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Although primary care physicians and other non-specialists in mental health feel comfortable managing less complicated anxiety-related disorders, OCD is a more complex diagnosis and ideally should be managed by a psychiatrist.  Before initiating medication, the psychiatrist will first do a thorough assessment to ensure that the diagnosis of OCD is accurate, and to determine the presence of coexisting conditions that may complicate the treatment.

Disastrous news gets delivered in a highly emotional way – often on purpose – and while having strong feelings for the victims of war, floods, earthquakes, mass shootings or horrific accidents is justified, we also have to be logical and in tune with our own emotional processes when interpreting the news.

Limit the depth of exposure to details. People can consume news in limited ways. In other words, learn what’s happening, then stop there. Avoid the urge for disaster voyeurism. If you have heard the story, you might not need to search for the images or the videos; if you have seen them, there is no need to revisit them over and over.

The headlines and the CDC report are indeed alarming, but they should serve as a wakeup call to all of us. Yes, we should think seriously about why we are seeing a steep decline in the mental health of teenage girls, but we have to come together now as parents, family, friends, educators, clinicians, providers, and as a society to support, enhance and establish more preventive measures for our youth.

10 suggestions from a clinical psychologist to make it through this stressful period of political division and constant flood of upsetting news stories.

To help with back to school, this blog features 8 strategies to cope with fears of school shootings.

Many mental health professionals are now conducting patient visits virtually. I am one of the only psychologists left in my building who has stayed behind to continue in-person work while abiding by COVID protocols. Since our practice specializes in refractory OCD spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders a lot of the work done at our outpatient clinic requires in-vivo exposures, which cannot be replicated on Zoom.

While it’s pretty common to have periods of feeling down, sad, or blue, especially this time of year, sometimes it’s more serious than that. Depression is real, and it’s important to recognize it and get proper treatment.