Psychiatry

The many faces of anger: from frustration to social change

Physician
May 22, 2024

Understanding human anger is complex and multifaceted, rooted in a myriad of psychological, social, and even biological factors. We frequently confront personal experiences with everyday people reacting angrily to situations that could be handled with communication and a kind approach. The daily news is filled with violence related to anger.

One of the primary catalysts for anger is unmet expectations. When individuals perceive that their needs, desires, or expectations are not …

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A physician’s psychedelic journey [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 20, 2024
YouTube video

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Welcome to the of psychedelics with our guest, Corina Fratila, an endocrinologist. Join us as Corina shares her journey from growing up in a communist country where psychedelics were stigmatized to becoming a …

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Can weight loss medication interfere with ADHD meds?

Meds
May 20, 2024

Why bother going to work? If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t get paid, so there was that. But it seemed like a pointless exercise. I would stare at my monitor until it was time to go home. On some level I knew I should be, well, working, but I couldn’t collect my scattered thoughts enough to do it. I was also manic. Not the fun kind of mania where everything’s …

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The first time I walked again after a spinal cord injury

Conditions
May 19, 2024

Once upon a time, I’d imagined myself the Lone Ranger physician, self-sufficient and incapable of weakness, and when I had my spinal cord injury in 2008, I really felt alone, in the negative spiral of a victim mindset, my own worst enemy and in a dark space where my idea of myself felt entirely lost.

Then, one day, in December 2009, I heard about a center for spinal cord injury recovery …

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Physician well-being in a corporatized health care system [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 15, 2024
YouTube video

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Join Wendy Dean, a psychiatrist with expertise in physician well-being and the intersection of medicine and corporate interests. Wendy shares insights into the challenges physicians face when their values clash with the corporate …

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The backboard bully: the roles we see can be all the difference in who we become

Physician
May 14, 2024

In the midst of youthful basketball games and hustling for Taco Bell chalupas, lifelong lessons were learned, leading to diverging paths and, ultimately, tragic loss. We called him “The Backboard Bully.” He’d find his spot at or near the free-throw line and shoot the ball at the perfect trajectory for a bank shot. We hated him for it—that is, when we weren’t on his team. If he was your teammate, …

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Writing in medicine: a conversation with Samuel Shem [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 13, 2024
YouTube video

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In this episode, we welcome Samuel Shem, a renowned novelist, playwright, and activist. As a Rhodes Scholar and a professor of medical humanities at NYU School of Medicine, Samuel brings a unique perspective …

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Psychological safety: a physician’s journey [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 11, 2024
YouTube video

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Join Maiysha Clairborne, an integrative family physician and co-author of Conscious Anti-Racism: Tools for Self-Discovery, Accountability and Meaningful Change. Maiysha shares her personal journey through compassion fatigue and functional depression within the medical …

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Telemental health’s warning signs [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 8, 2024
YouTube video

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Join Tamir Aldad, a physician executive. We’ll explore the rapid growth of telehealth, the impact of venture capital investments, and the concerning trend of overprescription of medications like Adderall and benzodiazepines. Discover the …

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Why patient stories matter in medical decision-making

Physician
May 7, 2024

An excerpt from Narrative Medicine: Harnessing the Power of Storytelling through Essays.

I work for an organization that manages the medical and mental health needs of children and adults who are severely and persistently ill. Typical diagnoses in the population I serve include intellectual/developmental disorder, autism spectrum disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, substance use disorder, and many other conditions that impact mood, cognition, reality testing, conduct, and …

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Mental health treatment plan goals: Setting providers and patients up for success

Conditions
May 7, 2024

Treatment plans are crucial to a behavioral health practice as they can help improve client outcomes. Setting mental health treatment plan goals and objectives is a crucial aspect of the process, and providers and their clients need to work together in identifying long-term therapy goals. They should also communicate openly about the objectives used to achieve these goals.

The concept of SMART goals can be valuable here. SMART stands for Specific, …

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DEA shuts down pharmacy for fulfilling addiction treatment prescriptions

Physician
May 1, 2024

On August 8, 2023, DEA agents shut down the Oak Hill Hometown Pharmacy in the Southern District of West Virginia. Their crime? Having filled more than 2,000 prescriptions for Subutex over more than two years “in the face of obvious red flags of drug abuse and diversion,” according to the U.S. Attorney for that district. I guess someone needs to explain to the government what the heck Subutex is prescribed …

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Reclaiming humanity in health care

Physician
April 30, 2024

Why aren’t we physicians kinder to ourselves? Why aren’t we kinder to our colleagues? Why aren’t we kinder to our patients? I tend to think the answer to all of the above questions is a disrespect many of us have for what we consider being human.

For some reason, many of us in health care associate our humanity only with what holds us back from being our best. In fact, there …

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Voices for physician mental health

Physician
April 29, 2024

I’ve been honored and privileged to have had recent conversations with two courageous women: Betsy Gall and Pamela Marie Hobby.

Pamela met a medical resident who changed the course of her life on October 28, 2019, and Betsy’s life was forever changed exactly one month later, on November 28, 2019.

Betsy wrote a book to share her family’s story. The title grabbed Pamela immediately, as it aligned with what she was building …

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The making of a bed: a timeless ritual passed through generations

Physician
April 29, 2024

Making a bed seems to be a lost art these days, an unassuming ritual. I have memories of my mother draping, folding, laying, and spreading sheets as they danced in her open-air bedroom. My grandmother passed on the technique to her. From my observations of other families, this practice varies from generation to generation. In a way, making a bed symbolizes life’s journey, where the layers of sheets represent rich …

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A doctor’s struggle for patient care

Physician
April 26, 2024

“I maybe have a tiny shred of compassion.”

A doctor I know wrote this in reference to a person they’d never met, a person who had been verbally abusive to many health care professionals. A person who was a prospective patient.

A tiny shred of compassion. Maybe.

I had met the patient in question, was the physician caring for them in the hospital. I was trying to find a PCP who would take …

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The impact of war trauma, the challenge of objectivity, and the power of therapy and storytelling in healing

Physician
April 25, 2024

Trauma in the form of war is one of the worst forms of trauma to endure. How do people remain objective about events and the involved nations when they have been directly or indirectly affected by war?

For example, how are Holocaust survivors and their families able to unemotionally relate to present-day German citizens? How do the descendants of the more than 2,000 allied civilians who were imprisoned in the infamous …

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Unworthiness nearly killed me

Physician
April 24, 2024

In 2016, I sat on a hospital bed in Utah, having flown from North Carolina for specialized medical treatment as my life was slowly slipping away from starvation.

During this time, I was in the Air Force and an oral and maxillofacial surgery resident completing the medical school portion of my training, which I loved. On paper, I had made it. I was finally living the dream I had crafted for …

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Why doctors should embrace uncertainty for better patient outcomes

Physician
April 22, 2024

Recently, I met a coaching client for her second session. As we greeted each other, it was immediately apparent that her energy and mood had shifted from the first session. She seemed lighter, her shoulders were higher, and her posture was straighter. There were smiles instead of tears.

In the initial session, we discussed pressures and expectations. It became clear that these were largely internally generated. Like many doctors, this person …

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Embracing vulnerability: a doctor’s journey of healing and connection

Conditions
April 21, 2024

One doctor I’ve worked with had gotten caught up in the idea of being a doctor. She realized, during her training with us, that she had stopped looking her patients in the eye. In fact, she had stopped making eye contact with her patients when she was in residency. She had to tell these two parents that their baby had died in the womb, and she did not know how …

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