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Today is National Hospital Day and National Limerick Day!
Today, in view of this being Mental Health Awareness Month, I’m calling attention to other national special days. One of them is National Hospital Day (and there’s also a National Hospital Week, which runs from May 10-16 this year). And I learned that this is also National Limerick Day, in honor of the English author…
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New York City Memories
The recent New York Post story about the man who shoved a 76-year-old retired schoolteacher down a flight of subway stairs caught my attention. The assailant had been sent to Bellevue for a court-ordered psychiatric assessment for similar agitated behavior not long before this assault. My understanding from news stories is that he was held…
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Big Mo Blues Show Penultimate KCCK Party
John Heim, aka Big Mo of Iowa KCCK radio blues show delivered his penultimate program last night. I heard the “penultimate” title from Ron Adkins who announced it on his Afternoon Jazz show which comes just before the Big Mo blues show. It’s one of those adult words that Big Mo would probably never use—only…
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Ticks Among Us
I was struck by how much ticks and tick-borne illness is in the news lately, although it shouldn’t be surprising as it’s that time of year for people to be outside in the garden or the woods. There’s a great podcast on Rounding@IOWA on tick borne illness that I thought was pretty interesting. I was…
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Shout Out to Dr. Fawad Taj for Psychiatric Times Article on Cannabis and Psychosis Risk
I rarely see an article that impresses me as much as the Psychiatric Times piece on psychosis risk and cannabis by Dr. Fawad Taj, MD. It makes sense that he is also a consultation-liaison psychiatrist. He’s on staff in the Dept. of psychiatry at University Hospitals of Cleveland. There is a highly esteemed scholar special…
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Mental Health Affirmations for May 6, 2026
Today is May 6, 2026 and the Mental Health Awareness affirmation for today (from the Mental Health Awareness calendar) is about Affirmations: “Affirmations can improve people’s overall well-being, help them feel better about themselves, and reduce anxiety. Pick a supportive phrase and repeat it today.” I picked one from the list of suggested affirmations: “I…
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May is Mental Health Month!
May is Mental Health Month and I’ve been going through my blog to find posts on psychotherapy. One of the reasons I did this is because I read the commentary by Dr. Allen Frances on psychotherapy and Artificial Intelligence (AI chatbots) the other day, “Psychotherapies Can No Longer Afford to Compete With Each Other.” Dr.…
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NAMI Walk in Johnson County May 2nd 2026!
Hey, there’s a scheduled NAMI walk upcoming on Saturday, May 2, 2026 at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area!
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Iowa Bill HF2676 Which Would Allow OTC Ivermectin in Iowa On its Way to Governor Reynolds Desk
Late yesterday, there was a story published in the Iowa Capital Dispatch announcing that the MAHA bill HF2676 is on its way to Governor Reynolds for her signature. A part of that bill “…also would allow ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasitic infections that some have claimed can be used in preventing or treating…
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Cannabis Rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III Today
As of today, the US Dept. of Justice moved “…the classifications of products containing marijuana that are covered by the Food and Drug Administration or that have received a state medical-marijuana licence” from Schedule I to Schedule III. This is not exactly the same as reclassifying all marijuana, although it looks like that is being…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 