Dr. Alla I. Spivak M.D.

As men age, their risk of heart attack rises, especially if they are prone to anxiety. In a 12-year study, anxiety was found to increase the risk of heart attack by 30% to 40% in men who are anxious when compared to men who are calmer, irrespective of other personality and risk factors. In this...

IntroductionTrichotillomania is also known as the hair-pulling disorder. It is categorized as a mental disorder, wherein there is an involvement of an irresistible as well as a recurrent urge to pull out the hair from the scalp, eyebrows, and other parts of the body with hair.The urge to pull one's...

Schizophrenia by itself is not fatal like cancer or any other life-threatening diseases. However, many cases of death have been accounted for and the usual reason behind it is suicide. Moreover, people who have adopted habits such as smoking, taking prohibited drugs, or unhealthy eating, either due...

Nymphomania is a mental disorder. The person shows characteristic compulsive sexual behavior. Compulsive means unwanted actions and rituals. The person repeatedly engages in it without getting any pleasure out of it, or the person is unable to control the behaviors. A person with nymphomania acts...

It is a formidable task to define schizophrenia unless we accept an unsatisfactory definition that consists of a list of the most common characteristics of the disorder.Some psychiatrists consider schizophrenia as an illness, others a syndrome, a mental mechanism, or even a way of living. There is...

What is depression?Depression is a mood disorder that causes an individual to feel sad, lonely, lost, angry, hopeless, or frustrated daily. These severe emotions can interfere with the individual's everyday life. For elders, depression can arise through hard life experiences, like losing a spouse,...