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Welcome to Brain Bites with Dr. B!

Brain Bites is all about broadening your reach with easy-to-digest psych knowledge! Join me for quick, interesting medication and brain science tidbits! Elevate your therapy practice with insight and data from your friendly online psychiatrist!

SSRIs and serotonin CEU course
Featured Post

haunted house or just needs light?

After some watermelon and fire flies we were off to our B&B to snuggle down for the night. But when we arrived, the old Victorian mansion loomed unwelcomely. The house was completely dark inside and out. Ours was the only car pulled in the driveway and there was nothing around but spiderwebs and the chirping of crickets. After using the code to sneak through the back door I was completely unsettled. Where was everyone? Or anyone at all?? are you sure we have the right address? My husband and...

Ok, I'm being dramatic. This past Monday I just got one step closer to being 50! Which is not a bad thing at all! (and the options are not plentiful...) But it's time I finally face the facts. I need to see someone about my hormones. Yeah, yeah. I know. I talk to my patients "of a certain age"šŸ˜ about this all the time! And many of my closest friends. Over the past year I've tried to: Better balance my workouts. Better balance my work-life stuff. Eat less sugar and drink less beer. Sleep more!...

how's your handwriting? brain science of writing vs typing

Seriously, Reader, how do you feel about your handwriting? This has purpose, I promise. But let me back up a little. Lots of people hate journaling. it totally doesn't have to start off like this Iā€™m not sure why, or what theyā€™re doing that makes it so awful, but many of my patients are staunch haters of the journal. What about you? Do your clients like to journal? Do they get a lot out of the practice? This may seem a little weird but I want to talk about why journaling, specifically by...

adult ADHD differences from kids

it's that time of year again. New backpacks... Sharp crayons... Weird afternoon not-rush-hour traffic... The smell of freshly sharpened pencils... It's back to school time! (At least here in my steamy bit of Florida) too soon for detention! Which made me think this was the perfect time to talk about ADHD! In this week's video I'm specifically addressing ADULT ADHD and how that may look different than for kids. For adults, the time of year is not really as important (except maybe for grad...

expanding comfort zones for meds and neuroscience

After our iceberg dodging and a few too many chocolate chip cookies, it was time! We had a few minutes to get ready so we raced off to our rooms giddy with the idea of jumping into 42F degree sea water with ice floating all around. My life vest was damp and scratchy and the deck was cold and wet. As we climbed into the zodiac one by one, the sun shone down on us warming our much too exposed skin. How long would this take? How long would I be in the water? For how long would I be cold?? The...

How SSRIs work to help depression

Last week my internet broke. Well, I guess it didnā€™t just ā€œbreakā€. The guy yielding the FiOS-killing edger CUT our beautiful Google-giving cable. I looked at the thing with the light in the living room. Itā€™s red. Is it usually red? Probably not but it usually works so I donā€™t look at it. At all. Go unplug the thing in the garage. Quickly count to 27 and just decide thatā€™s long enough and plug it back in. Still no connection. No work for me or summer-homework for my kids! Chat with the bot...

How's your connection? Let's network!

The music was throbbing and I was dance-walking through a mob of sweaty humans on my way outside for some fresh air. It was dark and loud and sticky because thatā€™s how a July night feels in small town Florida. While someone was presumably puking in the bushes, I put my hair up with a scrunchie and downed the rest of my Zima. Zima? Wait. What? Oh yeah, thatā€™s not the party I meant. (I never want to repeat THAT experience again!) Last week I had a better than expected experience at a NETWORKING...

ā€œBaby. Baby. Are you ok?ā€ ā€œYou, go get help. Call 911.ā€ Looking.. listeningā€¦ I put my first 2 fingers together at the center of that tiny little (plastic) sternum and do 30 chest compressions before giving 2 breaths over a face the size of my catā€™s. This was the scene from an infant CPR training. I was at least 15 years older than everyone else at this Before the Baby Arrives course, but all of us were anxious (excited?) to become new parents! Some people would think this is morbid. Infant...

Iā€™m short. Or maybe not really, but compared to my family and friends, Iā€™m a short 5ā€™4ā€-ish. I donā€™t HAVE to wear petites but they sure fit better than ā€œregularā€. Or I can buy the SHORT version. Thatā€™s nice too. (Eye roll. Can't it be a cuter designation? Short is so obvious and boring!) Itā€™s something Iā€™ll probably never really get over (a little punny, maybe? over? no? ok.) but I do have workable solutions! Other than consistently buying pants that donā€™t fit because theyā€™re too dang long:...

I canā€™t go to the grocery store, Reader. I mean yes, physically Iā€™m capable of going into a crowded Publix on a holiday weekend but it is a disaster waiting to happen. No, I donā€™t love wonky lines of pushy people at the deli counter but that's not it. And no, I donā€™t have a past trauma that keeps me from trying to find the best parking spot (which is actually the one with even the tiniest bit of shade). Itā€™s my inability to be discerning. At all. Iā€™m incredibly susceptible to ANY kind of...