We had a great chat with Dr. Gretchen this morning! We covered everything from how she does her work, what counseling can do for a woman with PCOS, to her love for her local farmer's market.
If you have ever thought about getting counseling to deal with the stress that your diagnosis has placed on your daily plate, please check in and listen to what Dr. Gretchen has to say!
Gretchen's practice is located in West Los Angeles. You can learn more about her at http://www.drhousemd.com/. She can be contacted directly at 310.625.6083, or gkubacky@yahoo.com.
If you've been waiting for us to be open in Santa Monica, here is your chance to capitalize! As a way to introduce the community to our programs, each month we'll be offering a"Meet the Experts" event. September's event is a"pay what you can" counseling special with Dr. Gretchen Kubacky, who you know through our new Mental Health Mondays blog feature.
Friday, September 16, from noon to 4 pm, Dr. Gretchen will be making time available for counseling on a space available, pay what you can basis. Because the available time is limited, and because we want to be sure Dr. Gretchen's time is used respectfully, we do ask that you commit to your scheduled time with an advance, nonrefundable payment.
In a world where health care can be unaffordable, and services such as Dr. Gretchen's are often out of reach, this generosity on her part is a real opportunity for anyone who needs to sort through the stress their PCOS has caused.
If you would like to reserve a spot, please contact monika at afterthediet dot com for details.
You know you’ve been there – reaching for the cookie jar again and again, or woefully looking into the bottom of a bag of chips. Feeling sick, disgusted, out of control, sad and angry. Cursing yourself for giving in to the urge again. If you’ve got a problem with binge eating, there’s no perfect way to avoid it forever, but the key is to stop and think before you act. Here are my favorite ways to put the brakes on a binge:
Triple wrap your treat in foil, plastic wrap, and a plastic bag. Shove it in the deepest, darkest corner of the freezer. I know chocolate chip cookies taste great frozen (and semi-stale, and raw, and even when you have to pick the raisins out of them), but this will slow you down.
Before going to a potluck (and I am not casting aspersions on your family, friends, or colleagues), remind yourself of all those studies documenting that one-third to one-half of people do not wash their hands after using the restroom. Did one of those people prepare that casserole full of fatty pasta you’re about to dig into? Just asking…
Make a public declaration, and allow your shame to come quickly to the forefront if you violate it. I know if I say I’m following a special diet that temporarily eliminates wheat and dairy, you can bet someone will question me if I start heading for the cheesecake. The only way out is to contain myself.
Eat dessert first. Your mother isn’t standing over your shoulder, telling you what to do anymore. If you want dessert more than anything, give yourself permission to eat it first, and know that you are allowed to have whatever you want.
Put a time limit on it. If you really can’t resist, set a timer for three minutes and eat what you will. Not a perfect remedy, but you will contain the damage.
Love your food. Really love it. The more you love something, the more difficult it is to abuse. Remember that about yourself as well.
Forgive yourself if none of the above works. Forgive yourself if nothing you’ve ever read or heard or been told by your dietician works to keep you from binge eating. There’s always another opportunity to do better.
Is depression an inevitable consequence of PCOS, or any other hormonally related diagnosis, for that matter? We know that the diabetic population experiences a rate of depression nearing 30% overall, which is significantly higher than the rate of depression in the general population. Women tend to suffer from depression, or it's lesser cousin, dysthymia ("depression light"), far more than men. The infertility that results from PCOS is yet another common cause of depression. Looking at all these causative health factors almost makes depression seem like an inevitability if you have PCOS, doesn't it?
However, it's important to remember that depression is not a thing — it is not a particular spot in the brain, an object like a tumor in your body, or even a set of cells that gets activated and can be turned on and off like a light switch. Depression is a concept — a construct that tries to define and systematize a sometimes vague set of symptoms that includes tiredness, loss of energy, loss of interest in things that once brought you joy, weight gain or loss, sleep difficulties, and even thoughts of suicide.
So, even if you have a diagnosis of depression or dysthymia, remember that you are not your symptoms. You are an individual who has a certain set of symptoms, but how you approach the management of those symptoms is subject to your individuality. Just as you must personalize other aspects of your PCOS treatment, you must personalize treatment for depression or dysthymia. This may include individual therapy, group therapy, support groups, mindfulness, meditation, dietary changes that support better brain chemistry, supplements, or perhaps antidepressant medications.
If you are feeling depressed, talk to your primary health care practitioner about your symptoms. They are not necessarily an inevitabile outcome of living with PCOS, and there are many ways to obtain relief. In a future post, I'll be discussing the prevalence of anxiety and anxiety disorders in women with PCOS, how depression and anxiety overlap, and what you can do to decrease your anxiety.
Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. Los Angeles, CA 90064 ph: (310) 625-6083 gretchen@drhousemd.com
If you're a Doctor Gretchen fan, and you missed her PCOS Challenge interview about PCOS and relationships last night, you can find the recording in the archives.
As Gretchen said on her Facebook fan page,"We talked love, sex, work, marriage, dysfunctional family systems, and a whole lot more!"
Go to http://www.pcoschallenge.com/ to find the link.
