If the thought of getting up and going makes you want to stay put in bed, you aren’t alone. Whether it's lack of energy, general fatigue, or even burnout, many of us are finding it harder than ever to "get back to normal".
By Dr. Alison Hwong
Alison Hwong, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford and the VA Palo Alto. She earned her MD and PhD in Health Policy at Harvard University, completed adult psychiatry residency at UCSF, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the UCSF National Clinician Scholars Program. Her research focuses on health disparities for people living with mental illness.
Did you know your body has an alarm system? It’s called the amygdala, an area of the brain involved in emotional processing. When you experience a perceived threat, like a vicious dog or a speeding, oncoming car, the amygdala sends an alarm signal to a part of the brain called the hypothalamus.
