DBT Center of NJ

11/14/2025

Wise Mind Rx:
Your body and mind are on the same team. 🩺🧠

When the body’s unwell, Emotion Mind is louder, faster, harder to regulate.

Research shows untreated physical conditions, even low-grade inflammation, thyroid issues, gut problems, chronic pain, or infection, can increase anxiety, depression, irritability, and fatigue. The brain reads physical stress as emotional threat.

That’s why in DBT, the “PL" in PLEASE means Treat Physical Illness. Caring for your health isn’t separate from emotional work, it is emotional work.

Taking meds as prescribed, following up with your doctor, addressing pain or inflammation, all of it protects Wise Mind access.

When the body is cared for, the mind can regulate.
It’s not just self-care, it’s self-regulation.

🩵 Heal your body → steady your emotions → strengthen your Wise Mind.

11/13/2025

Wise Mind Rx:
Everything you put in your body changes your brain.
☕🍷💨🍫💊

Some changes help you regulate, others pull you straight into Emotion Mind.

Research shows that alcohol, ma*****na, ni****ne, caffeine, and even excess sugar alter neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, the same systems targeted by antidepressants.
Short term, they can numb, calm, or energize. Long term, they often destabilize mood, increase anxiety, irritability, and impulsivity, and disrupt sleep and motivation.

In DBT, this is the “A” in PLEASE” Avoid Mood-Altering Substances.
Because every shortcut to relief has a rebound. When your chemistry is up and down,
Wise Mind gets drowned out by emotional noise.

Avoiding mood-altering substances isn’t about perfection, it’s about staying regulated enough to use your skills.

You deserve a nervous system that’s not hijacked by what you consumed.

11/12/2025

WiseMind RX 💊
It’s time to tell the truth.

The “chemical imbalance” theory oversimplified and distorted how we understand depression.
We were told depression was a chemical imbalance problem.
That story isn’t true.

Large research reviews show there’s no consistent evidence that depression is caused by low serotonin (Horowitz & Moncrieff, 2022).

Research also shows antidepressants work best when people already have key supports in place:
✅ regular movement and sleep
✅ supportive relationships
✅ meaningful activity or work
✅ healthier routines

When those pieces are missing, medication alone is far less likely to help. Behavioral change, connection, and purpose often shift mood.

Healing begins when we treat the whole person, not just the brain.

11/11/2025

Wise Mind Rx:
Sleep is your brain’s nightly medicine to reset. 😴 Not optional, essential mental health care.

Research shows poor sleep increases anxiety, depression, and emotional reactivity. Even one night of deprivation heightens amygdala activity, your fear and stress center, and weakens the prefrontal cortex, the part that helps you regulate emotions and access Wise Mind.

Chronic sleep loss raises inflammation, disrupts hormones, and worsens mood and focus.

In DBT, sleep is part of PLEASE Skills, caring for the body to reduce vulnerability to Emotion Mind.

Because when you’re sleep-deprived, your nervous system is already dysregulated before the day even starts.

Prioritizing rest isn’t laziness, it’s emotional regulation.
Sleep heals, resets, and protects your ability to stay skillful.

11/10/2025

Wise Mind Rx:
Food is medicine for your mood. 🍽️ Not just calories, communication between your gut, brain, and emotions.

Research from Dr. Chris Palmer (Harvard psychiatrist) and the growing field of metabolic psychiatry shows that stabilizing blood sugar and reducing inflammation can improve mood disorders, psychosis, and seizure conditions. Diets emphasizing real, whole foods like a ketogenic nutrition, have been shown to improve depression, bipolar symptoms, and metabolic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and insulin resistance.

Because your brain runs on your body’s chemistry.
When the body’s inflamed, the mind struggles to regulate.
When metabolism is stable, Emotion Mind calms.

In DBT, this is a PLEASE Skill, caring for your physical health to reduce vulnerability to Emotion Mind. Eating real food isn’t just self-care, it’s nervous system regulation.

🩵 Nourish to stabilize.
Real food → steady energy → steady mood → access to Wise Mind.

