Neelima Kunam MD

11/30/2021

Happy Hanukkah!

01/24/2021

If you live in or near Orange County, please Like & Follow our OC Inland Psychiatric Medical Group page. https://www.facebook.com/Orange-County-Inland-Psychiatric-Medical-Group-102814878321099

In Person, Online & Telephone services for Behavioral Health in Southern California Area.

01/23/2021

Our therapists are full and we would love to be able to refer to therapists in the community. Please leave your info below if you are taking new patients. Thank you for what you do.

01/15/2021

We are excited to announce another location opening up soon in Orange County. We also have a couple locations opening up in San Bernardino county where the majority of our locations are located at this time. Please don’t hesitate to follow our Inland Psychiatric Medical Group Instagram Accounts to get the latest updates.
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we understand that this past year has only aamplifiedthe already difficult access to mental health services.
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We are committed to continuing to serve the Southern California Community as we have been since 1992.
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Services Available:
Depression Treatment
Anxiety Treatment
OCD Treatment
PTSD Treatment
Perinatal Depression
Bipolar Treatment
Schizophrenia Treatment
Schizoaffective Treatment
Smoking Cessation
and so much more....

01/13/2021

and ?...
Studies have shown practicing mindfulness regularly can help improve or difficulty with attentiveness.
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Considering the low risk of implementing Mindfulness Meditation 🧘🏽‍♀️ into your regular regimen - it’s worth looking into this further with your personal doctor. *This is for informational purposes only and not intended to replace medical advice given by your doctor. Never stop taking medications without talking to your personal doctor. Never delay seeking medical or mental health treatment due to any social media post.
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A UCLA study found that people with ADHD who attended a mindfulness meditation session once a week for 2 1/2 hours, then completed a daily home meditation practice that gradually increased from 5 to 15 minutes over 8 weeks, were better able to stay focused on tasks. They were also less depressed and anxious. Other studies since then have had similar results.
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Because people with ADHD may have trouble getting stuff done on time and can be forgetful, they tend to be very critical of themselves. Using meditation as a tool to tune out the judgmental voice in your head can be powerful.
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Cognitive Behavioral Practices: "Mindfulness Meditation Training for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adulthood: Current Empirical Support, Treatment Overview, and Future Directions."

01/12/2021

Mindfulness Meditation 🧘🏽‍♀️ Is an Evidence Based Practice anyone can use!
Enter to win this wonderful app! Giving away 3 Subscriptions of this amazingly designed App.


Instructions
1. Follow
2. Follow or or
3. Comment on this post listing your different entries
4. Tag a friend that would want this 🧘🏽‍♀️
Extra Entries:
👍🏽Like Inland Psychiatric Medical Group on LinkedIn
👍🏽Like Inland Psychiatric Medical Group on Facebook
Giveaway closes on January 15th, 5pm PST Friday.
Open to all; any location; Not affiliated with Instagram.

01/12/2021

What’s all the HYPE about Mindfulness Meditation? Studies have shown 6 weeks to 3 months of Mindfulness Meditation can significantly improve insomnia.
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Considering Mindfulness Meditation is low risk, it’s a great option to start in 2021 to improve not only sleep but lower psychological distress, stress and anxiety.
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It’s important to incorporate both elements of Mindfulness Meditation:
A) Returning Thoughts
B) Being non-judgmental of the thoughts wandering
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A resource: Mindful.org
Calm App YouTube Videos
Mindful Mamas App
Cite: Gong H, Ni CX, Liu YZ, Zhang Y, Su WJ, Lian YJ, Peng W, Jiang CL. Mindfulness meditation for insomnia: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Psychosom Res. 2016 Oct;89:1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2016.07.016. Epub 2016 Jul 26. PMID: 27663102.

01/12/2021

Got my vaccine (1st shot) last week.
Type: Pfizer
Side effects: Significant Shoulder Pain the day after and then minimal pain the 3rd day. 0 pain there after.
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Excited to get herd immunity going and move things forward!
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Talk to your doctor if you are worried or concerned about the vaccine.
I can answer questions here as well.
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Keeping my second dose date light at my clinic in case I have the side effects of chills, and fatigue.
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Will update you on how it goes!

