Soroya Bacchus, MD has over 22 years experience in the Medical Industry, possessing a number of significant achievements within Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, Addiction Treatment, and Geriatric Psychiatry. She has successfully passed the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Geriatric Psychiatry, and Psychosomatic Medicine which made her a triple board certified Psychiatrist in the Greater Los Angeles area. She is a DEA Certified as well since 1992.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Drugs and the Brain | National Institute on Drug Abuse
Drugs and the Brain | National Institute on Drug Abuse
Nice. Please, Please check this out! Just an excellent discussion on how your brain works and why addictions are diseases and not about identity, character flaw, will power etc., etc., etc. Addictions are mental illnesses that should be treated by psychiatrists. It's your brain stupid!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Get over it!
This last month President Obama stated that we Americans need to get over the stigma of mental illness. Since then, there has been a shooting here in Santa Monica, right down the street from my office at Santa Monica College.
Often I see patients with a constellation of
symptoms like poor sleep or nervousness or feeling stuck in some ground hog day
mode. People think it's crazy; no matter what they do, they are not performing at work or
school or meeting realistic goals. I do very little of CRAZY. Seriously.
If your heart was skipping a beat you might notice headache,
light headiness and feeling out of breath. Your doctor might tell to you to
start an anti-arrhythmic drug to restore a normal heart beat. Your brain is no different. The medications I use restore normal brain functions, which are
normal thoughts, emotions and behaviors. There are no artificial states. All
medications work, it’s a matter of finding something that works and has no side
effects for you.
Medications just alleviate symptoms. Once you can sleep,
think and stop crying, I then get you involved in psychotherapy whether it’s with
me or a therapist to learn better coping skills. The skills you learned 10
years ago might not be working now. So we get new skills. It’s always about the
skills, not the meds.
So get real, get a grip and get WELL.
So get real, get a grip and get WELL.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Intervention Everyone?
Watching celebrities on T.V. being confronted by involved family and friends in staged interventions makes for great theater. Watching these people detox in front of our eyes is gratifying; they have f.+++ed up lives too. We rejoice and feel better when they at the end are clean and sober. Their redemption is our salvation, we are all well again.
The reality is only about 40,000 people in the U.S. die from drug overdose each year. This includes not only deaths from the use of legal or illegal drugs but also poisoning from medically prescribed drugs. If we subtract these accidental poisonings, the figure is lower.
In the same year, 31,000 people died from suicide, plain and simple; no exceptions. Why isn't anyone doing suicide interventions on T.V.? Why isn't anyone talking about more people dying every year from suicide than routine drug overdose? Don't get me wrong, drugs are a serious problem. Suicide from depression is a serious problem.
The symptoms of Major Depressive disorder are:
The symptoms of Major Depressive disorder are:
- Sadness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities
- Changes in weight, up or down
- Sleeping, under or over 8 hours
- Restlessness or slowness
- Fatigue
- Feeling worthless, hopeless or guilty
- Poor concentration
- Thoughts of death or suicide
I'm sure you've recently heard to look for other symptoms of depression and suicidal intent like making a will, making a plan for suicide, etc, but come on, are you really going to ask your loved one "do you feel suicidal?" No, our own shame and horror keeps us from asking. God forbid, if they say yes. Focus on the above observable behaviors and behavioral isolation. This keeps our thoughts and conclusions out of the mix. It's not so personal but you've saved a life.
Look around you folks, think intervention. Suicide just shouldn't have to happen.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
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