Author's posts
Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, MD: an icon in psychiatry
New Haven, West Virginia, is a small town nestled in Appalachia and located approximately eight miles from the juncture of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. Newspaper articles from the 1950s and ’60s suggest that the town’s demographic makeup an…
What can we learn from Cheslie Kryst?
“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable.” – Fred Rogers Cheslie Kryst, a former Miss USA, lawyer, and entertainment correspondent, died by suicide. She was smart, beautiful,…
Racism in medicine isn’t as overt as you think
When the term white supremacy culture is used, people get uncomfortable — they picture the skinhead as the prototypical racist. And while those people are dangerous, whether by their openly racist views being broadcast or in other subtle ways, they are…
Until next year, breast care center
I enter the breast care center, check in, and take a seat. Though there are few people in the room; there is a sense of dread and trepidation that hangs in the air. It feels almost like a sacred space as I am acutely aware of all the prayers, meditatio…
I am not asking you to do anything my family and I haven’t done
When I started my career 15 years ago, I naively said I would like a job where there aren’t a lot of politics. Little did I know that my job and profession would be so strongly affected by national politics a decade and a half later. I study human beh…
Simone Biles: I am thankful for her strength under pressure
By deciding to forgo further competition in the Olympic Games this week, Simone Biles brought a spotlight to prioritizing one’s own mental health. She has shown what grace under pressure looks like. Even champions make mistakes and have the right to pr…
The nuanced issues behind guardianship
“Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.” -Daniel H. Pink There has been much public discussion relating to guardianship and its tenants. It is tempting to draw conclusions around topics related to current events, while …
A reminder of the psychiatry’s sordid past
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is a quote by George Santayana. It rings true in so many facets of life and medicine. In my career in psychiatry, I have held fast to this treatise. Psychiatry, as a practice, has changed …
It’s time to change the way we approach the mental health care of physicians
I recently published an essay on physician suicide: “Doctors are killing themselves, and who is taking notice?” My intent was to bring awareness to this issue and honor a fallen colleague. I want to continue the discussion. I realized tha…