01/10/2021

One of the many reasons it can be very important to incorporate a Medical Doctor (like a Psychiatrist) or a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner or Physician’s Assistant to make sure your mental health is not in fact worsened by the Thyroid or causes solely by your Thyroid.
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There are many connections between the “body” and the “mind” and with the growing evidence of this- it’s important to include someone that will investigate this for you.
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Neelima Kunam M.D.
Inland Psychiatric Medical Group
www.inlandpsych.com

01/09/2021

Some intrusive thoughts in OCD are reoccurring thoughts or images of death and are actually not related to ones intentions.
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These thoughts may get triggered by something specific and are “sticky” and won’t leave.
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These intrusive images or thoughts may be very distressing to the person having them and the harder they try to not think about them the harder it can be to get rid of them.
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Did you know that if you disclose that you were having some thoughts of hopelessness or having intrusive thoughts that won’t go away that it doesn’t automatically mean you have to be petitioned or certified and hospitalized?
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Many times these thoughts are chronic and can be treated outpatient.
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Developing a good rapport with your outpatient can help reduce psychiatric hospitalization.
*This is not intended to replace medical advice given by your personal doctor. Some chronic thoughts may require immediate medical attention at the ER or by calling 911 for emergency services. If you are unsure err on the side of caution and reach out to a Crisis Team or emergency services. Do not delay seeking medical attention or emergency services due to this post. This post is for informational purposes only.

01/09/2021

Cognitive behavioral therapy aims to correct ingrained patterns of negative thoughts & behaviors. The patient learns to recognize distorted, self-critical thoughts, such as "I always screw up," "People don't like me," or "It's all my fault."
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During cognitive behavioral therapy, a clinician works with the patient to evaluate the truth behind these statements, aiming to transform such automatic thoughts & to recognize events that are beyond anyone's control.
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Many people don't have access to a CBT therapist—maybe they’re not close by or they're not in-network or they're prohibitively expensive. It’s also tough to take time off work or child care every week to see a therapist.
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Many studies have found that self-directed CBT can be very effective. Two reviews that each included over 30 studies (see references below) found that self-help treatment significantly reduced both anxiety and depression, especially when the treatments used CBT techniques. The average amount of benefit was in the “moderate” range, meaning people didn’t feel 100% better, but were noticeably less anxious and depressed.
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Self-help CBT is probably most appropriate for someone with mild to moderate symptoms who is generally able to function well. A person who is severely depressed and barely able to get out of bed is probably not a good match, and will likely need one-on-one treatment with a professional.
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One of the goals of CBT is to "become your own therapist" by learning skills you can use on your own after treatment to keep feeling well.
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Seth J. Gillihan:
Retrain Your Brain (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks: A Workbook for Managing Depression and Anxiety)
If you are have dangerous thoughts please reach out to a crisis mental health center or go to the nearest emergency department. *This is not intended to replace medical advice from your personal doctor.

01/05/2021

campaign is to encourage people to not shy away from letting their loved ones open up to them about their thoughts of ending their life. It is a life saving campaign.
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Reminder to keep checking in and staying connected with friends, family and co-workers through zoom, FaceTime, voice messages through text and old fashioned phone calls.
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It’s important to continue to help your loved on keep their access to harmful things like fi****ms or large knives very low. The harder to access these items, the less likely a life will be taken when they are feeling impulsive.
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Often thoughts of ending ones life are transient in severity. This means time can help reduce the risk of acting on the thoughts.
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Crisis lines are usually available 24/7 to help with lowering the stigma of these thoughts and to help those in need reach out for help.
National Su***de Prevention Line 1-800-273-8255
Crisis Text Chat Line: Text the word HOME to 741-741
LGBQT+ Crisis Line - Trevor Line - 1-866-488-7386 or Text the word START to 678-678

