“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow. The New York Times recently published the op-ed “Dr. Google is a Liar,” written by cardiologist Haider Warraich, MD. Dr. Warraich d…
Category: Psychiatry
A Xanax prescription that should have been rejected
In hindsight, I should have never accepted a Xanax prescription from my doctor. What followed was catastrophic — rapidly developing tolerance and physical dependence on the drug and a prolonged illness. Three-and-a-half years later, I am still slowly t…
How physicians should respond to the words, “I am depressed”
My response to a colleague who says, “I am depressed,” is critical for many reasons. As doctors have tough masks, it has been difficult for my colleague to disclose this. Due to mental illness stigma in the medical profession, this doctor may have been…
A psychiatrist’s attempt to stop burnout
I don’t want to go back. Starting at 6 a.m., the intern entered the hospital with coffee from the bodega down the street, anxious about the patients that were admitted to the ward the previous evening. I deserve it. At 8 a.m., he had already rounded on…
Medical schools need to cut their cutthroat culture
The United States will be short 120,000 doctors by the end of next decade, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That shortage will become permanent unless medical schools make the path to becoming a doctor…
How opioids can destroy the most beloved of personalities
“I feel like a caged animal” — My patient offered me this lens through which to view his life seeped in chronic pain. For him, pain dictated his entire sense of being — it was something that simply could not be distilled down to a single value on a 10-…
How opioids can destroy the most beloved of personalities
“I feel like a caged animal” — My patient offered me this lens through which to view his life seeped in chronic pain. For him, pain dictated his entire sense of being — it was something that simply could not be distilled down to a single value on a 10-…
The questions clinicians never think to ask
The chief complaint was belly pain. He described the pain as both dull and crampy. It came and went, but bothered him the most on the same night of each week. The notes from the primary care doctor show a thoughtful search for the underlying cause. The…
When you identify your Lyft driver as potentially having bipolar disorder
I remember September 27, 2018 like it was yesterday. When Ashley* picked me up from my apartment Thursday morning, I thought it would be like the 138 past Lyft rides I’ve taken since 2017. I was wrong. After I waived to Ashley from the curb, I got sett…
Is gaming disorder a real addiction, and how can I tell if it’s affecting my child?
Studies have shown that video games and other addictions, such as alcohol and nicotine, affect neural pathways in similar ways: They all lead to an increase in dopamine levels in specific pleasure centers of the brain. While drugs increase dopamine lev…
