1/6/2020. Dr. Dimitriu was published in Psychology on the topic of Identifying bipolar disorder’s “softer side”.

It’s true. Bipolar disorder has a “softer side,” and that’s what makes the condition’s diagnosis all the more challenging in people who have a wide array of what might be considered “finer symptoms.” 

Classic bipolar disorder is characterized by dramatic, extreme mood swings—from high “highs” (mania and hypomania, “I can do anything”) to low “lows” (depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, paranoia). But what about people with symptoms considered more “common,” like periods of anxiousness, sense of uneasiness, irritability, boredom, poor decision-making, and feelings of meaninglessness intermingled with moments of energy and intensity, euphoria, a spurt of ideas, focus, brilliance, vision, and achievement? These are often missed in psychiatric examinations because they are not viewed as a connected whole. They fall beneath what might be called the “threshold of diagnosis,” failing to fit neatly within standard clinical tools like the Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale or the Mood Disorder Questionnaire.

Click HERE for the full article.

By Julia Ries, 12/10/2019

On top of that, easy access to the IVs reduces the consequences of heavy drinking. If we’re not paying for our alcohol-infused mistakes with a brutal hangover, how are we ever going to learn? “While likely an effective way to rehydrate, the process of getting too drunk, hungover, to the point of requiring nearly medical intervention, sounds a bit too intense to be healthy or sustainable,” said Alex Dimitriu, a double board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine physician.

Click HERE for the full article.

November 14, 2019. Dr. Dimitriu was published in Psychology Today about Postpartum Depression.

Giving birth is one of the most joyous experiences of a woman’s life. Everybody says so. Family, friends, books, magazine articles. Everything she knows has prepared her for the elation that will accompany the arrival of her baby.

And yet, within days of giving birth, most women find themselves teary, sad, anxious, and fatigued. The “baby blues” affect as many as 80 percent of new mothers and its typically mild symptoms dissipate within a few days or a week with adjustment to new motherhood and with support from a partner, family, and friends.

Click HERE for the full article.

November 2019

“The science behind weighted blankets points to a ‘cocooning’ benefit which may elevate feelings for comfort and relaxation, possibly through an increase in oxytocin, a powerful bonding hormone,” says Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a physician who is board certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine. “Additionally, adults may have maintained an association between being swaddled in infanthood and relaxing, which may even go back to our days in the womb.”

Click HERE for the full article.

10/22/19. Dr. Dimitriu was published in Psychology on the topic of bipolar vs borderline personality disorder.

Diagnosing psychiatric illness isn’t easy. There’s usually no lab test, physical indication, or quantitative measurement that can distinguish one illness from another and often no magic bullet that can ensure effective treatment. Clinicians are dependent on a description of symptoms and patterns over time to make a diagnosis and these often appear similar even when the underlying illness is very different.

One example of this difficulty is in the incidence of borderline personality disorder being misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder. Both are characterized by impulsive behavior, mood swings, and suicidal thinking but have different causes and different treatments. Only an experienced medical professional can make the right diagnosis and determine appropriate treatment, but patients and their families can help by paying attention to their own thoughts and feelings and describing them accurately.

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9/24/19. Dr. Dimitriu was published in Psychology on the topic of Sleep and Memory: How They Work Together.

For many people, just getting through the day is a monumental struggle. Those suffering from anxiety, depression, and ADHD must fight to control their impulses simply to function and stay on task through a day of work or school when they’d rather be home in bed or playing video games. Having held it together all day, they then find those impulses even harder to control at the end of the day. Twenty years ago, a series of experiments demonstrated that impulse control is a finite resource that can be depleted – that suppressing impulses and feelings for some length of time can eventually make those impulses and feelings harder to resist. This phenomenon, known as “ego fatigue” or “ego depletion,” is recognized as a problem for those struggling with anxiety, depression, and ADHD as well as for people battling substance abuse and binge eating. The effect is similar to the depletion of physical and cognitive energy at the end of a long, busy day when all you want to do is relax and do nothing. Saying “no” to your urges all day makes it harder to control those urges in the evening when your store of control has been used up.

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Dr. Dimitriu was published in Psychology Today on the topic of Sleep and Memory: How They Work Together.

Medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas once wrote that “sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep.” Now, scientists are learning he was not far from the truth. 

A study published in July 2019 in the journal Current Biology indicates a poor night’s sleep—specifically, restless rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep—negatively impacts brain function, including the work of amygdalae. These are almond-sized clusters of nuclei located deep within the brain’s temporal lobes and responsible for the consolidation of memories for long-term learning, as well as the processing and storage of memories associated with events that elicit strong emotions like sorrow, embarrassment, fear, and anxiety.  Upon awakening, study volunteers who experienced disrupted REM sleep remained reactive to emotional events from the previous day while well-rested individuals labeled prior-day events as being of lesser emotional significance than they originally thought, according to the researchers.

Click HERE for the full article.