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Here We Go Again About Antidepressants
Back in August, my colleagues, Drs. George Dawson, MD and Ronald Pies, MD wrote a rejoinder in Psychiatric Times to a review article published in Molecular Psychiatry by J. Moncrieff, Mark Horowitz and others (Moncrieff J, Cooper RE, Stockmann T, Amendola S, Hengartner MP, Horowitz MA. The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review…
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Psychiatrists Cast Doubt on Idea that Antidepressants Work by Causing Apathy
Out of 60 hits on page one of a Google search using terms “emotional blunting from SSRI,” only one cast doubt on the assumption that SSRI antidepressants exert their treatment effect by causing apathy. The rest endorsed the connection. The one article I found on this quick search which contradicted this widely held and arguably…
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Maybe We Need a Dose of Humor
Sena and I were listening to the Mike Waters morning radio show (KOKZ 105.7) this morning and his invitation to listeners was to call in and quote their favorite dumb question. One of the callers recited something which was actually a George Carlin joke. Neither one of us thought we heard it right, but it’s…
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Ever See Bigfoot Splooting?
I wonder if anyone ever got a picture of Bigfoot splooting? Why not? It’s a large furry animal which has no way of cooling off other than by panting or lying on its belly with its limbs splayed out, which is the definition of “splooting.” I found a news item about splooting squirrels and quickly…
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Thoughts on Suicide Risk Assessment
I know the term “suicide risk assessment” sounds very clinical. That’s because I did it for many years as a consultation-liaison psychiatrist in the general hospital. The human part of it was using the suicide safety plan, which I got from the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health & Addiction (CARMHA). You can download…
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A Retired Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist’s Perspective on Eating Disorders
This is just my presentation on eating disorders vs disordered eating for a Gastrointestinal Disease Department grand rounds several years ago. What’s also helpful is an eating disorder section on the National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative (NNCI) web site. I left comments and questions there, which the presenter answered. In addition, the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry…
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What Would Make Psychiatry More Fun?
I just read Dr. George Dawson’s post “Happy Labor Day” published August 31, 2022. As usual, he’s right on the mark about what makes it very difficult to enjoy psychiatric practice. And then, I looked on the web for anything on Roger Kathol, MD, FACLP. There’s a YouTube video of my old teacher on the…
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Psychiatric Polypharmacy: An Opportunity to Teach with CPCP
Dr. H. Steven Moffic discussed the issue with psychiatric polypharmacy in his August 29, 2022 entry on Psychiatric Views on the Daily News. The patient who had been getting 10 psychotropic drugs was found to have a medical problem ultimately, which led to simplification of the complex regimen. This is a great opportunity to again…
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Thoughts on Doctors Going On Strike
I read Dr. H. Steven Moffic’s two articles in Psychiatric Times about the strike by mental health workers at Northern California Kaiser Permanente (August 16 and 26, 2022). So far, no psychiatrists have joined the strike. However, this piqued my interest in whether psychiatrists or general physicians have ever gone on strike. I have a…
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Hepatitis C Testing and Treatment Update from a Retired Psychiatrist
There is a very informative CDC media briefing transcript about why so few Americans are getting tested and treated for Hepatitis C. I’m a retired consultation-liaison psychiatrist and I used to be the go-to consultant to the hepatology clinic back when the only treatment was interferon-alpha. Because interferon-alpha was associated with neuropsychiatric side effects, notably…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 