and searched for, which is why we’re using it today. 

According to NIMH, “bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.” 

Because bipolar disorder has such

Personality Disorder #3: ASD

More Than Being Stressed

Stress. Sometimes we can’t do much about it because with circumstances, work, family, and such, stresscomes with the territory. But Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) is a different matter. Rochester Holistic Psychiatry has deep compassion for our acutely stressed patients, and we want to offer some general education on the subject.

What is ASD?

ASD is a reaction that stems from trauma, usually from a single horrifying event. Events like:

Sexual or physical
Loss of a loved
Natural
Being diagnosed with a severe
Witnessing an act of

Someone suffering from ASD may have

Studying TMS for Autism

A World of Questions

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder.  The “spectrum” part of the name is there because of the wide range of ways it shows itself.  Autism can manifest in a different way with each person and there is little we understand about it and even less that we can put down as solid fact.  Some people with autism learn social and vocal cues with difficulty while others are nonverbal.  Some people with autism suffer terrible gastrointestinal problems and others have sensory tics. 

Neurotransmitters #6: GABA

Chemical Inhibitions

Today we’re talking about GABA, another in our series of neurotransmitters.  Neurotransmitters are chemical mixes that the brain uses as messages to communicate with itself.  Different areas of the brain shoot neurotransmitters back and forth to regulate everything from mood to appetite to muscle control to attention span.  GABA stands for gamma-Aminobutyric acid.

What Does GABA Do?

GABA functions as an inhibitor for the central nervous system (CNS).  It attaches to the neurotransmitter receptors on nerve cells and prevents them from sending or receiving messages for as long as

Personality Disorders Part 2: Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

What is ASPD?

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is a mental condition in which, like other personality disorders, someone has aberrant thought patterns that alter their behavior and wellbeing.

ASPD often proves highly detrimental to the life of the sufferer as well as those around them.  This is because “antisocial” in this context does not mean someone who just doesn’t like people and withdraws to avoid them.  People with ASPD are essentially drawn to problematic behavior, sometimes to the point that they cannot hold a job

TMS and Medication

Helping Together

Today, we want to talk about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and how it interacts with antidepressant medications.

One big difference between how TMS affects patients and how antidepressants affects patients is that antidepressant medications manipulate the chemicals of the brain.  TMS influences the electrical pathways in the brain, or the traffic between neurons.

For some patients, the two methods of treatment can complement each other well, and combining methods of treatment is common.  Any mental health treatment regimen may be combined with talk therapy, behavioral therapy, social support, and

Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Caregivers

A Growing Need for Care

According to the Mayo Clinic, as the population ages, more caregiving is provided by people who are informal caregivers.  This does not denote the importance of their work; it refers to people who are not healthcare professionals.

Currently, this number is already 1 in 3 adults in the United States, and that only refers to those who are informal caregivers to adults.  Being a caregiver can be temporary, such as attending to a spouse who has the flu, or indefinite, such as

Stress, Depression, and Divorce  

Mixed Feelings 

Rochester Holistic Psychiatry encounters many patients that have gone through a divorce, are  currently divorcing, or are on the verge of divorce. Even if the split is not a hostile one, divorce can be  intensely stressful on all parties. Each person will have their own cocktail of emotions. When the stress  of a divorce is comorbid with a mental disorder, the effects can hit so much harder and make the  situation that much worse.  

Talk About It 

Unfortunately, there is a social stigma attached to a strained marriage

Neurotransmitter #4: Norepinephrine  

The Brain’s Messengers 

This post is number 4 of our series on neurotransmitters. We continue to explore the nature of these  fascinating substances and how our brain uses them to guide our bodies and minds. We also learn  about how imbalanced and misdirected neurotransmitters can make life painful, and what can be done  to help. Today, we’re looking at norepinephrine.  

What is Norepinephrine?  

Norepinephrine is a chemical signal made in the adrenal medulla, a portion of the adrenal glands.  Norepinephrine has a sibling, epinephrine, that also goes by the name adrenaline