It’s normal and even helpful for guys to occasionally feel anxious, as it can motivate us to accomplish our projects and tasks.  However, excessive worry and anxiety can impair us from doing what we need to do during the day, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, more anxious and impairing our sleep.  At Men’s Mental Health we’ll work to find the root cause of a man’s anxiety, discuss how changes to diet and exercise habits could be helpful and treat it with the appropriate dose of medication, refer for talk therapy, or both. 

We all feel the blues sometimes and generally know how to pick ourselves back up, but when the blues turns into depression we may need some extra help. Men try to mask depression by isolating and shutting themselves off to others, pretending nothing’s wrong and ‘sucking it up.’ But the isolation often turns into rumination, anger, sleep disturbances, fatigue, guilt, substance abuse and even thoughts of self injury. Your provider at Men’s Mental Health will work with you to understand what’s causing the depression and provide treatment options which can include prescription medications and therapy. As always, we’ll talk about how nutrition and exercise are affecting your mood as well.

Physical intimacy is important for most men throughout their lives, as it reduces stress and maintains confidence. So when things aren’t working properly in the bedroom it can quickly deteriorate a man’s mood, self-worth and cause friction between him and his partner. There are a variety of reasons why libido may decrease, including depression, anxiety, PTSD and substance abuse. Additionally, erectile function can be impaired by mental health problems in addition to physical problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. If a guy is experiencing these problems we’ll work with him to understand the issue and figure out a solution.

Getting a good night’s rest is crucial for physical and mental health recovery so a guy can meet the challenges of the next day. Many men aren’t getting proper rest though, some reasons include: racing thoughts while falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night and not falling back to sleep, traumatic nightmares, substance abuse or compulsive behaviors on the internet throughout the night. Optimizing mental health is impossible without optimizing sleep, so we’ll work with you to understand what’s causing the insomnia and prescribe meds if necessary to treat it.

Gambling is thought to be the most powerful addiction because it employs the concept of ‘intermittent reward.’  Other types of addictions are predictably rewarding, for instance: when you drink alcohol, you generally know how it will make you feel; if you use a drug, you can predict the effect; if you’re scrolling on the internet, you can control the content you watch.  Gambling, however, is not predictable in the same way.  You never know when you’ll win or when you’ll lose, so the times when you win are even more powerful and rewarding for your brain.  The pursuit of these ‘wins’ drives men to gamble compulsively, to the point they might bankrupt themselves and their family.  By using medication, group and talk therapy we can assist men in overcoming this potentially devastating addiction. 

Mood swings can happen to all of us, but when they become so extreme that they get in the way of living our best life, then treatment can be helpful.  Bipolar 2 disorder is characterized by mood swings between a depressed state and ‘hypomanic’ state, wherein a person may be overly energetic, impulsive and irritable.  On the more extreme end is Bipolar disorder, with more severe symptoms that may even require hospitalization.  At Men’s Mental Health we can prescribe effective dosages of medications to alleviate these symptoms, monitor any side effects and the appropriate lab work that some medications require.

While not considered a diagnosis on its own, anger is a symptom that is common amongst men who are managing a mental health condition. Often it is the presenting symptom which causes a man to first seek out mental health care. At Men’s Mental Health we can help to elucidate and treat the underlying cause of a man’s anger.

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness characterized by a disorganized thought process, paranoia, delusions and hallucinations. While there is not a cure, many patients are able to manage the symptoms of schizophrenia with medications and social support from family. Long Acting Injectable medications can be particularly helpful, ensuring that patients are compliant with the medication. At Men’s Mental Health we are able to prescribe these medications.

Men disproportionately abuse drugs and alcohol, whether it’s to deal with stress, mask other mental health issues or an uncontrolled addiction, the results are large hits to our physical and mental well being. Support groups and 12 step programs are often very helpful, but sometimes not enough. At Men’s Mental Health we can use medications such as suboxone, naltrexone and antabuse to assist guys in achieving sobriety and then address any other mental health issues that were beneath the drugs or alcohol.

While eating disorders are less common in men, it can happen, especially overeating. This of course causes unwanted weight gain, leading to other medical and mental health issues and possible friction with romantic partners. Our emphasis at Men’s Mental Health on nutrition and exercise can reinforce proper eating habits and we’ll track your weight management progress during your visits. When necessary, medications can also be prescribed to assist in treating overeating. As always, we’ll encourage you to take advantage of the complimentary gym before and/or after your appointment.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the persistent effect of having experienced something traumatic in life, which is unresolved in a guy’s mind and begins to manifest mental health symptoms.  While “flashbacks” of the trauma can happen, the most common symptoms are changes in mood, sleep and behavior.  The brain gets re-wired to perceive non-threatening stimuli as threats, so men begin to feel anxious and panicked when out in public and around other people.  This can lead to paranoia and isolating in the home to avoid public encounters.  Sleep is often interrupted by nightmares and overall mood declines.  Fortunately, there are many medications and types of therapy we can use to help a guy alleviate these symptoms, re-calibrate his brain and re-integrate with the world around him.

The temptations to spend hours scrolling on the internet, obsessively playing videogames or watching endless amounts of pornography have hijacked the minds of many men in our modern, tech heavy society. Our brains quickly start perceiving these stimulations as rewarding, flooding our nervous systems with dopamine every time we engage in the activity. This has caused men, especially young men, to be more isolated than ever, holed up inside with electronic devices instead of engaging with the world around them and pursuing their life goals. At Men’s Mental Health we’ll talk openly about these habits, without judgement, to figure out how to reduce them and assist guys in pursuing more worthwhile endeavors.