How Does Central Sleep Apnea Affect Mental Health?

By Sarah Sheppard, Mar 31, 2022

“In central sleep apnea, there is no obstruction. The brain simply does not initiate the breath,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. “The body essentially feels choked during such episodes, and it wakes up to reopen the airway. Oftentimes, people do not remember these small awakenings, or they just wake up, roll over, and fall back to sleep.”

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A 30-Minute Workout May Help Relieve Some Symptoms of Depression

By George Citroner, Mar 30, 2022

Although in more extreme cases, Dimitriu said stronger measures might be needed to treat this condition. “Therapy has been shown to be as effective as medication for depression – however it can take longer, unlike two pills of Prozac,” he cautioned. Dimitriu said medications might be more beneficial and faster acting than therapy for people with more severe symptoms or significant family histories of psychiatric conditions.

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How Cheating Starts and How to Stop It

By Risa Kerslake, Mar 21, 2022

“Our expectations are the source of our success as well as our unhappiness in life,” explained Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a psychiatrist and sleep medicine expert who founded Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California. This applies to relationships, as well. According to Dimitriu, relationships begin with certain expectations, and if they aren’t met, a partner might search elsewhere to fulfill their needs. Not everyone has this response, he cautioned. The fact that some people cheat and others don’t when they’re met with differing expectations is what makes human thinking more of a spectrum as opposed to black and white. Whether your partner’s expectations are reasonable or their response to your own expectations is appropriate makes up the gray area, Dimitriu said.

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How Bad Is It Really to Keep Hitting the Snooze Button?

By Madeleine H. Burry, Mar 19, 2022

“The snooze button can be a nice way to procrastinate waking up, or wake up a little more gently,” says psychiatrist and sleep physician Alex Dimitriu, MD, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD.

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A *Tha-Thump* in the Night: The Heart-Pounding Science of Nightmares

By SaVanna Shoemaker, MS, RDN, LD on Mar 16, 2022

Dimitriu says, “The brain is essentially awake during REM sleep, and the body is paralyzed (on purpose).” During this time, he explains, the brain is processing and storing memories, while also rehearsing past events and playing through potential future scenarios. Because of this process, dreams can be “good and bad in some ways, because that is also the reality of daily life.”

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Dream Interpretation: What Do Dreams Mean?

By Nicole McDermott, Mar 10, 2022

“Why we dream is uncertain, but we do know that the brain does a lot of cleanup and memory packaging—and rehearsing—during the night,” says Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a double board-certified physician in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California.

Dr. Dimitriu believes dreams can be random and may just be the brain having fun experimenting with loose connections and ideas. “Dreams can also be based on reality—based on the happenings in our lives and the concerns on our minds,” he says.

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, coined the term “day residue” to explain how we continue working on a specific problem or plan for an upcoming event in our sleep. “Whatever is on your mind by day could be reflected in your dreams at night,” says Dr. Dimitriu. “The brain continues to problem solve long after you’re asleep.”

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It Feels Like Everyone Takes Melatonin for Better Sleep—but Should They? Here’s What Sleep Experts Say

By Ashley Zlatopolsky, Mar 2, 2022

“Taking supplemental melatonin can help people adjust to jet lag and improve sleep quality in some people with insomnia (having trouble falling and staying asleep),” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine. “It has also been shown to relieve anxiety in people before and after surgery.” 

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34 Little Signs That You’re Probably Being Lied To

By Lauren Schumacker, Feb 25, 2022

We all know lying is something that should generally be avoided. However, telling small white lies every now and again to prevent awkward situations or help someone out can be harmless. That being said, no one wants to be unknowingly lied to and manipulated. “People lie because quite often some version of the truth hurts or has consequences,” Dr. Alex Dimitriu, M.D., dual board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine physician and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD, tells Romper. “Lying is often an immediately easy way out, perhaps with bigger consequences later.”

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Learn How Your Antidepressants Might Affect Your Birth Control

By Megan Deak, Feb 25, 2022

“There is no direct interaction between oral contraceptives and antidepressants,” said Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a double-board-certified psychiatrist and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in Menlo Park, California. “However, there are certainly brain regions where the two medications may interact, possibly with opposed effects.”

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How Mouth Taping Affects Sleep + What To Know Before Getting Started

By Colleen Travers, Feb 25, 2022

Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a double board-certified doctor in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BRAINFOODmd, warns that in some instances, particularly if you have subpar airflow through your nasal passages, mouth taping may result in worsening your sleep quality, so he often doesn’t recommend it to his clients.

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Risk of Mental Health Disorders Increases After COVID-19

by George Citroner on Feb 18, 2022

“My belief is that inflammation can certainly occur in the body as well as the brain,” said Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine, and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and Brainfood MD. He explained that specific forms of mental illness, such as depression, have been associated with increased body and brain inflammation.

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5 breathing exercises that relax your brain and help you fall asleep in seconds

By Sarah Bull, The Sun, Feb 16, 2022

“Square breathing gives you something physical to focus on, and counting the seconds and synchronizing the breath can have a grounding effect and reduce the wandering of the mind,” psychiatrist and sleep physician Alex Dimitriu, M.D. said. “In square breathing, the prolonged exhalation phase also results in the lungs pushing on the heart a bit, which in turn, makes the heart beat more slowly.”

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Multiple sleep problems may boost heart disease risk by more than 140%

By Marilynn Larkin, FEB 15, 2022

Dr. Alex Dimitriu, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine Sleep in California, commented in an email to Reuters Health, “I believe sleep should be considered a vital sign, along with heart rate, respirations, and blood pressure. I often see sleep as the tip of the iceberg – and if something is wrong with sleep, it is rarely in isolation.”

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What’s anxiety jewelry and does it work?

By Vanessa Wolosz Feb 15, 2022

“People are increasingly using widgets, spinners and other items to fiddle with to either improve focus and restlessness in ADHD and possibly also to relieve anxiety and stress,” explains Dr. Dimitriu. “I have seen an increased use of such products in the past several years.”

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