Unlike some of the pharmaceutical sleep meds, melatonin has no black-box warnings about serious side-effects such as sleep driving or an association with an increase in all-cause-mortality. And melatonin does not cause withdrawal symptoms like rebound insomnia, a common characteristic of the most frequently prescribed sleep drugs. Continue reading
Melatonin supplementation can provide meaningful benefits for individuals with lowered natural melatonin levels such as night workers and the elderly. It is also beneficial for treating delayed sleep phase—shifting the sleep clock of night owls. Continue reading
Melatonin is a sleep-promoting hormone that is naturally produced and secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. The impact of naturally-occurring melatonin on our bodies is broad, profound, and not completely understood. Continue reading
The most common antidepressant drugs got bottom-of-the barrel results in a landmark systematic review comparing the drugs’ effect on depression with that of the talk-therapy CBT and a range of exercise modalities, according to data published by the prestigious British Medical Journal in February 2024. Continue reading
A 2017 randomized controlled trial of 67 depressed patients asked the question: “If I improve my diet, will my mental health improve?” Half of them received nutrition counseling, and for them the answer was yes. Not true for the other half, who got social support sessions instead of nutrition counseling. Continue reading
There’s burgeoning evidence that the various bacterial species inhabiting our gut have an important influence on our psychological health. Based on their antidepressant and anxiolytic effects, these beneficial bacteria that inhabit our GI tract have been dubbed “psychobiotics”. Continue reading
Find out how to defeat the vicious cycle by resetting the biological clock with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia and how to short-circuit stress and inflammation with biofeedback, hypnosis and talk therapy. Continue reading
Insomnia, depression and anxiety share common causes and often occur together. All 3 feed a vicious cycle worsening each condition. Stress is the common thread tying insomnia, circadian disruption, anxiety and depression together. Stress ignites a firestorm of inflammation suppressing levels of the sleep-hormone melatonin and elevating the stress-hormone cortisol.
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The value of reducing stress is widely embraced. An analytic review of 39 studies including 1,140 people with conditions including generalized anxiety disorder and depression found that mindfulness-based therapy, a widely-used stress-busting technique, was associated with significant improvement in anxiety disorders and depression. Continue reading
A 2021 study comparing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to hypnotherapy showed hypnotherapy is at least as effective as gold-standard CBT for reducing symptoms of mild to moderate depression.
A 2019 analysis of 15 studies found “the average participant receiving hypnosis reduced anxiety more than about 79% of control participants.” Continue reading
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