About Melissa Chefec

This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Melissa Chefec contributed 661 entries already.

Entries by Melissa Chefec

Treating Insomnia Outside the (Black) Box

Elaine K. Howley, July 29, 2019 Although nonmedical interventions have long been at the top of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommendations, at least one expert hopes the warnings will encourage practitioners to consider alternatives to the commonly prescribed sedative-hypnotic drugs. “Oftentimes, the hypnotic ‘Z’ drugs, such as zolpidem, are a Band-Aid or cosmetic fix […]

Am I Depressed or Just Exhausted?

July 23, 2019, by Risa Kerslake “Sleep is the tip of the iceberg for our mind’s state,” Dimitriu explains. “People find it much easier to notice sleep is off because it is objective, thus it truly opens the door to investigating if something else is wrong.” Click HERE for the full article.

What People With Bipolar Disorder Need to Know About Exercise

Christine Coppa, July 19, 2019 Also important to stress: “If someone is in the midst of a bipolar manic or depressed episode, most non-medical interventions, including exercise, will not be enough to help, and should never be relied upon as treatment,” says Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a double board-certified psychiatrist and sleep-medicine specialist in Menlo Park, CA. […]

REM sleep can reset your brain after an upsetting event

By Tracey Anne Duncan, 7/18/19 “REM sleep is considered a time when the brain can process emotional memories, and ‘pack them away,” says Alex Dimitriu, a psychiatrist and sleep specialist at Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine in the San Francisco Bay Area. “When everything is working well, we experience unpleasant — and pleasant — […]

Why You Don’t Sleep as Well on Vacation—Plus, What to Do About It

By Krissy Brady, Updated: July 16, 2019 Because sleep is such a rhythmic activity, travel can easily send our natural rhythms off the rails, says Alex Dimitriu, MD, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California. And this is true even if you’re not switching time zones in the process. The combination of being in […]

Cannabis and Mental Health: Schizophrenia

July 11, 2019, by  Andrew Ward Dr. Alex Dimitriu is a double board-certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. In response to this article, Dr. Dimitriu explained what the effects of psychosis are like on a person. “Psychosis is defined as having false beliefs (often called delusions) and […]

Experts Decode These 7 Common Anxiety Dreams

by Elizabeth Yuko, Jul 10, 2019 Our brains do some interesting things while we sleep, and we are designed to often forget the content of our dreams, Dr. Alex Dimitriu, who is double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, tells SheKnows. So what actually happens in our […]

Why Some People Always Remember Their Dreams and Others Forget

June 25, 2019 New — Written by Sarah Fielding  “Whether they remember or not, all people do dream in their sleep. It is an essential function for the human brain, and also present in most species,” Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, tells […]

7 Surprisingly Common Sleep Problems That May Be Health Issues

By Jordan Bissell, 6/25/19 People who have trouble sleeping can sometimes obsess about getting a solid night’s sleep. “Some people with insomnia think about sleep as much as 10 times more per day than the average person,” Dr. Alex Dimitriu, MD, double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, tells Bustle. […]

Do Brain-Boosting Supplements Actually Work Or Are They Total B.S.?

By Locke Hughes, 05/29/2019 It’s important to note that simply taking one or two of these nootropic agents often results in no significant net change, explained Dr. Alex Dimitriu, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. Instead, researchers have found that a concoction of some of the most researched and validated supplements, with overlapping benefits, […]

8 Unexpected Sleep Habits That Can Commonly Lead To Divorce, According To Experts

By Jordan Bissell, 4/26/19 If you like to crawl into bed early enough to read a few chapters of a book but your partner prefers to stay up late watching TV, you should be extra careful to communicate so that conflicts don’t arise. “Respect each other’s right to sleep,” Alex Dimitriu, MD, double board-certified in psychiatry […]

I SWITCHED TO A SUNRISE ALARM CLOCK, AND I’M NO LONGER DREADING EARLY WAKE-UP CALLS

By Erin Magner, APRIL 24, 2019 And according to Alex Dimitriu, MD, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, sunrise alarm clocks can actually be effective because they tap into the body’s innate biorhythms. “There is some evidence that natural morning light can actually help prepare the body to wake up,” he says. “This make sense, as […]

Your Guide to Microdosing for Anxiety and Depression

By Kayleigh Roberts, April 19, 2019 Alex Dimitriu, a physician, agrees that LSD and other psychedelics’ impact on the serotonergic system play a role in its effectiveness in treating anxiety and depression, but he also suggests it may be something more than that. “Even SSRIs that people take now don’t just work on one little […]

Enable Dark Mode