By The Editors  July 2, 2020

“In my professional work, we have come up with a balance between “Darwin and Buddha.” This is essentially a scale or spectrum of ego – from ego centrism to ego dissolution. No ego vs. too much ego. Whatever the label, some people have too much ego, beyond one standard deviation of the norm. When people are locked into “ego castles,” they see everyone as a competitor, and their resources limited and needing to be preserved (no farming in the castle). Manifestations of this are seeing all interactions as transactional.”

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By Dr. Alex Dimitriu, Jun 19, 2020

You wake up each day tired. The day ahead seems like a multi-stage triathlon.

Too many people have brought up the term “Groundhog Day,” to not mention it formally. You wake up each day tired. The day ahead seems like a multi-stage triathlon. You want to stay in bed, and yet you cannot just fall back asleep. You just want to be left alone.

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By Elizabeth Millard, June 16, 2020

“Part of ketamine’s utility is that it has many uses, and has been extensively used on the battlefield, as well as in the rescue of the Thai soccer team from a cave [in 2019],” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. “It can lift mood, reduce anxiety, and improve sleep. But it absolutely shouldn’t be seen as something you can use on your own as a way to self-medicate.”

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By Ruben Castaneda, Staff Writer, June 1, 2020

Prozac, Zoloft and other antidepressants can help with mood symptoms, often within four to six weeks, says Dr. Alex Dimitriu, who’s double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine. He’s the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in Menlo Park, California. “Side effects are not too common, but sometimes can include reduced libido, some stomach upset and headache, the latter of which often disappears within the first week,” Dimitriu says. “Weight gain, while possible, tends to be fairly minimal. There is no need to suffer silently these days; we have actual working treatments.”

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By Dr. Alex Dimitriu, May 14, 2020

The virus has taken us to simpler time; will we want the “old normal” back?

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Anna Gragert, May 11, 2020

Unpleasant and strange as these bad dreams might be for those of us having them, sleep experts aren’t surprised. “In a situation like the current one with Covid-19, with an increase in background stress, it makes sense that we might experience more disturbing dreams,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep. “Freud, in his dream analysis, also referred to something known as ‘day residue.’” Day residue describes waking-life events that appear in our dreams and nightmares. These images and scenes typically pop up during the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep phase, according to Dimitriu, which tends to take place during the second half of the night.

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by George Citroner on May 1, 2020

“Excess screen time, especially in the evening hours, and even more so just before bed, is bad for everyone’s sleep,” said Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine, and founder of Menlo Park (California) Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. “The blue light from the screen — yes, even the dimming features are not enough — reduce melatonin, and reduce the quality of deep sleep that our brains need,” he said. Dimitriu also described how the interactivity of digital devices could keep people internet surfing until late at night, while you may only read a book for 20 minutes before dozing off.

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