Ronald W. Pies, MD

How is “disease” defined? A popular criticism of psychiatry gets debunked.

How can you reason with someone who is determined to believe misinformation? One doctor shares his reflections.

Should psychiatrists help patients end their own lives, even if it is technically legal?

Frankness, honesty, and humor make this doctor’s poetry collection special.

Ronald W Pies, MD, considers the evidence from pathology textbooks—and answers the critics.

A DSM-5 diagnosis requires a biopsychosocial case formulation—not just a symptom checklist.

When, where, and how to use poetry in a clinical setting.

What role does denial play in the collective American psyche?

Is there a way to find balance in discussing the chemical imbalance theory of depression?

The anatomy of unhappiness is more complex than DSM-5’s categories.

A controversial report from the British Psychological Society draws a pair of sharp rejoinders.

Dr Pies offers an analysis of psychiatry’s place on the spectrum of science using “causality” and “meaning” as lenses.

The risk of “false positive” screening in primary care settings is reduced by a thorough clinical evaluation.

There are epidemiological and clinical reasons why we should drop that term.

Avicenna may have been among the first physicians to document that anger is often a transitional state from melancholic depression to mania—implicitly recognizing the “switch” phenomenon.

Clinicians may need to consider what happens to religiously oriented people when things go badly, despite their faith and prayer.

Given that face masks help prevent asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 and may also reduce the chances of anyone contracting the virus, wouldn’t any decent, responsible citizen put up with such a minor inconvenience? Apparently not.

Although it may seem a bit of a luxury to begin an examination of countertransference at a time when life itself hangs in the balance, clinicians may be working with patients whose political views make it very difficult to address their emotional needs.

How can psychiatry constructively address our nation’s crisis?

Reflections on the anti-restriction protesters and hyper-individualists.

Beyond unsettling our minds, the current pandemic unsettles our souls in ways we are just beginning to understand. Just as the COVID-19 virus attacks the respiratory tract, the pandemic itself can assault the soul. Dr Pies identifies five manifestations of the crisis.

Ronald Pies, MD, offers advice on talking to patients about spirituality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we face a medical and existential crisis, how do we find strength and cope with stress and trauma? A podcast with Ronald W. Pies, MD.

Slipping out of quarantine, we walk hand in hand. Comforting words that this, too, shall pass.

How can a human being commit such acts without being under the influence of some powerful “alien” force? How can they not be "mentally ill"? Here's how.

When it comes to mass shooters, persistent emotional disturbance is not the same as frank “mental illness.” Exploring the spectrum of psychopathology.

A reformulated biopsychosocial paradigm can be clinically useful. How? Keep reading.

Immoronic: a combination of immorality and moronic. Examples are not hard to find in modern American culture, and they transcend any one political party or ideology.

In short, Epstein’s story was media catnip. Unfortunately, lost in all the sensational coverage of this one man was the systematic mistreatment of people with serious mental illness in the criminal justice system.

The current Tree of Medicine is rooted in its Hippocratic soil. There are moral absolutes that our profession should stand up for, in spite of legislative or popular pressure, say the authors.