Category: Psychiatry

The allure of complementary and alternative medicine

“Complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) is a category that includes all the methods of physical or mental healing that do not fall under the umbrella of western medicine. Examples include comprehensive healing traditions from other cultures, suc…

The allure of complementary and alternative medicine

“Complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) is a category that includes all the methods of physical or mental healing that do not fall under the umbrella of western medicine. Examples include comprehensive healing traditions from other cultures, suc…

Why social media may be causing real emotional harm

“Mens sana, in corpore sano,” goes the old Latin saying. “A healthy mind in a healthy body.”  It’s vital that way pay proper attention not only to our physical existence but to our minds and souls; to the intangible but essentia…

The problem with calling physician burnout a human rights violation or a moral injury

Our profession is in crisis, but “human rights violations” and “moral injury” are inaccurate terms to use. It may be surprising to some that I am writing this piece as I am viewed as a staunch physician advocate. In 2017, I was …

This physician has a mental illness. And one day, he might be your doctor.

Did you feel that? That little jolt in your stomach as you clicked on the headline? Perhaps, your muscles tensed for just a moment? Maybe your heart skipped a beat. What was that? An insignificant flutter? A meaningless moment to shrug off in your busy…

PTSD changed how this physician cared for pregnant women

Appointments with my doctor make me nervous. That’s highly ironic, because I’m a doctor, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who regularly deals with high-risk pregnancies. But ever since developing preeclampsia during my first pregnancy eight years a…

How depression made this doctor a better physician

Residing in all of us, whether or not we feel it, is an innate zest for life. As a family medicine resident, I live with enthusiasm daily, because I am happy seeing patients, no matter my rotation. From the acute care wards to the family medicine clini…

Burnout prevention should be taught in residency

I was not at all prepared for my transition from being a resident to an attending. Now that there are work hour restrictions and constant oversight during training, graduating residents seldom get a preview of what it feels like to be at the top of the…

It is time to consider the health of health care workers

As health care workers, we spend most days in hospitals, clinics, ambulances, and the like — places that are concrete containers for pain and human suffering. And we are bound to be affected by what we see, even if it isn’t apparent. Most people …

People who take opioids are the AIDS patients of today

Stigma towards health conditions interferes with access to compassionate care. Both social stigmas from friends and family and medical stigma from professionals are issues. Perhaps the worst recent example of medical stigma is how people with HIV/AIDS …