“The rapid change-over to telemedicine in March of 2020 brought predictable challenges to health care at large and substance use disorder treatment in particular: patients without the skill set to navigate HIPAA-compliant apps, phones with too li…
Category: Psychiatry
We need a mental health infrastructure bill
In her February 11, 2021 press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated, “The president, vice president, secretary, and senators established the mutual understanding that America needs to build new infrastructure across urban and rural ar…
Using technology for behavioral health integration [PODCAST]
“While behavioral health integration (BHI) has been a long-standing conversation in collaborative care or health’s team-based approach, it hasn’t always been clearly defined and rarely means more than referring a patient in need to a specialist. …
Cannabinoids are medicine, but patients aren’t getting the care they need
It’s Wednesday at 3:27 p.m. I was just in the kitchen cutting potatoes for a belated birthday dinner which, ironically, will be happening very early this evening. I noticed a missed text on my phone and decided to call back, as was requested. It was fr…
I’m so effing tired: How to finally boost your energy
An excerpt from I’m So Effing Tired: A Proven Plan to Beat Burnout, Boost Your Energy, and Reclaim Your Life. Did you know that a recent Harris Poll survey revealed that while about the same percentage of women and men reported feeling burned out…
The impact of COVID-19 on those with disabilities and mental illness
As early as April 6, 2020, the New York Times (NYT) published an article revealing early pandemic statistics that showed the death rate for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) who received residential services in New York State…
Peer support during the era of COVID-19
Burnout has been an issue for those in health care long before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the increased stress and anxiety we face now have caused a host of new problems. The current environment health care professionals (HCPs) find themselves in has …
Why health care professionals must call for splitting the autism spectrum
In a February 2021 Facebook Live presentation sponsored by Seattle Children’s Hospital, Jill Escher, the president of the National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA), called for splitting the autism spectrum. In some individuals, autism spectrum disorder …
Maybe we’re not all hanging in there. And that’s OK.
Long ago, in the BC (before COVID) era, I would chat up a local in a foreign country. Their usual response upon learning I was from the U.S. would be to seek clarification on aspects of American culture found most peculiar. There were your usual suspec…
The promise and challenge of integrating primary care into community-based mental health centers
There is ample evidence that patients with severe mental illness are at high risk for significant medical comorbidities. A complex combination of factors contributes to this excess risk and consequential poor outcomes. Socioeconomic factors, side effec…
