This recently changed. One of the latest efforts is a book, a collection of assessments by 27 psychiatrists and mental health providers, called “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.” Indeed, the book’s editor publicly renewed her concerns on …
According to published reports, over 50 percent of doctors are burned out. The reason? They are overwhelmed by payment and quality rules as well as poor information technology.
It’s no secret that physicians spend long hours seeing patients. But as financial pressures have mounted within hospitals, doctors are forced to perform more administrative tasks. In fact, administrative tasks account for nearly …
About a year ago, I did away with TV. It was an overwhelming expense with little personal utilization. I thought to myself while struggling with the decision to cut the cable, “What will I be missing?” I may no longer be “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” but I do keep a regular eye on my iPhone news feed. It is an addiction many people share. That itch to grab our …
I am an Olympian. I am a retired All-American student-athlete. I am a resident. I am burned out.
Let me be clear: I love medicine and the opportunity to have privileged relationships with patients and their families. I thrive on the fast-paced environment, growing to-do lists, and the chance to work in a field with endless learning. I love working in team environments to provide optimal care for patients and their …
The present state of our nation can be traced back over the past five decades to the concerted efforts of specific entities, their goals based on profit and power, who set specific plans in place to maximize their control of same. Over the past 40 years, two such plans were woven together as they brought us to our present war on physicians and patients.
Three to 17 percent of the world’s population suffers from depression, but trying to explain it to the other 83 percent can be difficult. Normal people have bad days and sad moods, but “normal” means they’re actually able to deal with those bad days, whereas depressed people can’t — not in an adequate manner. Explaining why “Cheer up!” doesn’t work is impossible because they just don’t get it.
One of my readers, Natalie, wondered about my thoughts about the digital pill.
My initial reactions were similar to several of those who were interviewed for the article. The digital pill, which provides electronic information to confirm whether someone has ingested the medication, has great potential to become a tool of coercion. Aripiprazole (Abilify) is classified as an antipsychotic medication, which is often prescribed to people who have beliefs that machines …
I hear many comments and genuine inquiries about being a physician in a prison. They’re all well-meaning yet hint at how little is known about this world on the “inside” and those who inhabit it.
I take my time answering questions about the complexities of practicing behind bars, yet also highlight that despite the challenges, it’s difficult to see myself working anywhere else.
Recently I had an interaction online with a physician regarding his thoughts on ADHD treatment. (Let’s call him Dr. Stigma). This post is not about doctor-bashing but more to point out the prevalence of stigma against those with a psychiatric diagnosis even from within the medical community. Stigma, unfortunately, is so indoctrinated into our culture that sometimes people don’t recognize the pure ugliness of their words.
Diana Feliz Oliva, a 45-year-old transgender woman who grew up outside Fresno, Calif., remembers being bullied when she was younger and feeling confused about her gender identity. She was depressed and fearful about being found out, and she prayed every night for God to take her while she slept.
“I was living in turmoil,” said Oliva, who now works as health program manager in a clinic for transgender people at St. …
Here it comes — another email about “physician wellness,” advertising mindfulness training, an ice cream social, or a volunteer day. As a psychiatrist, I can attest to the importance of tending to one’s own mental and physical health in order to strive for wellness. However, the trend of implementing physician wellness programs throughout the U.S. is nothing more than putting proverbial lipstick on a pig. Or, stated differently, this may …
Jim Johnson is the director of the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy, and an advocate on the front lines of the opioid epidemic. During his previous job as the police chief from Huntington, WV he spearheaded a comprehensive initiative of education, syringe exchanges, and Naloxone distribution that has shown promising results in a community where up to 10 percent of the population is plagued with opioid dependence. His …
When I walked into the hospital room with my team to meet him for the first time, what struck me was how young he looked. He was listed as 26 years old, but he looked younger than that. He looked so young that it was hard to believe he had served a tour in Iraq a few years prior, or that he likely saw things there that no one would …
As a medical student, I immortalized myself with my classmates when I informed a lecturing psychiatry professor that I considered Freud’s theories slightly more credible than the nuns’ tales about guardian angels. The lecturer ignored my obnoxious comment and continued his lecture. But Freudians have been on the defensive for the past decade. This trend culminated when the Library of Congress was forced to cancel a tribute to Freud in …
“Please walk slowly,” cautioned Sunita, my interpreter, as I crept down the stony switchback trail towards the rural Nepali village of Dhulikhel. Sunita, in her petite navy ballet flats, hopped down the rocks as easily as the speckled goats grazing nearby.
Emboldened by her speed, I stepped along eagerly, only to catch my size-ten neon running sneaker on a root and splat face-first into the dust. Looking up, I saw four …
My grandmother was filled with grief as she told me by phone about life on the island of St. Thomas after Hurricanes Irma and Maria had blasted through it. “Tears keep running from my eyes uncontrollably because everyone on the island is suffering,” she lamented, then paused, too sad to continue. I could picture her in her …
A resident suffering from depression drinks too much and sleeps through a hospital shift the next morning. Another resident walks out of a patient room in the midst of a panic attack.
As family medicine educators, how do we best handle these health concerns in our residents?
The pendulum in medical training can swing in two directions. At one end, residents are indoctrinated into a macho mentality, where the need for self-care …
It’s 3 a.m., and I wake with a jolt. My heart is pounding out of my chest. I stumble out of bed to take a beta blocker hoping it’s enough to quiet my heart so I can doze off again. I sleep fitfully the next three hours, experiencing weird dreams and terrifying nightmares.
At 6 a.m., I take my Valium. Nauseated, I lie in bed for 30 minutes, so I keep …
I have been working with psychiatric patients for the better part of 30 years. During this time, I have worked in psychiatric emergency rooms, prison wards, substance abuse treatment centers and inpatient psychiatric units. I have been proud of the fact that, despite working in some dangerous areas, I have never been harmed by a patient. I have been threatened, swung at — but never injured. Once a patient decided …
