Blog
Cannabis: What Patients Need to Know
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, cannabis is the most commonly used illegal psychoactive substance in the United States. A recent survey conducted by SAMHSA found that 11.8 million young adults reported using cannabis in 2018. Still illegal in the...
Psychedelics as Treatment for Depression: Conclusion
Although there is still much information to be gathered, it is clear that there is a case building for the use of various psychedelics as treatment for depression, including MDMA. Even as far back as the 1940s, scientists were looking for therapeutic approaches for...
Psychedelics Treatment: Psilocybin for Depression
Psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms” and a substance found in dozens of species of fungi, is also on the list of potential drugs that can treat depression. In fact, in the study pointed out in the first chapter, the patient was using a pill form of...
Psychedelics Treatment: Ketamine for Depression
Ketamine, or “Special K” as many people know it, is another drug that is being investigated for its ability to assist with depression and other mental health conditions. This was actually the first to make the FDA approval list, in March 2019. A nasal spray made of...
Psychedelics Treatment: MDMA for Depression
This is part two of a five-part series on psychedelics as treatment for depression. Be sure to read part one: Psychedelics for Depression. Check back next week for part three. MDMA is one of the most popular drugs being studied for use as a treatment support in those...
Psychedelics for Depression Treatment: Introduction
Recently, there has been a growing focus on the use of psychedelics for depression treatment. There is still a lot of research to be done, but so far, the studies have been promising. [This is part one of a five-part series on psychedelics as treatment for depression.]
Your Guide to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Therapy
TMS therapy is one of the many options available to people seeking alternative treatments for depression. This procedure has been around for decades and has improved over the years with additional research and insight, but still works much the same as it always has....
Is MDMA for PTSD Effective?
Naturally, when people are seeking out new treatments, one of the first questions is going to be whether or not the treatment is going to be effective. MDMA is a hot topic right now in the psychotherapy realm because it is being studied as a potential new solution for...
MDMA for PTSD Treatment Is Ready for FDA Approval
PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is a condition that affects billions of people around the world. To date, there is little in the way of effective treatment that doesn’t require years of medications, therapies, and other possible methods to help alleviate the...
MDMA for PTSD: an FDA update
MDMA...A potential [reboot] breakthrough treatment for PTSD MDMA, which is short for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, could be an FDA-approved medication for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as early as next year (2021). In the 1970's and...
Physician Assistants in Psychiatry
Physician Assistants in Psychiatry: Helping to Meet America's Mental Health Needs Article from "Current Psychiatry" September 2019 Here's the article: Physician Assistants in Psychiatry This is a great article that discusses the value of Physician Assistants (PAs) in...
What Is IV Ketamine Infusion Therapy?
A surprising drug with somewhat of a checkered history has reemerged as a promising treatment for severe depression. Ketamine was initially used as an anesthesia medicine in the 1960s. It was administered to soldiers on the front lines during the Vietnam War. At lower...
What is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)?
More than 17 million American adults are affected by major depressive disorder, which for simplicity we can simply refer to as depression. Depression is a diagnosable mood disorder that brings about symptoms like intense sadness, loss of energy and appetite, and lack...
Dealing with Loss
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” -Helen Keller Losing a loved one is never easy. I know this first hand. I lost my mother to cancer a little over a year ago. She was on hospice, she knew she was dying, I knew she was...
How Trauma Can Make You Self-Sabotage, Even When You’re Trying to Heal
Another original article by Kelley Jhung. It’s 1989. I’m at a college party. A garage band screeches, “My head is full of magic, baby/And I can’t share this with you/The feel I’m on a cross again, lately/but there’s nothing to do with you,” from Love and Rockets’ hit,...
The New Normal: Tips From a Psychiatrist on how to Optimize Mental Health and Wellness During the Current Pandemic
An Original Article by Dr. Jake Hollingsworth, a board-certified psychiatrist. We’re all in this together. COVID-19 is a very unique situation for one very specific reason; we are all dealing with it together; doctors and patients alike. These are a new set of...
What Depression Feels Like: A Typical Day
This is an original article by Kelley Jhung This is what I often felt like before I started Ketamine Infusion Therapy. You wake up and the hollowness in your chest aches like someone stuck a knife in you and twisted it slowly. You grasp for something, anything, to...
Overprescribing of Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines, such as Xanax (alprazolam), Valium (diazepam), and Ativan (lorazepam), are generally prescribed to help treat anxiety disorders, insomnia, and alcohol dependence. However, they can become quite addictive which led the College of Physicians and...
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
What is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)? Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is an interventional psychiatric treatment that uses a magnetic pulse generator to produce magnetic pulses directed at specific locations of the brain. This makes for a safe,...
Tripping My Way Out of Depression: How IV Ketamine Therapy Changed My Brain
This is an original article by patient Kelley Jhung on her experience using IV Ketamine therapy with Pacific Psych Centers. Before I’m at my local library, tears welling in my eyes. I’m in so much pain I can’t tolerate it. It’s a familiar pain, really a torture, this...
IV Ketamine for Depression
The use of intravenous (IV) ketamine treatments for depression is one of the latest discoveries in psychiatry. Traditionally, ketamine has been used as an anesthetic for major and minor surgeries. But recent studies have revealed another use for ketamine: as a...
Coping with Stress Over the Holidays
https://pacificpsychcenters.com/wp-admin/The holiday season is meant to be a joyous occasion filled with laughter and happiness. But all too often the stress of preparing for large gatherings and purchasing gifts for every relative takes away all the fun. According to...
What Are Interventional Psychiatric Treatments?
As a board-certified psychiatrist, I can tell you that this is a very exciting time for the field of psychiatry. Traditionally, patients with debilitating depression and anxiety symptoms have seen psychiatrists for a quick medication adjustment, then go home and wait...
