When people don’t understand the depths of hell the brain can take someone to, I am relieved for them. And I am also grateful for the journey I’ve been on—I would never have understood how someone who appeared “successful” on paper could consider taking their own life and think they didn’t matter unless I had lived it.
When I developed intense and pervasive suicidal ideation, I was on top of the …
An excerpt from The Problem with Men.
Gary could tell something was wrong the moment he saw me. “Come in, friend,” he said, his voice gentle. He guided me into the kitchen, a cozy, older space similar to the one in my apartment across the street, but his was painted a cheerful light yellow. After rummaging through a cabinet, he returned with a joint and lit it without hesitation.
“Here,” he …
Physician Suicide Awareness Day comes and goes each September, bringing with it the sad and perplexing realization that physicians usually top the lists of professionals most likely to take their own lives—something often described as the “silent epidemic.” I sample recent literature on the topic each year, each time noting how varied and complex the statistics and issues surrounding it are. Over the years, there have been physician suicides in …
Once again, I found myself balled up on the kitchen floor, head between my knees, sobbing. My shoulders shook, and my chest heaved as I gasped for air, but air wouldn’t be enough. What I was truly gasping for was hope, something that had eluded me during this perpetually challenging season of my “neurodivergent” parenting career.
I’m not sure what made that moment any different from the countless dysregulated nights that …
An excerpt from Story Treasures: Medical Essays and Insights in the Narrative Tradition.
The Gish gallop – named after American creationist Duane Gish, who challenged the science of evolution – is a rhetorical technique often used by a debater to throw out a fast string of lies, non-sequiturs, and specious arguments, so many that it is impossible to fact-check or rebut them in the amount of time it took to …
Kim Downey:
Fostering meaningful connections and building a supportive community has become my mission as I work to stand up for and alongside doctors. I recently connected Dr. Wael Saasouh with Lisa Scardina. During our thought-provoking conversation, Wael said, from his perspective of wearing many hats in business, leadership, clinical, and research, “Once we can collaborate on multiple levels, a solution becomes a lot more attainable!” Lisa and I wholeheartedly agreed. …
With more than 15 years of experience as a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) and clinician working with children and teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents, I have seen first-hand how parent involvement is the key to success in intervention programs. To make an impact on these children’s lives, we need to go beyond simply applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy sessions. This is where parents come in, reinforcing, …
In the mid-1960s, the Grateful Dead were the house band for Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests, parties in which people were “tripping out” on LSD, parties that helped bring psychedelics into the counterculture. Psychedelic drugs have been the focus of extensive clinical research since then, and their potential therapeutic benefits have seen renewed interest in recent years. It’s been a long, strange trip for certain because, despite extensive research, there are …
In 2019, I bought a condo, as growing up with the image of the American Dream told me to buy a house as soon as I could. I loved my little condo, but I felt trapped.
I decorated the rooms and made it a home, but it wasn’t me.
In 2020, I sold it and nearly everything in it, minimizing my belongings. This was not the most economical decision when it came …
(Trigger warning: suicide attempt)
It was dinner time at this hospital’s psychiatric unit. They shuffled into the dining area—slippers, pajamas, disheveled, sad, lonely, depressed … and forgotten.
Head count. All were present except for one: Rita. Faithful Rita. Always at every therapy session, including poetry therapy, art therapy, and bingo night. Always smiling and laughing, cheering up the other patients. Rita was 54 years old and a mother of three. Her husband …
Paolo Macchiarini, MD, is a thoracic surgeon and regenerative medicine researcher who gained international fame for pioneering surgeries that involved implanting synthetic tracheas seeded with the patient’s own stem cells. However, Macchiarini’s career came to a halt when allegations of scientific misconduct, ethical breaches, and fraudulent practices surfaced. Several of his patients experienced severe complications, and some died as a result of his experimental surgeries. Investigations revealed that Macchiarini …
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Regret. We often think about it because of an action or lack of action. We regret having done something or perhaps not doing enough. Regret is filled with “shoulds,” which soon spiral down into guilt, remorse, self-judgment, anger, and depression.
To me, I think about the actions often. Do I regret having trusted or opened my heart to others?
The thing is, I don’t have ANY regrets. I have experienced many circumstances …
When you allow yourself to truly see and sit with the fact that we are only here for a short period of time, it can feel scary and also freeing.
My world became small when I started developing profound anxiety about dying. It was a good sign, actually, as I came from a place of apathy to wanting to live. Truly live. …
Health care professionals working with dementia patients should be aware that a higher-than-average percentage of their patients are likely to have PTSD.
Research has found that people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to have a higher likelihood of developing dementia than those who do not. A meta-analysis of evidence on PTSD and dementia risk, for example, found that people diagnosed with PTSD are up to twice as likely to …
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While working as psychiatrists, we have the pleasure of working very closely with our patients as well as their friends and family. During these interactions, we get to know a lot about their struggles. In this blog, I want to focus on what we as a community can do to help patients as well as their families dealing with schizophrenia.
I saw an elderly lady admitted to the inpatient psychiatry unit …
The public health crisis of burnout among health care workers is more severe than many realize. With 49% of physicians experiencing burnout, patients face a 1 in 2 chance of being treated by an exhausted, unmotivated, and underperforming doctor. This issue affects all areas of health care, from emergency and urgent care visits to surgeries, deliveries, and cancer screenings. A patient’s well-being hinges on health care professional’s ability to …
In 2022, I sought out mental health care, finally able to say, “I need help.” During this experience, my doctor’s brain churned, and a new patient’s brain grew. These allowed me to see both sides of the world of medicine, and the contrast, unfortunately, disappointed me. Below is a spur-of-the-moment writing inspired by a series of unfortunate patient experiences. In sharing these words, I hope I can help the patients …
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What do you do to make your child confident? Do you tell them that they are amazing? Do you say that they are smart? Do they believe you?
Today, I am going to share the story of an autistic child who was brought to the doctor after a severe mental breakdown at school. His school had completely given up on him; they asked his parents to transfer him to another school …
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