Someone asked me recently if there is a significant increase in the prevalence of mental illness since it seems everyone is in treatment somewhere. It was a good question and got me thinking.
The prevalence of mental illness has been increasing in recent years, but it is unclear if this is solely due to more people seeking treatment or if there is a true increase in the incidence of mental illness.
In …
Pages of my life turn over as the breezes of time flow over me.
Remembrances of your presence as the world welcomed my firstborn so many years ago.
Your calming voice and words of wisdom reminded me that life would be different but oh so much better.
My baby girl would grow to be a healer like you, offering hope and consolation to those seeking her out. Expert hands stitched my rambunctious toddler’s …
As a health care writer and policy analyst, I frequently encounter the term “risk” in discussions of medical issues. I also frequently see the term grossly misused in both the popular press and medical literature. Nowhere is this more evident than in the 2016 and 2022 CDC Guidelines for the prescription of opioids in the treatment of pain.
In science, the term “incidence” is a measure of the likelihood …
For a growing percentage of our population, autism is a part of everyday life. How we support and empower children with autism speaks volumes about our society’s ability to be inclusive, productive, and fair.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s a perfect time to celebrate people with autism and elevate our awareness about this complex group of neurodivergent individuals who enrich our lives every day.
Here’s how we all can better …
Fecal impaction and severe chronic constipation can have significant consequences on patients’ mortality, morbidity, psychosocial well-being, and health care costs. It is especially prevalent among the elderly and individuals with neurogenic bowel disorders. The condition can lead to life-threatening complications like bowel obstruction, intestinal perforation, fecal incontinence, and urinary retention.
Traditional treatments for fecal impaction and severe constipation include lifestyle changes, fiber supplementation, laxatives, suppositories, enemas, and digital stimulation. However, …
I am a physician, a urologist, and a survivor of multiple suicide attempts related to physician burnout. In dealing with my psychopathology, I experienced a devolution in my mental status, culminating in suicidal behavior. I can remember the exact moment when I acknowledged that suicide was a possible solution to my problems. At one moment, I felt revulsion at the idea of suicide but crossed over to accept it. This …
The day Ann entered my clinic, I had already been practicing pain management for over ten years. A 40-something physical therapist, she had a warm smile, a positive attitude—and chronic pain in every part of her back.
Twenty-five years earlier, Ann had been inspired to go into physical therapy to help her family members who suffered from severe chronic pain to the point of disability. However, to her dismay, upon graduating …
When people (especially women) are highly organized, hyper-focused, and efficient they often label themselves (or are labeled by others) as OCD. In essence, “being OCD” is a superpower that leaves us with clean houses, well-manicured appearances, and detail-oriented work products. A person might even flaunt their “OCD personality” as a positive in an interview. But, saying you “are OCD” takes away from the very real anxiety that people who “have …
Not all transfusion therapies are the same.
Unlike other transfusion therapies, automated red blood cell exchange (RBCX) efficiently and rapidly removes a patient’s hemoglobin S (HbS)-containing RBCs and replaces them with healthy RBCs. You may be surprised to learn that there are a few misperceptions surrounding automated RBCX. How do you think about automated RBCX today?
Myth #1: RBCX is only for acute patients
Reality: Automated RBCX is recommended by …
PhD, the big man on the psych unit’s eighth floor, puffed on his pipe while listening to the dialogue of the broken, misfits, psychotics, schizophrenics, and bipolar patients. Many were beaten at birth, both physically and emotionally. In this land of serpents, he felt like a god. He’d select patients one by one for ECT, electroconvulsive therapy, with electrodes attached to their heads and a mouthpiece in place. They were …
I stood outside in my yard, which had been dormant during the winter season and was now awakening to the spring. Yard work was a familiar and enjoyable activity for me, one that I had been doing for years. But as I walked across the yard, I found myself out of breath and fatigued, to the point of needing to see if taking a nap would help. It did not. …
“Ever since I had COVID, it always smells like something’s burning,” explained a patient suffering from symptoms of long COVID. This burning smell has plagued her for more than three months and is coupled with fatigue, difficulty breathing, and a persistent cough. Long COVID recently joined other diagnoses, such as diabetes and Crohn’s, as one of the most common chronic conditions Americans are facing today. Treatment for chronic conditions requires …
If you want to know whether a standard-of-care medication will work to treat your depression, flip a coin.
More than half of all patients treated for major depressive disorder (MDD), the clinical name for what is typically thought of as depression, don’t respond to the first treatment option prescribed to them. Even those who do respond often won’t see the full clinical benefit for up to 12 weeks. And yet, prescribing …
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As we recognize Mother’s Day on May 14, let’s take this time to reflect on how we can help ensure all moms celebrate with us, year after year. A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the U.S. maternal mortality …
“Pregnancy is the longest duration and highest energy expenditure that humans can experience. Mothers probably aren’t surprised by this.”
-Herman Pontzer
How fast you can run depends on why, for how long, and, more importantly, the drive that sets the purpose for why you are running in the first place. In all emergencies, trying to avoid becoming a tiger’s lunch does not take long: You either run as hard as ever to …
The most vivid memory of my childhood is of me, a six or seven-year-old boy, crying in the playground corner every day for months. It is so intense that I wonder if that is a product of imagination. However, the same scene, with the blue bench, in the dark right corner of the playground, keeps on playing in my head when I think about those early days of my childhood.
It …
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“He had an intuitive gift as a physician in diagnosing and managing breast cancer. His expertise helped countless patients, and he was deeply appreciated by those he cared for. He felt an enormous sense of gratitude to be able to help his patients and be an integral part of their care.”
I didn’t want to have cancer again, and who would? It was December 29, 2021, just over a year since …
One in six women in the U.S. suffers from chronic pelvic pain (CPP), yet many receive improper treatment for the condition, or no care at all. They’re frustrated – and rightfully so. Their health care providers are frustrated too because what their patients are experiencing has historically been very difficult to diagnose. It is estimated that about 30 percent of patients with CPP suffer from a condition that can be …
With the coming end of the public health emergency, our three-year pandemic will be officially (if not completely) over, and we will be left to contemplate what’s next. As much as we’d all appreciate a return to normal, we may be better off considering a new normal, a better one, in which we focus on “waking up” our brains. An awakened brain just may be the key to shaking off …
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Adapted from The Right to Pain Relief and Other Deep Roots of the Opioid Epidemic. Published by Oxford University Press in January 2023.
The 0-to-10 pain intensity scale that has become a familiar feature of clinical care had its origin in experimental psychophysics studies that investigated the relationship between noxious stimulus …
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