Something horrible has happened to you or someone close to you. For example a near death experience, a car accident, war experiences or being a victim of a violent crime.
The disorder can be divided into four parts the first is trauma, the second is re-experiencing the trauma, the third is avoiding anything which is a reminder of the trauma and finally the fourth is increased arousal.
Traumas are usually violent and deadly in nature. That overwhelms a person’s ability to cope. A complicating factor is the sense of being helpless or out of control. Being shot at is a common example. Being robbed, raped, beaten or tortured. Violent natural or man made events where death is possible.
The re-experiencing the trauma involves nightmares or flashbacks. People feel they are re-living, every aspect of the trauma. They may experience illusions and hallucinations of the traumatic event. (more…)
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Patients ask me all the time “What to do when your anti-depressant stops working?” For example you have depression and have been on Zoloft for seven years and done well, but the past six months you feel more depressed.
First thing to ask is “are you using alcohol?” That’s the worst thing you could do. Alcohol is a depressant and maybe interfering with the efficacy of the antidepressant. Marijuana, Opiates, Benzodiazepines and Antihistamines aren’t much better either.
For example drugs like Roxycodone, Oxycodone, Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Loritabs, Hydrocodone, Xanax, Alprazolam, Ativan Lorazepram, Benadryl, and Diphenhydramine these drugs have a similar effect and may function as depressants.
Substance dependency usually results in depression, whether it is a physical or psychological affect. Often times an antidepressant isn’t working the first thing people do is self medicate. Don’t do that because it makes matters worst. (more…)
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Marijuana has been used by so many people and is so immersed in our culture that people don’t respect it dangers. Working with adolescents with mental illness, marijuana is the biggest problem, I face as a psychiatrist.
Every adolescent tells me the same thing: “It’s natural”, “They are going to make it legal”, “Marijuana helps me sleep”, “Marijuana relaxes me”, Marijuana is harmless”, “Nobody gets in trouble on marijuana”, “It’s not as bad as alcohol” and “Nothing is fun without marijuana”.
Then there is always the arguments what it’s not: “Marijuana is not addicting”, “People can stop anytime they want”, “Marijuana doesn’t make you violent or aggressive”, “You cant over dose on marijuana”, “You can smoke all the marijuana you want and nothing happens”, “Nobody steals to get a marijuana fix”, “Marijuana is not a hard drug”, and “No one gets rushed to the hospital because they used marijuana”.
Groups of people are organized around using marijuana. The glue that holds these people together is smoking marijuana and listening to musical groups like Dave Matthews, Phish and Grateful Dead. Those things are maybe true but that’s not the whole truth. Marijuana is subtle and effective in addicting people. The addiction is psychological in nature but powerful. Marijuana users usually become regular users. People tell me, “I use once a week, maybe every ten days.” That means you have marijuana in your blood stream most of the time. Marijuana may take 7-10 days to leave the body. Chronic smokers may have marijuana in their system for up to six week, so even infrequent use results in marijuana/THC in your system all the time. (more…)
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains how, as a family member, you can help your loved one with drug & alcohol addiction. He explains how to stop enabling drug and alcohol addicts. Learn how to cut off the drug & alcohol detox from being enabled to stay in their addiction.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Drug & Alcohol Addiction.
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The first question most people ask when visiting a doctor is “What’s wrong with me?” As a psychiatrist I usually beat them to the punch by asking them, “Why are you here?” That question itself is diagnostic in nature. It speaks volumes of an individual’s perception and self assessment of their problem. If the patient is presenting with an addiction issue, invariably there are several assumptions they have already made. Most of the time they assume that they have a disease. That it is chronic. That it is incurable. And that after a period of detoxification their disease will be managed by daily doses of 12-step activity. This in spite of overwhelming statistic that traditional 28 day treatment programs have about a 16% success rate.
This has always been a great curiosity to me. If one in six patients who attend these conventional treatment programs remain abstinent for one year post discharge, why would anybody waste the time, money and psychic investment required by these programs. I would not buy a car that started one out of six times. More importantly, I would not buy a car that stopped one out of six times I applied the brakes.
