Health and Psychology

Okay I broke down and got a flu shot.  This is despite having recovered from influenza Type B and pneumonia a few weeks ago.  I never get flu shots.  Knowing someone who got Guillian Barre is enough to scare someone off those things and it certainly did me.

But there's something different about this flu season.  First it seems to be deadlier.  It's killed at least 30 people in Los Angeles County alone, and there are another 50 cases under investigati...

Getting organized requires a strategy. People with executive functioning difficulties have problems with setting up, implementing and following through with the strategy. This results in lost items, clutter, and wasted time.

I find it helpful to start with labeling. What should go in this place? Label the location. Keep only those things that match the label in that location. The second part is to determine how long you need to keep those items. Then you need to go ...

Hallucinations seem to mean a symptom of psychosis to many physicians. However many hallucinations have nothing to do with mental illness.

The most common hallucinations are auditory hallucinations associated with sleep disturbance. As rapid eye movement (REM) periods in sleep are disrupted the person loses a normal dreaming pattern. This can result in periods where the person is dreaming even though their eyes are open. This is often a side-effect of a medication such ...

The first thing I ask someone on the phone when they call to make an appointment is what the issue is that they are calling about. We have three divisions in the company so that question serves to filter and triage the call.

Is this a medical condition or medical issue contributing to a psychological condition?

These are the kinds of cases I take personally. So I want to know if this is what’s going on with the person so I can take the case and have...

I see a number of people that have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. When I ask how the diagnosis was made I hear about questionnaires. Questionnaires are a nice confirming meaure, when other, more objective measures have been done. But as a primary measure for the purpose of providing treatment planning, they aren't a great way to assess attentional difficulties.

Here's how to make the assessment of attentional difficulties in children or adults...

Psychological testing includes a wide variety of types of testing.  One of the most common tests used by psychologists are measures of cognition also known as intelligence measures.

There are several types of measures of cognitive functioning available.  The selection of the test instrument will depend on:

• the age of the person being evaluated
• their ability to communicate fluidly in English
• whether they are suspected of being...

Stress affects us in many ways, including:

• Emotionally – anxiety, depression, tension, anger, fatigue

• The way we think – poor concentration, forgetfulness, indecisiveness, apathy, hopelessness

• Behaviorally – increased drinking and smoking, insomnia, accident proneness, weight problems, obsessive-compulsive behavior, nervousness, drug use.

Stress does not cause illness. Illness is caused by a breakdown in th...

Asthma is a medical condition that causes difficulty in breathing.  It can be life-threatening.  It's usually marked by wheezing but can also be noticed by coughing.  Asthma is diagnosed by spirometry.  This test is performed three times in a single visit to ensure the results are accurate.  The person breathes into a tube to evaluate how the lungs function.  Medication may be given to open the lungs to see if there is improvement with a bronchodialator.  Ea...

I get asked about accommodations testing fairly routinely.  Many people call in with questions about how much I charge for specific tests.  Accommodations testing isn't about the tests.  Accommodations testing is the data used for a psychological report that will ultimately be reviewed by an administrative law judge or an attorney involved in applications of the American's with Disabilities Act to ensure that the person seeking accommodations under the Act is not being afforded...

"I have mood swings so I must have bipolar disorder."  The woman telling me this had a long history of difficulty interacting with other people, marginal suicide attempts that really didn't require medical attention, and rapid changes in how she felt.   "Medications haven't really helped me."

I asked about the major symptom about bipolar disorder-a manic episode.  "I have highs and lows. Sometimes in the same day."  She reported.  So I tried again to...