Caregivers are arguably the most important members of a patient’s care team, with more touchpoints and access to a patient and their lifestyle than any provider or specialist. With approximately 43.5 million caregivers in the U.S., 40 percent are…
Category: Psychiatry
A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools
Mental health in children and teens is worsening, and there are not enough providers to support them. This is a cause for significant concern. As a teenager who has experienced firsthand the challenges of maintaining positive mental health amidst a dem…
Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?
The mediation was scheduled for noon. When the attorney in charge of the mediation was an hour late, his assistant began earnestly to find him. This was not typical behavior at all. A phone call to the condominium where the attorney lived sent security…
Practicing medicine with conviction
What does it take for physicians to practice with conviction – to practice medicine with a sense of confidence and commitment, passionate about your work? What factors allow medical students to enter the resident pool each July and turn their timidness…
Levamisole is good for your dog, but bad for your cocaine
In recent years, public attention has been focused on the presence of Fentanyl-laced cocaine. It has overshadowed another new threat just as heinous yet relatively unknown – that of levamisole. Since the turn of the century, the use of levamisole has g…
Family support is pivotal in the treatment of schizophrenia
Research reveals that most caregivers of people living with schizophrenia are family members (94 percent), and oftentimes, the journey of the caregiver can be just as challenging as that of the patient, whether they’re newly diagnosed or have bee…
13.1 million missing Americans since 1980. Where’s the outrage?
Americans die younger than people living in other wealthy nations. A lot younger. That’s been the case since the early 1980s, and it’s getting worse. A lot worse. Since 1980, 13.1 million American lives have been lost relative to other weal…
Ketamine for mental health conditions: What every primary care physician needs to know
Wait times to find high-quality mental health support continue to be an issue, lagging from weeks to months in, leading to primary care physicians (PCPs) assuming a large role in addressing the pressing shortage of mental health services. Acting as the…
Maximizing care amidst provider shortages: the power of measurement-based care
Since the pandemic, the shortage of behavioral health professionals has become more dire as the need for more comprehensive mental health care has increased. As of March 2023, 160 million Americans lived in areas with mental health professional shortag…
Crying to be heard: women in emotional pain
I am struck by how often crying is overlooked or trivialized by doctors despite its therapeutic value and need for recognition. Crying can play a significant role in healing and overall well-being. Research has shown that crying serves as an emotional …
