Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I): The Evidence-Based Sleep Treatment Most Doctors Do Not Mention

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Marisol had been taking zolpidem for nine years when her new primary care doctor in Tucson finally said the thing nobody else had: “The pills are not fixing your sleep. They are masking it.” She was 52, waking at 3 a.m. every night, exhausted by 10 a.m., and convinced she was broken. Her doctor handed … Read more

Returning to Work After Mental Health Leave: ADA Accommodations, Phased Return, and Disclosure Decisions

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Devon’s last day before mental health leave was the kind of disaster nobody talks about. He cried in a bathroom stall, drove home at 11 a.m. without telling anyone, and sent his manager a one-line email that said, “I need to step away.” Twelve weeks later, sitting in his cardiologist’s office for unrelated chest pain, … Read more

Menopause and Mental Health: Hormonal Changes, Anxiety, Depression, and HRT Considerations

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Priya was 47 when her therapist of seven years said the sentence that changed her life: “I think your depression is hormonal, not psychological, and we should get you to a menopause specialist before we change another antidepressant.” Priya had been on three different SSRIs in two years. None of them had quite worked. She … Read more

Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder: 10,000 Lux Boxes, Timing, and Combining with Antidepressants

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Karen from Buffalo had been dreading October since college. Every fall the same pattern would arrive on the same schedule. She slept twelve hours and woke up exhausted. She craved bread and pasta and chocolate at quantities that did not match her summer self. She gained eight to fifteen pounds between Halloween and St. Patrick’s … Read more

Religious Deconstruction and Mental Health: Leaving High-Control Religion and the Therapy That Helps

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Hannah grew up in Provo. Her family was eighth-generation Mormon. She served a mission in São Paulo at twenty-one, married in the Salt Lake temple at twenty-three, and by thirty-one was a stay-at-home mother of three who could no longer make herself believe. She did not announce it. She kept showing up to sacrament meeting … Read more