What if we were treating a disease that does not exist? In my profession that is called a misdiagnosis. What if we spent our time, energy and money trying to stop “addiction” rather than trying to understand addiction? An entire industry has developed around causation rather than cessation. If you had a choice of either understanding why you drink or stopping your drinking the decision would be obvious. Even if you are a comprehension junky for whom the process trumps the product, at some point all growth starts with stopping. (more…)
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, discusses why people it is beneficial and best to work with a psychiatrist when detoxing from drugs. Many times drug abuse and drug use come to help with mental illness. If you don’t work on the symptoms of what causes the use of addictive drugs (i.e. depression), you’ll find it difficult to detox completely from addictive drugs.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Drug & Alcohol Addiction.
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http://206.189.200.158 ~ (561) 444-7044
Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, discusses why people use drugs and alcohol. He explains three different reasons that people use drugs and alcohol. Drugs & Alcohol can be used by people due to learned behavior, genetics or mental illness.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Drug & Alcohol Addiction.
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The biggest reason people stop medication is they don’t like taking pills. Some people just forget. Others start doing well so they say, “I don’t need it anymore”. Side effects that are uncomfortable are another big problem. Dry mouth, constipation, nausea, and dizziness can occur with a lot of medications. People stop medications because they don’t believe that they are sick or that the medication will help. Individuals are in denial about illness. Lately I’m seeing people stop medication because it’s too expensive. Sometimes people stop medication because they like the manic state and don’t want anything to stop.
One patient told me he wanted to use alcohol and didn’t want to take his medication with alcohol. I think that makes sense.
How do we keep people on medication? First education is the key. Educating them on the risks of the mental illness. Psychiatric illness can be damaging to the brain. Untreated mental illness results in breakup of relationships, loss of jobs, legal problems and problems in marriages.
Going off medications may result in withdrawal syndromes. Stopping medications can make a lot of things worse. Depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and psychiatric disorders become worse. Untreated mental illness may predispose people to addiction and self medication with drugs of abuse. (more…)
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Mental Health Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains what is Generalized Anxiety Disorder. He explains the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. Learn the behaviors and some of the treatments used to treat generalized anxiety disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder is treatable.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains how to tell if a family member or friend is suffering from alcohol or drug addiction. He explains the signs, symptoms of behavioral, social and physical changes of someone with Drug & Alcohol Addictions. Alcohol & Drug Addiction should be treated with help. Learn how to approach your loved ones with drug and alcohol addictions.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get your loved ones help!
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http://206.189.200.158 ~ (561) 444-7044
Dr. Agresti, West Palm Beach Mental Health Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains what Bipolar Disorder is. He explains the manic side and the depressive side of bipolar disorder. Learn the extremes of the two different behaviors and some of the medications used to treat bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder medications and treatments should be ones that work with you, the patient, as an individual and suite your life.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Bipolar Disorder.
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Dr. Agresti, West Palm Beach Mental Health Specialist – Psychiatrist, talks about Benzodiazepines Detox. Though benzodiazepines detox can have some serious problems, such as seizures, it is possible. There are medications that can help during benzodiazepines detox. If you or a loved one is addicted to benzodiazepines, do not stop abruptly or at home. Get professional help and benzodiazepines detox safely.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Benzodiazepines Detox.
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http://206.189.200.158 ~ (561) 444-7044
Methadone detox is possible within 6 to 8 weeks. Detox from Methadone safely and without pain. Dr. Agresti, West Palm Beach Psychiatrist, talks about how you can detox from a Methadone addiction safely.
Methadone detox is possible! Call Dr. Agresti today to start life Methadone free.
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Dr. Agresti, Psychiatrist in West Palm Beach, Florida, talks about his preferred medications for treating depression. Depression is more that just feeling sad for a few days. Psychological symptoms of depression are sadness, lack of desire for fun, hopelessness helplessness, despair, worthlessness, guilt, thoughts of death and dying. The physical symptoms of depression are changes in appetite and changes in weight. Problems with sleeping develop with people who suffer from depression. Depression medications start working in a week or two and may take up to two months. Anti-depressants commonly used are Wellbutrin, Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, Paxil, Remeron, Effexor and Pristiq.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help for your depression.
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