By Shannon M. Bauer, Sept 12, 2022

While the time at home brought certain benefits to some families, others have felt a lack of balance in work and in life since the beginning of the pandemic. Jeff Leininger, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California says for many, the pandemic also led to a sense of dislocation and distance from ourselves, friendships, families, and communities. And many parents have found themselves feeling stretched mentally, emotionally, and physically—eventually reaching the point beyond high stress and in total burnout.

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By Vanessa Ling, ND, CNS, Aug 31, 2022

Psychiatry and psychology can both be a part of your optimal treatment plan, and some online therapy platforms combine therapy with psychiatry. Board-certified psychiatrist Alex Dimitriu, M.D., explains how psychiatry and psychology can work together, stating, “Some people may be “stuck” in therapy for years if a biological problem remains unaddressed. Some of these conditions may be resolved more quickly with medication — and a good therapist or psychiatrist knows when it is time for therapy or medication or both.”

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By Erica Patino, Aug 25, 2022

To understand how narcolepsy can impact your health, it helps to first take a look at how the condition can affect the body. “Narcolepsy is [thought to be an]autoimmune disorder resulting from the loss of orexin neurons in the brain,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine in California. Orexin neurons, he says, play an important role in the body by helping to regulate alertness, mood, and metabolism as well as the body’s energy use and ability to maintain stability. 

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By Laurie Saloman, Aug 25, 2022

“Symptoms can present ranging from paranoid thoughts to finding meaning and connections where there aren’t any to the more classic auditory hallucinations,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine expert and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in Menlo Park, California. “While these varied symptoms are not on a continuous spectrum, the intensity and frequency and level of disability caused by the symptoms can certainly vary from mild to severe, and that can change as well.”

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By Beth Ann Mayer, Aug 19, 2022

So, though mouth taping proponents may say it helps with breathing, Dimitriu warns it will likely have the opposite effect. “It’s…important to note that laying down tends to make the nose more congested,” Dimitriu says. “Sometimes, people will breathe well nasally when upright, then worse when laying flat. This is because of blood pooling. When we stand, more blood goes down to the legs, so there is less congestion in the nose.”

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By Shreyashi Chakraborty, Aug 12 2022

To address the problem, Dr. Alex Dimitriu, a notable psychologist and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California and BrainfoodMD, told Healthline that an individual needs to find the root cause at first. “See how you’re feeling on the weekend if you’re not working. It’s important to understand if the fatigue is due to your sleep, or your anxiety, or your actual level of busyness during the day,” Dimitriu said. Noting that glutamate levels tend to plunge during nap time, Dimitriu asked people to catch more sleep to fight cognitive fatigue. “Think it starts with sleep the night before and sleep in general. Sleep is fundamental and I think getting enough of it regularly is probably the best way to fight cognitive fatigue.”

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By Helen Massy, August 11, 2022

“Essentially, somatic [symptom] disorder suggests a high level of preoccupation with either a real or undiagnosed set of symptoms, which cause significant distress and some degree of life impairment,” said Alex Dimitriu, M.D., who is board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine, and founded Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California and BrainfoodMD.com. He said anxiety is essential to the diagnosis and could be present generally or limited to more bothersome symptoms.

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