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Holes in Our Heads
I remember getting a trephination of my fingernail a long time ago when I was working as a surveyor’s assistant. We were out taking elevation shots with a level and a rod measuring the depth of sewer pipes. This required us to remove the manhole covers, which are very heavy. I got one of my…
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Glitch in the Matrix or Something Else?
I saw one of the paranormal shows the other night and there were a few videos supposedly demonstrating possible proof that our reality is actually a computer simulation that sometimes gets glitchy. One of the images was a bird stopped and motionless in mid-flight. It looked like a still photo which bounced around a little.…
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Overdiagnosis of Psychiatric Disorders Still Happens
I read an excellent article in Clinical Psychiatry News recently in the Hard Talk section. The title is “A prescription for de-diagnosing” by psychiatrists Nicholas Badre, MD and David Lehman, MD in the July 2022 issue (Vol 50, No. 7). The bottom line is that too many psychiatric patients have too many psychiatric diagnoses. A…
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New 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Starts Today!
The new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number is available starting today. Iowa is with the program and you can read more about it at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach website. You can also learn more at the 988 Lifeline web page.
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Thoughts on the Song “Against the Wind”
A couple of days ago, while we were playing cribbage, Sena asked me who sang the song “Against the Wind.” I offered a name, which later turned out to be wildly wrong. It bugged her so much she got up from the cribbage game and went to the computer to look it up. Of course,…
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Thoughts on the GuideLink Center Incident
The attack a few days ago by what was most likely a mentally ill person on staff at the recently opened GuideLink Center in Iowa City reminded me of what may appear to be disparate views by mental health professionals on the link between mental illness and mass violence perpetrators. The GuideLink incident involved a…
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Invasion of the Pregnant Man Emojis!
I just saw a pretty funny story in the news about an old guy who was not allowed to donate blood at a Scotland blood bank because he refused to answer a new questionnaire asking whether or not he was pregnant. I thought that was uproariously funny. Then I read the rest of the story…
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Thoughts About Guns ReBlog
I think there a lot better places to read about viewpoints on mass shootings than my blog. I recommend you check out Dr. George Dawson’s post “Gun Extremism Not Mental Illness,” posted on May 31, 2022, then read the editorial in Scientific American, “The Science is Clear: Gun Control Saves Lives,” posted on May 26,…
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Kickball Challenge in June!
The annual Kickball challenge between University of Iowa Department of Psychiatry Residents and Faculty is coming up in June. You know what that means. Losers suspend the winners’ trophy in Jello. Somebody did that when we played Matball several years ago. If you need a recipe: Matball was the forerunner of Kickball in the department.…
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Short History of C-L Psychiatry Fellowship at Iowa
I read a short article, “The case for pursuing a consultation-liaison psychiatry fellowship” by Samuel P. Greenstein, MD in Current Psychiatry (Vol. 1, No. 5, May 2022). After 3 years as an attending, he found his calling as a C-L psychiatrist, especially after getting teaching awards from trainees. But when he applied to academic institutions…
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