They say you only hurt the ones you love. In the age of COVID-19, this adage has, almost ironically, attained a new shade of truth. One-on-one contact is definitely a risk factor—but so is what social scientists call “group identities.” Eve…
Category: Conditions
Using plasma to fight COVID-19
We’ve gotten used to a life of restricted menu options during this pandemic, an analogy that extends all the way to our treatment if we contract COVID-19. But there’s an item still on the list at most medical institutions, and if it strikes…
The withdrawal of effective sexual offender treatment during COVID-19
Public health safety measures in the wake of COVID-19 have transformed healthcare into virtual medicine overnight. From psychiatry to surgery, all of the medical specialties have adapted technology-enabled virtual appointments. The support for health…
Why clinicians should consider the power of prayer
As a nurse practitioner, I have the privilege of helping people achieve their health care goals. But in light of recent events surrounding social justice, I find that I am increasingly challenged in new ways. Ways that my training and likely other nurs…
Food allergies are not funny
It seems that adults need to be reminded and educated of the dangers life-threatening food allergies possess. If you think taunting people that have life-threatening food allergies occur only with very young children, you would be sadly mistaken. Case …
The genius within a schizophrenic mind
She was naked in her seclusion room — a padded cell — with her gown on the floor and drenched in her urine. I was her nurse. I gave her lithium. She put the pill in her mouth and then spit it at me in my face. Then her tirade began: “I’m Je…
COVID illuminates silent fear
It’s scary. Like 9/11, we have a new reference point touching everyone on the planet: life before COVID-19 and life after. Regardless if you get it or don’t, the unknowns and secondary consequences are scary. Life before COVID was scary, to…
COVID is not women expected when they were expecting
Reproductive psychiatry, also known as perinatal psychiatry or maternal mental health, focuses on mental health concerns in pregnancy (also including planning and IVF), delivery, postpartum, and parenting. As a reproductive psychiatrist, I try to imagi…
Second victim syndrome in the time of COVID-19
Every physician I know has a story about an unanticipated patient event. A story that was traumatic at the time and easy to now recall in fine detail. A story that was so impactful that it still haunts them. When a patient suffers an adverse event, …
Mask up like you buckle up
In this world of misinformation, fear, social media overload, and mistrust, seek counsel from your health care provider. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have witnessed the bravery of my colleagues on the front lines treating patients and pu…
