Anorexia nervosa (AN), also known as simply Anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. It is often coupled with a distorted self image which may be maintained by various cognitive biases that alter how the affected individual evaluates and thinks about her or his body, food and eating. Persons with anorexia...
Dyssomnias are a broad classification of sleeping disorders that make it difficult to get to sleep, or to remain sleeping. Dyssomnias are primary disorders of initiating or maintaining sleep or of excessive sleepiness and are characterized by a disturbance in the amount, quality, or timing of sleep. Patients may complain of difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep, intermittent wakefulness...
On TV, you hear a lot about the energy drink, Four Lokos. It comes in a 23.5-ounce can and in a variety of flavors. But what’s in it? Each can contains the same amount of caffeine as is in five cups of coffee and an alcohol content equivalent to 3.9 beers. It also includes taurine and guarana, which are stimulating. On the street, this drink, or I should say, drug, is called Liquid Cocaine. So,...
Drug Abuse Screening Test – DAST-10 To determine if you may have an addiction to drugs, please answer the following questions regarding the last 12 month period with a yes or no. An answer of yes is scored as 1 point. An answer of no is scored as zero. Once completed, add the number of points together and follow the corresponding recommendations listed at the bottom. Be sure to print this to...
Four Lokos drink is a malt beverage with 12% alcohol in a 23.5oz can. These types of drinks are called Alco pops. The four in the name comes from the 4 ingredients which are caffeine, taurine, guarana and alcohol. Problems with this drink are popping up across the country. Emergency room doctors are seeing people come in with alcohol poisoning. The reason for this is simple. Consuming one Four...
www.dragresti.com ~ (561) 444-7044 Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Mental Illness, Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist — Psychiatrist, continues his discussion about a highly difficult and sad topic — Suicide. Dr. Agresti discusses suicides in the media, suicides related to sexual orientation, and bullying. He, also, gives common signs to look for in your loved ones to know when to be...
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment Today I want to thoroughly explain obsessive compulsive disorder, because it is a seriously life altering condition that is frequently misunderstood. We have all heard people refer to friends or family as “OCD” in a joking manner. An example may be if you’re at a party at a friend’s house and the second someone puts their drink on the...
Why is Sleep Important? Part Deux When we left part one, I had just explained how lack of sleep can make people fat, and was about to explain how it can also make people ugly. First, just a quick review of the cascade that makes you fat. When you don’t sleep, there is an increase in the hormone ghrelin, which causes hunger, and makes you eat everything in sight at 3am. At the same time, levels...
How to Interact with the Mentally Ill The purpose of this piece is to help the reader how to interact, both verbally and nonverbally, with people with mental illness; and as a corollary, how to get them the help they need. It’s basically a list of do’s and don’ts that I have compiled in my head over many years of seeing patients and dealing with their loved ones… becomes sometimes the former are...
We’re nearly six weeks into the new year, and this is right about the time that most people toss their new year’s resolutions out the window. Many of them had resolved to lose weight: surveys have shown that, of the people who make new year’s resolutions, an average of 45% of them resolve to lose weight and get in better shape. So that means that nearly half of resolution-makers are overweight...
