Lose weight and you’ll be happy, They say … I wasn’t happy, I was exhausted and depleted. You’re so disciplined, They say … As I starved myself And had to earn my food. I wish I could have your problem, They say … Brainwashed into thi…
Category: Psychiatry
From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness
Here in the Midwest we have finally made it through the doldrums of winter, which also indicates the season that basketball fans eagerly anticipate all year: March Madness. The annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) single-elimination b…
Addressing America’s reliance on psychotropic medication [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Practicing internist and psychiatrist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article, “How America became overmedicated—and what we can do about it.” He raises concer…
AI in mental health: a new frontier for therapy and support
The mental health crisis in America continues to intensify. With therapist shortages, high costs, and long waitlists, there are millions of people without access to therapy. As a cognitive scientist who analyzed therapy transcripts in grad school and n…
The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
Practicing medicine today is not what most of us envisioned when we chose it as a profession. We still love science. We still love health. We still love helping patients and being healers. But the practice of medicine has changed—and continues to evolv…
Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check
Since the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), when civil service exams evaluated intellectual abilities, people have used cognitive assessments to identify special talents or, more commonly, to detect problems. We’ve come a long way in 2,000 years! Tod…
How grief transformed a psychiatrist’s approach to patient care
It is a routine Saturday morning—I am sitting in my office, looking at the snowflakes dropping outside my window. As I sip on my cup of Earl Grey tea preparing my psyche for a busy day of managing an on-call shift on an acute care psychiatry floor, I a…
Why your emotions are your greatest compass in therapy and life
In his book Ways of Attending, McGilchrist (2016) discusses a difference in attention—one that seeks organization and one that any attempt at organizing subverts. A bit like Schrödinger’s cat, just by looking, it is disturbed. In differing transl…
Understanding therapy beyond crisis management [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Anesthesiologist and psychotherapist Maire Daugharty discusses her article, “Why real therapy isn’t just about crisis.” She challenges the common misconception…
Health workers deserve care too: How to protect their mental health
Kim Downey: A friend shared with me how she told someone their mutual physician was on medical leave. She heard it was serious. That person’s immediate response was concern over how it would affect their upcoming appointment. My friend said she t…
