Akhmas Meraj
Akhmas Meraj is the writer behind The PsychNerd, where the goal is simple: take what rigorous psychology research actually says and make it warm, clear, and genuinely useful. Akhmas isn't a licensed clinician; this work comes from lived experience and deep, careful reading of the evidence. Every article is grounded in peer-reviewed research and fact-checked, with honest attention to what the science does and doesn't show. Educational only, never a substitute for professional care.
Depression
Grief After Losing a Pet: What the Research Actually Shows
Key Takeaways
It lasts longer than anyone expects. In a study of 174 owners, 35.1% still had grief symptoms at six months and 22.4% at...
Depression
Prolonged Grief Disorder: When Grief Becomes a Diagnosis
Key Takeaways
"Complicated grief" is the older research term. The current diagnosis is prolonged grief disorder, added to the DSM-5-TR in 2022.
The two major manuals...
Depression
Double Depression: When Major Depression Lands on a Low Baseline
Key Takeaways
It describes a major depressive episode landing on top of a long-standing low baseline, rather than on a well person.
It isn't a separate...
Depression
Dysthymia vs Major Depression: How Clinicians Tell Them Apart
Key Takeaways
The dividing line is duration, not severity. Major depression needs two weeks and five symptoms; persistent depressive disorder needs two years and two.
Fewer...
Depression
Unspecified Depressive Disorder: What the Diagnosis Means
Key Takeaways
It's a statement about information, not severity. The label means the clinician didn't specify why full criteria weren't met, often because there wasn't...
Depression
Can Fathers Get Postpartum Depression? What the Research Says
Key Takeaways
Yes. A meta-analysis found paternal depression across the perinatal period at 10.4%, roughly double the general rate for men.
It peaks late. Between three...
Depression
Postpartum Intrusive Thoughts: Why They Happen and When to Worry
Key Takeaways
They're close to universal. In prospective research, unwanted intrusive thoughts of infant harm were normative rather than exceptional among new parents.
The critical finding:...
Depression
Postpartum Rage: The Symptom Nobody Warns You About
Key Takeaways
Postpartum rage isn't a diagnosis. It appears nowhere in the DSM-5-TR, which is part of why so few people are warned about it.
It's...
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