Category Archives: Friday Factoids
Friday Factoid: U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) Recommends Depression Screening for Older Adolescents
National data suggest that up to 8 percent of U.S. adolescents experience an episode of major depression in a given year. Children and adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) typically have functional impairments in their performance at school or work, … Continue reading
Friday Factoids Catch-Up: Optogenetics
Optogenetics involves tweaking the genes of neurons so that they become sensitive to light. By combining this technique with genetic and viral approaches, researchers can insert these channels into very specific populations of neurons. Ultimately, this approach allows researchers … Continue reading
Friday Factoids: Social Psychology and Southern “Snow Panic”
Being a student of human behavior at times causes me to observe phenomena in my world with fascination. Social Psychology is widely defined as âthe study of the manner in which the personality, attitudes, motivations, and behavior of the … Continue reading
Friday Factoids: Don’t Forget Behavioral Interventions in Treatment for Hypertension
Health Psychology is both the science and art of when a personâs behaviors interact with their health status. This interaction can take place in overt, very noticeable ways or in ways that are outside of oneâs awareness. A big … Continue reading
Friday Factoids: Underplaying Tobacco as a Health Issue
As an ex-smoker I understand the struggles involved in quitting. I used to joke that the messages I received to quit sounded like the nagging, wordless voice of the Charlie Brown teacher. I think that in order for any … Continue reading
Friday Factoids Catch-Up: Exposure to Violence
Unfortunately, exposure to acts of violence has become all too common. Adults as well as children can be affected by the media information streaming into our homes after yet another act of terrorism or violence scrolls across our electric windows … Continue reading
Friday Factoids Catch-Up: The Holiday Blues
The happiest time of year can actually be quite miserable. For a select few, the months of November and December can be overwhelming, stressful, exhausting, depressing and filled with dread. The thoughts of finding the ideal gift, planning the … Continue reading
Friday Factoids: Sydenhamâs Chorea
The link between mental illness and viral/bacterial/parasitic infections is proving to be greater than we ever imagined. Many neurological disorders are now known to be caused by infections in addition to already known genetic and other factors. Sydenhamâs chorea (SD) … Continue reading
Friday Factoid: Toxoplasma Gindii
An interesting tidbit of information that recently caught this writerâs attention is the possibility that we are susceptible to psychiatric disorders stemming from parasites. That is not to say that all or even the majority of those diagnosed … Continue reading