Thomas Pak, MD, PhD
Thomas Pak is a psychiatrist.
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Health technology
Zane Shamblin was a 23-year-old recent graduate of Texas A&M University who died by suicide in July 2025. Shamblin had talked with ChatGPT for hours on the day of his suicide. CNN published an investigation of the case in which…
Zane Shamblin was a 23-year-old recent graduate of Texas A&M University who died by suicide in July 2025. Shamblin had talked with ChatGPT for hours on the day of his suicide. CNN published an investigation of the case in which it reviewed nearly 70 pages of chats from the day of Shamblin’s suicide and excerpts from thousands more pages of conversations from the preceding months. Shamblin had been using …
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AI chatbots and suicide: what our tests found
Conditions and diseases
Returning home from medical school for the holidays, I had an all-too-familiar experience for medical trainees, but with a cultural twist. My Chinese American family bombarded me with medical questions. "I wake up at 4 a.m. every day, 不舒服 (bù…
Returning home from medical school for the holidays, I had an all-too-familiar experience for medical trainees, but with a cultural twist. My Chinese American family bombarded me with medical questions. “I wake up at 4 a.m. every day, 不舒服 (bù shū fu; body feels uncomfortable), feels like 心跳 (xīn tiào; heart palpitations).” “I get woken up at 3 a.m. every day, 胃痛 (Wèitòng; stomach pains), but I …
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The silent cry: somatic symptom presentations of Chinese heritage patients
Physician voices
Korean culture has been capturing the attention of a worldwide audience in large part thanks to success on multiple platforms, whether it be a binge-worthy TV show such as Squid Game, award-winning films like Parasite, or even world-class goals from…
Korean culture has been capturing the attention of a worldwide audience in large part thanks to success on multiple platforms, whether it be a binge-worthy TV show such as Squid Game, award-winning films like Parasite, or even world-class goals from the beloved Hotspurs team captain, Son Heung Min. Celebrating Korean culture jumps beyond the screen and into a pair of headphones thanks to the global fandom of K-pop or even …
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Beyond K-pop and kimchi: Unraveling the mental health tapestry of Korean Americans
Health technology
From stomping on koopas and collecting coins as Mario to "catching 'em all" in Pokemon, video games have enthralled both our childhood, and countless other childhoods. It was our guilty pleasure, much to the chagrin of our parents. Media portrayed…
From stomping on koopas and collecting coins as Mario to “catching ’em all” in Pokemon, video games have enthralled both our childhood, and countless other childhoods. It was our guilty pleasure, much to the chagrin of our parents. Media portrayed video games as bad for your mental health, with the message that video games rot your brain. While the effects of videos on mental …
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Harnessing the power of gamification in mental health apps
Health policy
On April 26, 2020, the nation was shocked by the suicide of Dr. Lorna Breen, a New York City emergency physician who was recovering from COVID-19 in Virginia. Dr. Breen is one of an unknown number of health care professionals…
On April 26, 2020, the nation was shocked by the suicide of Dr. Lorna Breen, a New York City emergency physician who was recovering from COVID-19 in Virginia. Dr. Breen is one of an unknown number of health care professionals who have experienced mental illness or taken their lives over the past year. Although this issue is longstanding, Dr. Lorna Breen’s tragic death has galvanized many in the health care …
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A step forward: a way to advance the mental health of health care professionals
Conditions and diseases
I was admitted to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation and stabilization just after my third year of medical school. Leading up to my episode, I thought I was fine - stressed, sure, overworked, definitely, but I thought that was normal…
I was admitted to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation and stabilization just after my third year of medical school. Leading up to my episode, I thought I was fine – stressed, sure, overworked, definitely, but I thought that was normal for someone just finishing a year of clinical rotations. I deteriorated rapidly, and by the time I was admitted, I felt dazed, disoriented, and completely exhausted. I didn’t know what …
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The mental health jeopardy of our youngest healers
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