Psychiatry

How smartphones are stealing your focus—and what you can do about it

Conditions
April 28, 2025

Over the past two months, I embarked on a mission to complete two reading tasks: A journey in service, the autobiography of Nigeria’s former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida, followed by Dream count, the latest work by the world-renowned writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Unfortunately, I have barely progressed beyond the opening chapters of either. My focus, the essential ingredient for deep reading, has remained elusive.

I first realized the extent of …

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Unleashing the kraken: What The Pitt gets wrong about psychiatric care

Physician
April 27, 2025

The Pitt, a medical drama set in a fictional Pittsburgh trauma center, captures the human connections forged in emergency medicine. The show follows a team of residents and medical students through a relentless 15-hour shift under their seasoned attending, Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle). Unlike melodramatic predecessors, The Pitt finds drama in the emotional toll of ER work, emphasizing resilience amid exhaustion. Its commitment to Read more…

Why ADHD isn’t just a childhood disorder and what that means for adults

Conditions
April 25, 2025

Current studies identify the negative impacts of failing to diagnose and treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which contributes to well-described impairment, morbidity, and mortality. Timely diagnosis, acceptance, and treatment do, in fact, improve outcomes. Benefits include a decrease in negative impacts on self-esteem, depression and other mood disorders, substance use disorders, suicidality, motor vehicle crashes, and criminality. These consequences result from easy distractibility and impulsiveness, which can be damaging …

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Gen Z is already transforming mental health care—are we listening?

Conditions
April 23, 2025

In a clinic in India, I once watched a young mother wait for hours to be seen, clutching her child and a paper folder filled with years of handwritten notes. There was no digital health record, no streamlined triage system—just patience, resilience, and the unspoken expectation that care would eventually come.

That moment has stayed with me—not because it was unique, but because it was far too common. It reminded me …

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Healers or criminals: the alarming trend of physician prosecution [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 20, 2025
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Practicing internist and psychiatrist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article “Criminalizing care: How the system turned on physicians.” He argues that physicians, historically pillars of trust, are increasingly being targeted and criminalized …

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What money can’t fix: the scars left by a friend

Conditions
April 17, 2025

I stood at the check-in counter of my physician’s office, waiting for my yearly physical. Beside me, another patient was checking in. I recognized her instantly.

It was Denise—my childhood best friend.

And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to say hello.

We had spent our childhoods side by side—playing Barbies, cheerleading, swimming at the neighborhood pool. Every single day. She wasn’t just a friend; she was my safe place. We stayed close all …

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Why long-acting injectables are transforming schizophrenia care

Meds
April 16, 2025

In recent years, psychiatric care has undergone a shift in the clinical mindset toward medication management for people living with schizophrenia and other chronic mental health conditions. As recognition grows for the breadth and depth of the clinical complexities and psychosocial challenges that patients may face along their diagnostic and treatment journey, there is movement toward ensuring that patients have access to treatment options that integrate their needs and preferences. …

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ADHD isn’t one-size-fits-all: Why nuance in diagnosis matters

Conditions
April 16, 2025

I read with great interest the recently published article in The New York Times by Paul Tough, who has reported on child development and education over the last twenty years. He outlines statistics, specifically the rise in diagnosis of children and adults since the 1990s, and then discusses implications, including questioning a current understanding of the disorder and its treatment.

Neurodevelopmental disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder …

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Funding physician wellness: a guide to getting programs approved [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 15, 2025
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Pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article “How to get physician wellness programs funded: a proven path forward.” Drawing on nearly two decades of experience navigating institutional hurdles and five …

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When leadership turns defensive: the impact of workplace paranoia on professionalism

Conditions
April 15, 2025

Leadership in any industry, especially in health care, demands a delicate balance of trust, ethical judgment, and professionalism. However, when leaders view collaboration through a lens of suspicion, assuming that employees are conspiring against them, it can lead to a culture of distrust and unprofessional behavior. This article delves into the psychological and ethical aspects of such behavior, its impact on workplace dynamics, and practical strategies for navigating these challenging …

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Managing social media for better teen mental health [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 13, 2025
YouTube video

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Child psychiatrist Ellen K. Feldman discusses her article “How social media is shaping teen mental health and what we can do about it,” highlighting the growing concerns about social media’s impact on …

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The role of contingency management in addiction treatment

Conditions
April 13, 2025

Before leaving office, the Biden administration increased the annual cap for Medicaid-reimbursed contingency management (an evidence-based psychosocial intervention) as part of an individual’s addiction treatment. This move demonstrates what I have seen in my own practice: Contingency management drives results when it comes to treating substance use disorder.

Despite the evidence and fact that every individual living with substance use disorder (SUD) requires a unique approach to treatment for …

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What if we stopped sacrificing ourselves to practice medicine?

Physician
April 10, 2025

What if the cost of being a “good doctor” didn’t have to be your well-being?

For many physicians—especially those drawn to lifestyle medicine and whole-person care—this question feels quietly radical.

We’ve been conditioned to give until we’re empty. To serve at the expense of our sleep, our health, and sometimes even our sense of self.

We were taught to sacrifice.

To stay …

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How AI and genetics are revolutionizing psychiatric diagnosis and treatment [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 9, 2025
YouTube video

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Psychiatrist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article, “The future of psychiatry: How AI and genetics are reshaping mental health care.” Muhamad explores how the integration of genetic research, biomarkers, electrophysiology, and artificial …

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Why real therapy isn’t just about crisis

Conditions
April 7, 2025

Maybe you’ve struggled to put the shattered mirror of yourself back together, and you don’t want to unearth what you’ve been able to put to rest. Plenty of people decide that psychotherapy is not for them, and we are, as our own individual, sovereign self, the best judge of our needs. As someone looking from the outside, we can only know a fraction of the depths of another person and …

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How America became overmedicated—and what we can do about it

Meds
April 6, 2025

In a revealing snapshot of American mental health, the CDC recently reported that nearly 1 in 4 adults in the United States may be taking psychotropic medications. This staggering number should both draw attention and raise questions. Are we truly addressing the root causes of psychiatric illness, or are we sedating a nation in pain?

As a psychiatrist and internist who has worked at the intersection of …

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Medicine’s mental health crisis: Why the system is failing us

Conditions
April 3, 2025

An excerpt from Has Medicine Lost Its Mind?: Why Our Mental Health System Is Failing Us and What Should Be Done to Cure It.

One of society’s great issues is who decides what science does—the public or science. For example, the populace has taken control and been clear that it does not want science to create human beings in a laboratory or construct computers that run the world. Once …

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Data accuracy failures in health care [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 1, 2025
YouTube video

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Internist and psychiatrist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article, “How data accuracy failures are costing lives and money in health care.” He explores the consequences of inaccurate data in health care, from …

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Criminalizing care: How the system turned on physicians

Physician
March 31, 2025

Physicians are healers; they were not meant to be hunted. Yet in modern America, the very system that once revered physicians has turned against them, weaponizing regulations and laws into weapons and transforming healers into criminals. The Controlled Substances Act, health care fraud statutes, and a labyrinth of federal regulations have ensnared countless physicians in a trap of legal peril, branding them as fraudsters when their only crime was dedication …

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