Psychedelic drugs are commonly associated with recreational use. Recent findings however have shown that they possess a far more profound capacity. They can provide profound insights and relief from suffering from mental disorders. Not much is known about the exact mechanisms but existing findings are highly promising and truly astounding.
Around 20% of the Dutch experience an anxiety disorder such as a specific or social phobia in their lifetime, and half of them develop their phobia before the age of 18. So why not start facing our fears at the time we develop our phobia instead of waiting until things get scarier and scarier?
If you live long enough, you are bound to experience the death of a loved one. For many, this is the most stressful life-event ever encountered. While most people gradually adjust to their loss, a minority develop severe, enduring, and disabling grief symptoms. How should such ‘complicated grief’ be treated?
I am an international PhD student from Indonesia. It is always been my dream to study an advanced clinical treatment in my home country, which is exactly what I am doing right now. However, the struggle to stand on two different continents to make my research happen… is real.
A personal experience with our dog Eli made me wonder whether animal-assisted interventions have the potential to support the treatment and care of children with ADHD. A subsequent literature study provided ample indication that several mechanisms of animal-assisted interventions can have a positive effect on several core symptoms of ADHD.
Do you sometimes feel that after a bad night sleep, you cannot take in anything that is being said during a lecture? If so, then maybe you can imagine the rising concern that patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) might not benefit from trauma-focused treatment if they also suffer from sleep difficulties. I dug into this issue to figure out whether this concern was justified.
Can you imagine it is possible to improve cognitive functioning only by sitting regularly for a few minutes on a vibrating chair? In our studies, we demonstrated that Whole Body Vibration (WBV) can be of potential value in the treatment of patients with ADHD!
Some people worry excessively about their health and can be diagnosed with health anxiety. While the treatment of health anxiety is generally effective, the nature of the treatment has changed significantly in the past few decades. My literature review suggests we should not only try to innovate, but also replicate.
Normally, grieving is a natural process and does not require treatment by psychologists. However, when someone dies in a violent way, the grief process for the bereaved can become complex, and resilience and social support are often not enough. Unfortunately, even though effective psychological interventions are available, most bereaved are not treated on time. This also applies to relatives of the victims of MH17-crash in Ukraine last July.
There is a lot of discussion about the pharmacological treatment of ADHD. This discussion, however, might miss an important aspect, namely whether our general understanding of how pharmacological treatments work in developmental diseases is correct. I say, we miss our opportunities!