“Mid-career colleagues: it’s time to go back to the future. Time to learn again. Time to build professional and social networks at work. Take a lunch break. Bring home a few fewer RVUs. I recently started a monthly journal club for our small sect…
Category: Psychiatry
People with addiction belong in clinics — not jails
“Doc, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I’m here right now.” Though in his mid-60s, my patient had the wide-eyed bewilderment more familiar of a child. He was late for our first visit together — but he was there and agai…
Health care leaders’ roles in pandemic recovery: Caring for caregivers [PODCAST]
“These are extraordinary times. Leaders have the opportunity to seize the day, to lean into this turning point in health care delivery, to drive organizational transformation, and to emerge from the devastation of the pandemic with an organizatio…
Tap — yes, tap — to relieve stress
The pendulum in the physician wellness space continues to move, and for good reason. When mindfulness started becoming more mainstream in medicine, it was often touted as the solution to burnout and, subsequently, led to a lot of mandatory workplace mi…
The connection between mental health and what we eat
There is a connection between mental health and what we eat. Food can be a surrogate for our emotional needs. We could say that you are what you eat, but the truth is more complicated than that. Our food habits often mirror how we’re doing emotio…
Can personality tests make you a better doctor?
Back in medical school, during a first-year retreat, our whole class did the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) psychometric test, supposedly to help us learn what field of medicine might be the best fit for our unique combination of characteristics. I…
I bought into the stigmas about the mentally ill, until I became one of them
The first thing someone says when I tell them I have bipolar, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder is, “I’m sorry.” For a long time, I was sorry too. Bipolar runs in my family, so I knew the harsh realities of this untreated ill…
The weight of the pager
I have heard from more than one retired anesthesiologist about becoming aware of the weight of the pager after it is relinquished. I imagine other physicians engaged in critical care, trauma (physical and emotional), other emergencies, and obstetrical …
It’s time to reframe second victim syndrome [PODCAST]
“Taking control of distress is done by embracing the concept of ‘mental fitness.’ Being mentally fit enables one to overcome the negative emotions that have traditionally sabotaged our lives, both personally and professionally. Simila…
Men’s mental health: We treat just the tip of the iceberg
June is Men’s Health Month, and this year, as we emerge from the COVID-19 epidemic, more than ever, there is a compelling need to focus on male patients’ overall health, emphasizing their mental health as a key to their wellbeing. Mental health is a si…
