-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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.
-
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,…
-
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…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 