Atlas Psychiatry, PLLC

08/17/2022

"Surveys suggest that 80% or more of the general public believe the chemical imbalance theory to be established truth, while many mental health professionals have known all along that this is not the case."

A major study published this summer in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry is making strides in finally putting the chemical imbalance theory of depression to rest. The chemical imbalance theory suggests that depression is caused by low serotonin in the brain. This theory has lead to the sale and us...

08/12/2022

Despite the fact that the chemical imbalance theory of depression is widely believed by the public, it is NOT accurate, and has in fact been largely disproved.

Blog post follow up to come, but in the meantime, here is a link to a recent umbrella study that is making waves.

"This review suggests that the huge research effort based on the serotonin hypothesis has not produced convincing evidence of a biochemical basis to depression. This is consistent with research on many other biological markers. We suggest it is time to acknowledge that the serotonin theory of depression is not empirically substantiated."

The serotonin hypothesis of depression is still influential. We aimed to synthesise and evaluate evidence on whether depression is associated with lowered serotonin concentration or activity in a systematic umbrella review of the principal relevant areas of research. PubMed, EMBASE and PsycINFO were...

07/25/2022

After a refreshing week in the Boundary Waters, Matt is back and ready to talk about mental health!

07/13/2022

"One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts - just mere thoughts - are as powerful as electric batteries - as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live."
- The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

06/23/2022

I often tell my clients to take a diagnosis with a grain of salt. Here are six reasons why.

“Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” “Major Depressive Disorder.” “Attention Deficit Disorder.” Psychiatrists are trained to assess the “symptoms” of their patients and then assign labels using the most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (currently...

06/02/2022

Thanks to all who attended our ribbon cutting and to those who wished us well! Your support is what makes our small business possible!

04/26/2022

Sometimes I forget how much I need to do this

04/04/2022

The pandemic has been especially hard on school-aged children and teens. Are you watching for warning signs of mental distress in the youth around you?

"After noticing something might be wrong, the course teaches the next step is to ask the student without pressuring or casting judgment and letting them know you care and want to help."

Experts say while childhood depression and anxiety had been on the rise for years, the pandemic's unrelenting stress and grief amplified the problems, particularly for those already experiencing mental health issues who were cut off from counselors and other school resources during distance learning...

03/04/2022

From a young man struggling with his own mental health to a practitioner helping others with theirs, this post is Matt's story.

If you asked me as a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would not have said a psychiatric nurse practitioner. This is the story of how mental health and holistic medicine found me.