Mind the Brain
COVID-19 Support
Brain health for all, for life
Photography by Jared Perry
About Us
The Department of Psychiatry is a diverse community of staff and faculty dedicated to our mission: brain health for all, for life. It is comprised of five divisions:
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Adult Psychiatry
- Substance Abuse and Dependence
- Neuroscience
- Community Psychiatry
With over 300 regular, affiliate, and volunteer clinical faculty, our team works to improve mental healthcare at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, UCHealth/University of Colorado Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Denver Health Medical Center, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, the Department of Corrections, and the Colorado Mental Health Institutes at Pueblo and Fort Logan. The department is dedicated to valuing all people and is committed to diversity and inclusion in our clinical, research, treatment, and educational activities.
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Department of Psychiatry News
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Mind the Brain: Anxiety and Cancer During COVID-19
Jul 7, 2020Fear and anxiety keep us safe from harm – they prevent us from running into the street when a car comes racing toward us, and motivate us to prepare well for a presentation we’re nervous to give. But fear and anxiety can also spiral into uncontrollable worry, endless internet searching, and avoiding valued life activities that connect us with the people we love. How do we harness the positive features of fear and anxiety without becoming trapped by their risks?Full story -
Reversing the Cycle of Depression Through Action
Jun 30, 2020We all know we live in challenging and uncertain times. The Renée Crown Wellness Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder was established with a commitment to the vision of a world in which every young person thrives, supported by the caring relationships and inner resources required for a lifetime of wellness. The last few months have challenged this vision in profound ways. The pandemics of the coronavirus and systemic racism call upon us with urgency to attend to our individual and collective mental health and wellness.Full story -
Mind the Brain: Child and Adolescent Anxiety in the Time of COVID-19
Jun 23, 2020Anxiety helps us stay vigilant for potential future threats, and the COVID-19 pandemic brings with it significant uncertainty. We certainly expected a spike in reports of anxiety symptoms like worries, fear, irritability, and low mood in the children and adolescents we care for in the clinic and our homes.Full story -
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Times are Strange, but Uncertainty is Nothing New: Managing COVID-19 When You or a Loved One Has OCD
Jun 16, 2020These are uncertain times, and uncertainty is familiar territory for people living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD sufferers have more difficulty tolerating uncertainty and are more likely to feel uncertain in situations where others would not (1, 2). Compulsions are driven by the quest for certainty.Full story -
Feast or Famine - Navigating Food and Body Image During the Pandemic
Jun 9, 2020Have you seen these sorts of social media posts? Society has framed the quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic as a recipe for disaster; being stuck at home, close to snacks with nothing to do but sit around. Weight loss, working out and dieting are being pushed as necessities to help you come out of this pandemic feeling refreshed and renewed. Ideas like these ignore the fact that this is not a vacation, and that while we may have extra time on our hands, it does not mean that we have the bandwidth or the finances to cook, eat healthy or work out regularly. For many of us, our routines—and the feelings of security that go with them—have disappeared, and this can cause a disruption in eating patterns and self-image.Full story