01/05/2021

TMS: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is FDA Cleared for the Treatment of Depression.
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Inland Psychiatric Medical Group offers TMS.
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Most insurances cover the treatment of Drug Resistant Depression.
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Your Psychiatrist or Nurse Practitioner can refer you to us for TMS while still also under the care of your Psychiatrist or Nurse Practitioner.
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Email care@inlandpsych.com
Call 909-312-3300
Visit www.inlandpsych.com/appointments

01/05/2021

Mental Health Care Available Online:
• Online Virtual Appointments
• Electronic Prescriptions sent to your Local or Mail Order Pharmacy
• E-labs, Patient Portal, Text/Email Appointment Reminders
• California Residents Only
• We Accept Many Insurances
• Caring for the people of our communities for 30 years.
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Evaluation & Treatment of: Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, Social Anxiety, OCD, Bipolar 1 & 2, Schizophrenia, and PTSD. And Much more...
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Medications may include but not limited to Anti-Depressants , Mood Stabilizers, Atypical Antipsychotics and other.
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Email care@inlandpsych.com
Call 909-312-3200
Visit www.inlandpsych.com

01/04/2021

Research study open until the summer of 2021. During 3 Separate Study Visits, participants will perform two emotion regulation tasks on a computer. There will be a 3 minute session of TMS applied to one of 3 areas in the head. Then participants will perform the computer tasks a second time. The study will help us target the part of the brain that improves mood regulation to further develop new treatments for Bipolar.
Who can participate?
Men and women
18-55
Bipolar 1 Disorder Diganosis with Current Euthymic state.
On the same psychiatric medication regimen for atleast a month prior to and during the study.
Who can’t participate?
History of Seizures
TMS or ECT in last 3 months
Implanted Cardiac Pacemakers
Those with magnetic sensitive implants in head or neck.
Pregnant women
Contact suribe1@mgh.harvard.edu for questions
Link it interested: rally.partners.org/tmsemotionalregulationbd

01/03/2021

Virtual Visits or Telepsychiatry or Telemedicine require both audio and video as part of the communication during the appointment.
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Unfortunately many of my patients do not have a we**am, smartphone or sufficient WiFI to have a Telehealth visit that meets most insurances’ requirement so that the appointment can be covered by their plan. The current national Public Health Emergency incited CMS and medicare to cover voice only appointments temporarily.
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But alas as of now the latest extension by most insurances has been extended to only March.
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The lack of coverage will create a huge shift in the need for in-person appointments due to not having access to Audio & Video Telemedicine Appointments.
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Having Internet and a we**am and a smartphone are all privileges many do not have.
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Time is running out before we have a solution that doesn’t force too many to utilize in-person services increasing the risk for both patients and the clinic.
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Suggestions?

01/01/2021

It often feels archaic, waiting for things to be done in a very slow and drawn out manner. So many things have become more quicker in other parts of our life, but some things still remain “slow” or not exactly “quicker.”
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The brain takes time to heal. The stress and stress hormones that flood the brain and continue to flood the brain when we are in pain, distress, in fear or other emotions can be overwhelming to the brain (and other organs.)
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Even with psychotherapy (talk therapy) and antidepressant treatment, it can take several weeks (months) to heal.
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It’s important to provide supportive care to yourself during this healing process -
• As much sleep as you can get or recommended by your doctor or treating provider
• eating healthy, with various non-processed foods of different colors to attain vitamins, and nutrients of varying kinds as recommended by your doctor or treating provider.
• physical activity that is tolerable (as per your doctor or treating provider)
• relaxation techniques to lower stress hormones, relax muscles, increase blood flow to the brain
• and reducing external stress like taking time off from work in a protected manner (through FMLA perhaps)
What are some other ways you could offer a supportive healing environment for yourself?
*This information is for educational purposes only and not intended to replace medical advice given by your personal doctor or practitioner.

01/01/2021

Off tomorrow but back to work Saturday.
Covering for the other doctors & nurse practitioners if you need anything. Happy New Years and may next year bring some more consistency, safety and whatever else we have been missing.