Dr. Descartes Li, an expert in Bipolar Disorder at UCSF runs an excellent 8 session program for people with bipolar who are interested in learning more. Here is the latest information about the group which starts at the end of February. The UCSF bipolar psychoeducational group starts on February 27, 2017. It runs for 8 sessions, Mondays 12pm to 115pm. …
“Biggest Loser” Misunderstandings
Last week on most everybody in my practice who has ever struggled with weight loss came in talking about the widely reported results of a follow-up study to the TV show “Biggest Loser.” And almost everybody’s conclusion from the media coverage was that it seemed the media was suggesting that it was a waste of time trying to lose weight. Most …
Body Mindfulness and Peak Performance
Research from the UCSD Center for Mindfulness suggests that what distinguishes people who are resilient in the face of physical challenges from others may be a natural capacity for the kind of self-awareness that mindfulness teaches, in other words, that body mindfulness and peak performance may be inextricably linked. Psychologist Lori Haase, and her colleagues at UCSD, have conducted a series of …
Collaboration with Your Clinician
There are a number of things about the clinical practice at Gateway that are a little bit different. If you have seen another psychiatrist or psychotherapist it might be helpful to read this blog post to orient yourself to those differences and also to see if this is the right place for you to be receiving treatment. We strive to …
MIND Diet Prevents Cognitive Decline
Researchers at Rush University have developed a diet (the MIND diet) that appears to be associated with significantly reduced cognitive decline in aging. The diet was developed from three sources of information: the Mediterranean diet (as elsewhere on this blog), the DASH diet for the prevention of hypertension, and a review of the literature on the effects of specific dietary …
Mediterranean Diet Improves Cognitive Function
Many of our patients are concerned about cognitive function, and there is evidence that people with recurrent episodes of depression may be at higher risk of cognitive decline. But what can be done about this? A just published study in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that a Mediterranean diet enhanced with either olive oil or nuts may prevent and perhaps even …
Mediterranean Diet Anti Aging Effect
The Mediterranean Diet appears to have an anti aging effect in a just published study. The study, in the December 2014 edition of the British Medical Journal, found that the Mediterranean Diet was associated with telomere length, a biological marker of aging. Telomeres are DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that protect the chromosomes from damage and allow healthy cell …
Meditation Tricks
Most of us in the Gateway Clinic have been encouraging our patients to take up meditation for years. We will explain how it works, and what the benefits are, we’ll suggest books on the topic, recommend guided meditation sources, follow up on those recommendations, and follow up, and follow up… And yet, this has been an exercise in frustration. Very rarely …