Telepsychiatry: First Week in the Trenches
January 22nd 2014The transition to telepsychiatry is great, but the benefits, many. In this humorous piece, it becomes clear to this clinician that telepsychiatry can be a viable, valuable, and timely addition to the psychiatric profession, despite minor mishaps in the first week.
Refractory Psychosis: Treatment Options and Strategies
January 20th 2014Psychosis is one of the key dimensions of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression. Clinicians are familiar with patients whose psychosis improves dramatically with antipsychotic treatment; however, these patients may be left with cognitive impairment, negative mood symptoms, or suicidal symptoms, as well as impaired work and social functioning.
Fake Signing at the Mandela Memorial: Because It Was Not Thought Upon
January 16th 2014If clinicians are to take anything from the Johannesburg debacle, it is that we must be even more mindful of distress and despair. Like Poe’s purloined letter, profound sorrow may lie in plain sight under one’s clinical gaze-but not yet “thought upon.”
Reset Your Inner Clock: The Drug-Free Way to Your Best-Ever Sleep, Mood, and Energy
January 9th 2014A book that may help doctors, as well as their patients, better understand how they tick, literally, in our 24/7 society, and find a balance between difficult temporal demands and somatic and mental health.
Final Ruling Can Benefit Psychiatrists and Their Patients
January 7th 2014The mental health community was given some much needed relief when the Obama Administration implemented the final rule be put in place from the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. The new mandate will ensure that most health plans cover mental health and addiction services in the same way they treat other medical issues.
A Freudian Screening of Group Tours and Internet Etiquette
January 6th 2014Apologies seem rare, as does asking for forgiveness, when it comes to Internet ethics and cyber-bullying. Given the “Wild West” nature of Internet communication-with no commonly accepted rules-what might be done? Is there a communication model that might work better? Yes there is, according to this psychiatrist.
The Maintenance of Certification Exam as Fetish
December 21st 2013In the opinion of this psychiatrist, the point of the MOC test isn’t to measure competence, but to convey the impression that competence was measured. The point of the test is to say that a test was given-and nothing else. More in this commentary.
Benzodiazepines vs Antidepressants for Anxiety Disorders
December 19th 2013A recent systematic review and meta-analysis that compared benzodiazepines with antidepressants for anxiety disorders has triggered a debate among clinicians about first-line treatments, efficacy for specific disorders, and adverse effects.
The Clinical and Treatment Implications of Co-Occurring Mania and ADHD in Youths
December 17th 2013The relationship between bipolar disorder and ADHD remains unclear; however, this combined condition may represent an important genetic and clinical subtype with distinct psychopathology, familiality, and treatment response.