A developmental psychologist, I specialize in how sensory processing problems, poor nutrition, internal and external toxicity, drugs, and skull misalignment create illness, and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, and how a holistic lifestyle heals body, mind and soul. I received my master’s degree in child development from the University of Chicago and my PhD in developmental psychology from Loyola University of Chicago.
I am the author of popular psychology books including:
Anxiety: Hidden Causes, Why your anxiety may not be “all in your head” but from something physical (FL: Symmetry 2002).
Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World (NY: HarperCollins, 2002).
The Idiot’s Guide to Conquering Fear and Anxiety (NY: Macmillan, 1999).
The Vital Touch -- How Intimate Contact with Your Baby Leads to Happier, Healthier Development (NY: Owl/Holt, 1997).
Freud A to Z (Wiley and Sons, 2005).
My website is www.sharonheller.net
..the easiest step toward improving the quality of life consists in simply learning to control the body and its senses." Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be among the one in four adults who suffer anxiety, depression or other diagnosable mental disorders. If so, you have likely been put on psychotropic medication such as tranquilizers or anti-depressants to relieve your distress. But is this the correct course of action? Not necessarily. Unless you’ve experienced childhood abuse or specific trauma in your life that leads to mental illness, the primary trigger for psychopathology is often physical, not psychiatric.
And the list is much more extensive.
Before you pop another pill, consider that your nervousness or blues might be physically triggered. For more information, see my book "Anxiety: Hidden Causes" (Amazon) or visit my website www.sharonheller.net.