Dr. Filza Hussain
"She’s been wearing long sleeves even when it’s really hot out." "She refuses to go swimming even though it was her favorite summer [...]
OCD, or obsessive compulsive disorder, continues to be stigmatized as a health issue even though there's a paradoxical adoption of the term in the English [...]
This was her third trip to the Emergency Department in two days. She had been home watching TV when all of a sudden her heart [...]
By Filza Hussain, M.D., a Mayo Clinic Health System behavioral health provider. As a psychiatrist who also is a self-confessed film buff, I get very excited to watch films with psychological themes. Whether it’s a film based on a Nobel-prize-winning schizophrenic mathematical genius in “A Beautiful Mind" or the fictional story “The Sixth Sense,” about a boy who sees dead people, I'm enthralled. I find that popular media plays a big role in informing the general masses and shaping opinions. So, imagine my frustration as I watch films where orderlies dressed in white from head to toe subdue a patient in a straitjacket or scenes where doctors use shock treatments as punishment. Some of these movies are old classics, and certainly portray the sentiment and stigma surrounding mental illness at the time. Yet, the stigma still exists, and this can be quite debilitating for patients as they struggle to find balance between wanting help and not being judged. Personally, I find the stigma and misconceptions popularized by the media to be a hurdle I jump over almost daily to create a treatment plan for my patients. So let’s try and bust a few myths:
- Lithium. Contrary to what some songs may lead you to believe, lithium is a very useful medication when monitored carefully, used for the right reasons and taken as prescribed. I wish all the patients who have been helped by lithium would get together and write a song about its benefits.
We all experience periods of anxiety. It’s the brain’s way of getting us ready to face or escape danger or deal with stressful situations. For example, anxiety before exams can make one study more and, hence, do well on a test. However, at times, the anxiety can be quite severe or exaggerated in relation to the actual situation. This can lead to intense physical sensations, anxious thoughts, worries and avoidant that impact your life. An example would be skipping school the day of a test because you’re so anxious. Or, another example is having a panic attack to the point that you can’t take a test. But why does anxiety manifest with physical symptoms? Filza Hussain, M.D., Mayo Clinic Health System behavioral health provider, offers this simplified explanation: The brain is an extremely powerful organ. It is, in a way, the central command center for the rest of the body and has an influence over all the different organ systems. When this central command system is hijacked by anxiety, the anxiety has free reign to cause havoc in the different organ systems, creating physical symptoms even though there is nothing wrong with the organ itself.
Filza Hussain, M.D., behavioral health physician at Mayo Clinic Health System, provides some expert perspective on depression and our culture's understanding of the subject. Our relationship with the word depression is quite paradoxical. Although, on the one hand, we so freely admit that we are depressed because our team lost the Super Bowl or because the store doesn’t carry a desired outfit in our size. When it comes to talking about clinical depression, the stigma attached with the word becomes omnipotent. Rather than admitting to feelings of sadness, loss of interest in usual activities, guilt, decreased energy, difficulty with attention and concentration, and sleep difficulties, we clam up, put a bright smile on our face and pretend everything is OK.
"Many of my patients face sleep difficulties," says Filza Hussain, M.D., Mayo Clinic Health System behavioral health expert. "It’s either difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or both. This leads to feeling tired in the morning, having difficulties with daytime sleepiness, attention and concentration problems, and irritability. Most of my patients have tried over-the-counter sleep aids or even prescription medications but remain dissatisfied and sleepless." Sleep aids certainly can help in the short term, but developing good sleep practices is often key. Sleep hygiene is a term used to describe good sleep habits. Dr. Hussain says the fundamentals of practicing good sleep hygiene are:
Taking medications on a daily basis can be a chore, but it becomes more challenging if there’s lack of understanding of or misconceptions about your medication. "In my practice, I come across many patients who are skeptical about taking psychiatric medications," says Filza Hussain, M.D., Mayo Clinic Health System behavioral health physician. Dr. Hussain says there are a few factors that contribute to this distrust:
- The medication has to be taken every day. Unfortunately, psychiatric medications don’t always work immediately like pain pills do.
- Psychiatric medications often take several weeks to start working.
- Patients worry about how their medications will affect them, both with side effects and risk of addiction.
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