Thu, 15 Jun 2023 04:05:01 -0500WeeblyMon, 22 May 2023 02:55:42 GMThttps://www.huntsvillepsych.com/blog/5-neuro-musketeers5 Major neurotransmitters in our brain 
Acetylcholine (associated with Alzheimer's disease and myasthenia gravis)
Dopamine (Pleasure- pain; depression, mood, psychosis, parkinson's disease)
Glutamate and GABA (depression, anxiety, epilepsy and seizures)
Serotonin (major depression)

Dopamine is associated with both the perception of pleasure and pain in our brain;
It brings waves of joy and responsible for making us feel good – also responsible for the reward system making the concept of reinforcement real and leading on to our motivation to do well to achieve mental and physical wellbeing;

Dopamine moves our body, creates intentions; motivates us to do more; helps us to concentrate and then remember our actions bringing along with rewards of happiness and accomplishment

10 tips to increase Dopamine

1. Exercise regularly. Physical activity leads to dopamine release and improves mood   
2. Eat protein. Tyrosine leads on to production of dopamine. Eating a balanced diet with plenty of protein like turkey, eggs, beef, legumes, soy, and low-fat dairy helps to maintain the proper dopamine levels. 
3. Reduce saturated fat consumption. high level of saturated fat in the body from foods like full-fat dairy, butter, animal fat, palm oil, and coconut oil can disrupt dopamine signaling. 
4. Pay attention to “gut health.” Researchers continue to learn more about the digestive system and its role in producing neurotransmitters, including dopamine. 
   
5. Good Sleep leads to higher dopamine release in the morning and tapering dopamine release in the evening, which supports normal wakefulness and sleepiness.
6. Meditate. Meditation is associated with better mental and physical health, which may be due to it increasing dopamine production;   
7. Sunlight. Sun exposure can increase the density of dopamine receptors in certain areas of the brain
8. Music. Music can increase activity in areas of the brain associated with the reward and pleasure systems. and therefore increase your dopamine levels. 
9. Supplements. adequate amounts of vitamins needed to create dopamine — iron, vitamin B6, niacin and needs to be replaced if lower on labs 
10. Being in Love-  Being in love with a person, hobby, pets, or even a job can increase dopamine 

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]]>Tue, 04 Jul 2017 20:27:24 GMThttps://www.huntsvillepsych.com/blog/emotional-resilienceEmotional or Psychological resilience is defined as ones ability to successfully adapt to life tasks in the face of social disadvantage or highly adverse conditions, Often family or relationship conflicts, health problems, or workplace or financial worries challenge our ability to stay "psychologically whole" or "emotionally intact" to function as a human being.  Emotional resilience provides a tool to measure ones ability to "bounce back" from a negative experience, or stress and helps us to withstand the impact of "emotional tsunamis" on our brain


One of the ways to approach emotional resilience is to identify and enhance the quality of the below listed domains:
1) Optimism
2) Self Belief
​3) Control of Self
​4) ​Willingness to Adapt
​5) Willingness to be Flexible
​6) Ability to Solve Problems
​7) Emotional Awareness
​8) ​Social Support
9) ​Sense of Humor

​Gagan Dhaliwal
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]]>Tue, 04 Jul 2017 20:10:38 GMThttps://www.huntsvillepsych.com/blog/what-is-mindMIND is a faculty of human beings by which he or she thinks, perceives, remembers and makes decisions., It provides an optimal framework to understand and remedy symptoms of depression, anxiety or other brain based disorders. Disorders in thinking or thoughts can cause depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, while issues with perception can cause delusional thoughts and suspiciousness. In similar ways, issues with remembering or memory can cause dementia or amnestic disorders. Decision making at the level of MIND results in actions, either good or safe but in some unfortunate cases, not so good or even unsafe that impacts the person and sometimes, society as a whole

​Gagan Dhaliwal
]]>Tue, 04 Jul 2017 19:56:01 GMThttps://www.huntsvillepsych.com/blog/gps-global-positioning-system-of-our-mindOur MIND relies on three major coordinates to guide our BRAIN to create intention, awareness and a sense of accomplishment

​1)  Where are we?-----how and why we decide to be in a certain place, relationship or our involvement in any activity, decision making or intentional actions
​2) What are we thinking?- examination of our thoughts and seems like we are always thinking
​3) How are we doing?- reviewing our actions, both in terms of what we intend to do and how we decide and initiate behaviors to achieve a certain action or outcome

​To enhance the quality of our mind and nourish our brain, we need to examine these three aspects of MIND, that I consider GPS (Global Positioning System) our existence

​Gagan Dhaliwal]]>Tue, 04 Jul 2017 18:40:05 GMThttps://www.huntsvillepsych.com/blog/thoughts-emotions-actionsWelcome to our blog
​It is our privilege to meet and get to know you all  who decide to visit us. We strive and hope that we are able to listen to your thoughts and attend to your emotions. We strive to eradicate the suffering from anxiety, depression, attentional deficits and mood swings.. 

​We promote and advocate enhanced ability to rely on self care techniques that promote healthy mind and body.. Mind has always been hard to define. From a clinical point of view, I see mind relying on three pillars for its functioning:   Thoughts, Emotions and Actions. Working on these three aspects of mind is the way to  improve emotional resilience and emotional intelligence and this is our goal and we welcome you to join us in exploring our brain and learning more about our mind and in the process  enhancing quality of life and achieving states of happiness

​Gagan Dhaliwal,
]]>Fri, 26 Aug 2016 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.huntsvillepsych.com/blog/life-without-boundaries​]]>