11/04/2025

Wise Mind Rx:
Sunlight is medicine☀️

Getting outside within an hour of waking can shift your entire mood system. Research shows that morning light resets your circadian rhythm, boosts serotonin and dopamine, and improves sleep, focus, and emotional regulation.

Just 5–10 minutes signals your brain: It’s morning. You’re safe. You can start again.

In DBT, this is a PLEASE Skill, taking care of your body to reduce vulnerability to Emotion Mind. When your body clock is aligned, your emotions follow.

So before you scroll, step outside. Let the light do what therapy teaches: regulate, reset, and restore Wise Mind.

11/03/2025

Wise Mind Rx:
If exercise were a pill, it would be the most prescribed antidepressant in the world. Research shows movement often outperforms medication for mild to moderate depression.

In DBT, we call this a PLEASE Skill, one way to reduce vulnerability to Emotion Mind. It boosts serotonin, calms stress hormones, and makes Wise Mind easier to reach.

Sometimes the skill isn’t mental, it’s physical. Move your body → regulate your brain → control your emotions so they don't control you.

11/01/2025

Before You Call It Bipolar II
Why “Hypomania” Deserves a Second Look.

Not every high-energy stretch or mood swing means hypomania.

Harvard and other studies show up to half of bipolar diagnoses are inaccurate at first often because these pieces weren’t ruled out.
It takes thorough assessment and evaluation to accuratly rule out what can look like Bipolar II but isn’t:

Medication/Substance:
Antidepressants, steroids, stimulants, thyroid meds, caffeine, or supplements (like SAM-e, St. John’s Wort) can all mimic hypomania.

Medical Factors:
Thyroid or adrenal imbalance, sleep deprivation, B12 deficiency, infections, or brain injury or changes can elevate mood.

Psychiatric Overlap: ADHD, trauma activation, anxiety and especially BPD, where emotions shift quickly and intensely all cause energy surges or mood swings but for different reasons.

Life & Temperament: Stress, lack of sleep, creativity bursts, excitement, or naturally high energy can all feel “hypomanic,” but aren’t.

People with BPD, ADHD, trauma, or anxiety deserve to be seen for what’s really happening.

💡 Accurate diagnosis = compassionate treatment.

10/31/2025

🐘 Don’t Ignore the Elephant in the Room

In DBT, we acknowledge what’s real, even when it’s uncomfortable. Ignoring the “elephant in the room” might keep the peace short-term, but it blocks trust, growth, and emotional safety.

A DBT therapist holds this value because validation requires accuracy. If we pretend something isn’t happening, we can’t help you regulate, problem-solve, or find your “wise mind” about it. Clinically, avoiding the truth reinforces avoidance.

So we talk about the hard stuff: tension in the room, therapy-interfering behavior, fear of closeness, or silence that speaks volumes.

In DBT, we call this radical genuineness, being real, not performative. We don’t “act” like therapists. We are the therapy.

10/28/2025

Maybe you caught Dr. Peter Attia featured this week on 60 mintutes. He's very open about his mental health challenges. Here's a great interview with Dr Shireen Rizvi from a few years ago.

Watch the full episode and view show notes here: https://bit.ly/3Awbt2PBecome a member to receive exclusive content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/Sign ...

10/27/2025

💫 Marked Mirroring — The First Form of Validation

Long before words, babies learn who they are through marked mirroring. A parent reflects the baby’s feeling, "Oh, you’re upset", but in a calmer, gentler way.
The baby feels: You see me.
My feelings make sense.

That’s the root of validation.
And it doesn’t stop in infancy.

As children grow, they still need us to mirror their emotions, not perfectly, but accurately enough that they feel understood.
Validation isn’t about agreeing,
it’s about showing that their inner world makes sense given what they’ve experienced.

It’s also regulation for us.
When we pause to truly understand and reflect what we see, we slow down our own reactions. We move from fixing or controlling → connecting and co-regulating.

In DBT, this is how kids (and parents) learn: "My feelings make sense and I can handle them.”

10/27/2025