Category: Psychiatry

Parents in crisis: How physicians can help

Did you hear the news from the U.S. Surgeon General recently? Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory called “Parents Under Pressure,” outlining the ways in which the 63 million-plus parents and caregivers in the U.S. are struggling—really stru…

Psychological safety for all: Why this phenomenon matters to everyone

We saw the smile vanish from her face instantly. Our colleague, a zestful individual with a passion for obstetrical care, fell silent after our superiors met her ideas for improving her training experience with defensiveness and deflection. After the m…

What you need to know about near-death experiences

Imagine a medical syndrome so common that as many as one in five patients who nearly die in a medical setting experience it. Also, imagine that this syndrome has a profound, lifelong effect on both the patient and their family. Finally, imagine that if…

A new approach to antidepressants and anxiolytics: the microbiota-gut-brain axis

Our understanding of anxiety and depression has evolved over the years, leading to advancements in diagnosis, treatment, and clinical management. However, their prevalence has not lessened; in fact, it has heightened in recent years due to the COVID-19…

A new approach to antidepressants and anxiolytics: the microbiota-gut-brain axis

Our understanding of anxiety and depression has evolved over the years, leading to advancements in diagnosis, treatment, and clinical management. However, their prevalence has not lessened; in fact, it has heightened in recent years due to the COVID-19…

Gus Walz and the male loneliness crisis 

As Tim Walz accepted the vice presidential nomination at the DNC, his teenage son, Gus, inadvertently became internet famous after clips of him crying and exclaiming, “That’s my dad!” circulated. While many across the political spectr…

Why we’re never prepared for death—even after years of medical training

I remember the first time I pronounced a patient dead—that’s something they make sure you learn well in medical training, as nobody wants to get it wrong. They taught us how to apply pressure to the fingernail to ensure the patient does not respo…

How positive self-talk rewires your brain for success [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! We dive into the transformative power of internal language with clinical psychologist Faust Ruggiero. Discover how the words we use to communicate with ourselves shape our…

Is social media fueling the teen suicide crisis?

An excerpt from Facing Suicide: Understanding Why People Kill Themselves and How We Can Stop Them. Between 2000 and 2007, suicide rates were almost stagnant for young people between the ages of ten and twenty-four. Then they began moving steadily upwar…

A surgeon’s battle with ketamine-induced hallucinations

An excerpt from Krooked Ketamine. OK, here’s the thing: I had a little problem that needed correcting if I wanted to continue to work as a government surgeon. I had a janky heart, and it had a tendency to fire off at the absolute worst possible m…