Evidence-Based Supplement & Herb Guides

Neuropsychological Testing: What It Measures and When It Is Needed

Learn what neuropsychological testing measures, when it is needed, how it differs from simpler cognitive tests, and what the results can show for children, adults, and older adults.

Neuropsychological testing is a detailed way to understand how thinking skills, emotions, behavior, and brain function are working together. It is often used when...

OCD Screening: How Doctors Assess Obsessions and Compulsions

Learn how OCD screening works, what doctors ask about obsessions and compulsions, which tools they use, how they separate OCD from anxiety and other conditions, and what a positive screen means.

OCD screening is often the first step in figuring out whether intrusive thoughts, repetitive behaviors, mental rituals, or avoidance patterns may be part of...

OCD vs Anxiety: How Doctors Tell the Difference

Learn how doctors tell OCD from anxiety by examining obsessions, compulsions, worry patterns, assessment tools, overlap with other disorders, and why the diagnosis changes treatment.

OCD and anxiety can feel closely connected because both can involve fear, distress, avoidance, body tension, sleep problems, and a strong urge to make...

Online Mental Health Tests: Are They Accurate and Worth Taking?

Learn which online mental health tests can be useful, where their accuracy breaks down, and how to use results wisely without mistaking a screening score for a diagnosis.

Online mental health tests can be useful when they help you name what you are experiencing, notice patterns, and decide whether it is time...

Panic Attack vs Anxiety Disorder: How Doctors Tell the Difference

Learn how doctors tell the difference between a panic attack and an anxiety disorder, what symptoms matter most, what medical causes they rule out, and when to seek urgent care.

A racing heart, chest tightness, dizziness, shaking, and a sudden fear that something is terribly wrong can feel alarming, especially when symptoms come out...

Panic Disorder Assessment: How It Differs From General Anxiety Screening

Learn how panic disorder assessment works, how it differs from general anxiety screening, which tools clinicians use, what doctors try to rule out, and what happens after evaluation.

Panic symptoms can look like many other problems: a racing heart, chest tightness, dizziness, shortness of breath, trembling, nausea, or a sudden fear that...

PC-PTSD-5 vs PCL-5: PTSD Screening and Assessment Explained

Learn the difference between PC-PTSD-5 and PCL-5, when each PTSD tool is used, how scoring works, and what a positive trauma screen should lead to next.

PTSD screening tools can be useful, but they are often misunderstood. A short questionnaire can help identify symptoms that deserve attention, yet it cannot...

Perinatal Mental Health Screening: Depression, Anxiety, and OCD Screening After Childbirth

Learn how perinatal mental health screening works after childbirth, including how doctors screen for postpartum depression, anxiety, and OCD, what tools they use, and what a positive result means.

The weeks and months after childbirth can bring emotional shifts, sleep disruption, physical recovery, feeding stress, relationship strain, and sudden responsibility for a newborn....

Personality Disorder Assessment: How Doctors Evaluate Long-Term Patterns

Learn how doctors assess personality disorders by examining long-term patterns, relationship history, emotional regulation, differential diagnosis, structured interviews, and what happens after evaluation.

Personality disorder assessment is not a quick quiz, a brain scan, or a single conversation. It is a careful clinical process used to understand...

PET Scan for Brain Disorders: What It Shows and When It Is Used

Learn what a PET scan for brain disorders can show, when doctors use it for dementia, seizures, and tumors, and why PET is helpful only when it answers a specific clinical question.

A PET scan is a brain imaging test that looks at activity inside the brain, not just its shape. Instead of showing only anatomy,...

PHQ-2 vs PHQ-9: Which Depression Screening Test Is Used and Why?

Learn the difference between the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9, when doctors use each depression screening test, how scores are interpreted, and what happens after a positive result.

Depression screening often starts with a short questionnaire, but the result can feel confusing if you do not know what the tool is meant...

PHQ-9 Depression Test: What Your Score Means

Understand PHQ-9 score ranges, what each depression test result may mean, when question 9 needs urgent follow-up, and how clinicians interpret PHQ-9 results in real care.

The PHQ-9 is one of the most common questionnaires used to screen for depression and track depressive symptoms over time. It is brief, practical,...

Polysomnography: What a Sleep Study Measures

Learn what an overnight sleep study records, how polysomnography is used for sleep apnea and other sleep disorders, what happens during testing, and how results are interpreted.

A sleep study can look simple from the outside: a night in a sleep lab, some sensors, and a report afterward. In practice, polysomnography...

Postpartum Depression Screening: EPDS, Follow-Up Assessment, and What Happens Next

Learn what the EPDS can and cannot show, how postpartum depression screening is interpreted, what follow-up assessment usually includes, and which symptoms need urgent care.

Postpartum depression screening is meant to notice emotional distress early, before symptoms become harder to manage or easier to dismiss as “just exhaustion.” A...

Psychiatrist vs Psychologist vs Neuropsychologist: Who Diagnoses What?

Learn when to see a psychiatrist, psychologist, or neuropsychologist, including who diagnoses depression, ADHD, memory problems, brain injury, and complex cognitive changes.

When someone needs a mental health, cognitive, or brain-related diagnosis, the first confusion is often not the symptom itself but who is supposed to...

Psychoeducational Testing: What It Is, What It Includes, and When a Child Needs It

Learn what psychoeducational testing actually covers, which school and behavior concerns it can clarify, how school-based and private evaluations differ, and how parents can use the results to support a child more effectively.

When a child struggles in school, the cause is not always obvious. A student may work hard but read slowly, understand lessons out loud...

Psychosis Evaluation: How Doctors Assess Hallucinations, Delusions, and Disorganized Thinking

Learn what a psychosis evaluation includes, how doctors assess hallucinations and delusions, what tests may be ordered, and when symptoms require urgent care.

Psychosis can be frightening for the person experiencing it and confusing for family members, friends, or caregivers. A person may hear voices others do...

PTSD Screening: How Doctors Test for Trauma and PTSD

Learn how PTSD screening works, which tools doctors use, what a positive result means, and how screening differs from a full PTSD diagnosis.

PTSD screening is a first step doctors use to find out whether trauma-related symptoms may need a fuller mental health evaluation. It is not...

PTSD vs Anxiety Disorder: How Doctors Tell the Difference

Learn how doctors separate PTSD from anxiety disorders by looking at trauma history, intrusive symptoms, avoidance, screening tools, overlapping signs, and treatment implications.

PTSD and anxiety disorders can feel similar from the inside. Both can involve fear, racing thoughts, poor sleep, muscle tension, avoidance, panic-like body sensations,...

qEEG Brain Mapping: What It Is, What It Claims, and What It Can Really Show

Understand what qEEG brain mapping measures, where it may have real clinical value, why many claims go too far, and what questions to ask before paying for the test.

qEEG brain mapping can look impressive: colored maps, frequency bands, numerical scores, and reports that seem to translate brain activity into clear explanations for...