I want to briefly address control, helplessness and spirituality. Depression is thought of as a state of ‘Learned Helplessness’ (Martin Seligman). Generally speaking, we strive to have control over the things that we deem are essential to our self-esteem: power, achievement, money etc. When we perceive that we have lost hope of controlling these things—i.e., […]
Hope & Healing
Dr. Hedaya was recently interviewed by the Integrative Medicine Clinician’s Journal. He was asked about the role of hope in the healing process. This is his response: “Hope is critical in all healing. A book written by Jerome Frank Persuasion and Healing deals with this topic very effectively. Hopelessness is one of the cardinal features […]
Top 5 Things to Know about Teenage Depression
Depression is a syndrome, not a disease. While we in the western world are trained to think of depression as a disease, in fact, it is just a collection of signs and symptoms whose causes vary widely. Just like all pneumonia is not caused by one thing (i.e., pneumonia may be due to HIV, tuberculosis, […]
Health Perils of Sitting for Extended Periods
What we do all day with our bodies has consequences. Many of us sit during our working hours and leisure time and that directly affects our body chemistry. The New York Times article, Taking a Stand for Office Ergonomics, details some of the changes: “scientists have determined that after an hour or more of sittin, […]