I am the last person who should be difficult to convince that research is important.
I have spent a big hunk or life doing clinical trials of psychiatric drugs for FDA approval.
But I am also a great fan of real life. Of listening to patients, something that my patients often complain other psychiatrists don’t have time to do. Read more on Military Suicide…
Filed under depression, Family, Government, medicine, News by on Aug 2nd, 2018. Comment. 
I was not over 12 when my parents invited me to perform on the banjo which I played rather minimally for a family of synagogue friends.
I went straight to my best song, at that time “Where Have all the Flowers Gone,” by Peter, Paul and Mary. Read more on How Long Does This Continue?…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, depression, Diagnosis, Disease, Doctors, Education, life, Mental Illness, News by on May 13th, 2018. Comment.
This psych news of February 7, 2018 starts by suggesting an increase in suicide came about after the media reported Robin Williams’ suicide.
Although Robin Williams was, as far as I have heard, a bipolar and a substance abuser, at least some people may have been influenced in choosing suicide by the fact Robin Williams chose it first. Read more on Celebrity Worship And The “Copycat” Phenomenon…
Filed under Celebrities, culture, Disease, Doctors, News, Religion, Religion and Politics by on May 11th, 2018. Comment.
Filed under End Of Life, News by on Oct 18th, 2013. Comment.
I have heard just a little too much about suicide among the religious — from patients, from others, now this; to the son of a published pastor who gave an invocation for the Obama folks.
I really do feel for the family, for death of the younger generation before the older one by any means including suicide by his own hand, is a horrible thing that is anti-nature and has a profound wrongness, a too-deep effect on all involved.
I was way back in residency when I attempted to gather some statistics on the association between religion and psychiatry in Kansas, sending a basic questionnaire on feelings about mental illness (and referral patterns to mental health professionals) to a big list of Wichita area “religious professionals.”
First, I had already made the assumption from the French part of my education that not too many people actually went to church, but none of them seemed to much care about mental health professionals.
In Kansas, with the world’s worst statistics (no major support on this from my
Filed under Religion by on May 1st, 2013. Comment.
Nobody, but nobody, including a president of the United States, can tell a doctor what to ask about in an assessments.
Assessments are supposed to be in the strictest confidence, for openers. Anything else would be against the rules of medical confidentiality. Patients have a right to be seen alone. The doctor has a right to decide what needs to be said.
I can imagine the 2nd ammendment rights activists bursting a blood vessel if doctors are reqiured to survey patients about the guns they own and how they use them. The requirement to have doctors do this would be — most everyone will agree — anti-American.
This being said, a question about firearms is and should be standard psychiatric practice. When you are dealing with suicidal patients, which happens all too often in psychiatry, and the patient says that he or she is thinking about this, then it is absolutely essential to know if that
Filed under Government by on Jan 23rd, 2013. Comment.
Many people are proud of the state from which they came. But I value the state they (we, all of us) can go to.
It’s called a “Resource State.”
Don’t bother looking on a map – unless it is a map of the cerebral cortex. Yet, it isn’t clearly defined as a location in the brain either.
I know it sounds mysterious, but it is easy to access and the benefits once you get there are astronomical. I think I need to give you some illustrations to make my point.
Once when I was in prison (that always gets attention – but actually I was employed as a prison psychiatrist and not serving time for criminal activities) I treated a young man of 28 who was doing time for armed robbery. His problem was depression with occasional suicidal ideation. Read more on The Resource State — Your Magic Ticket To Happiness…
Filed under Brain Surgery, depression, medicine, News, prescription drugs by on Feb 16th, 2012. Comment.
I have seen more than I can count of them, veterans with chronic pain symptoms. Nobody who serves our nation should be left to suffer.
In my world – nobody at all should be left to suffer.
I’ve worked in the Veterans Affairs system in many cities in several states and in various positions. I’ve been the doctor who sits in the office and sees them one by one, diagnosing them and prescribing treatment. I’ve been the evaluator who examines them and decides what kind of pension or how much disability they get. I’ve been the director of day treatment centers where we try to give these noble servants of the people everything from activities to fill up their days, to continuing therapy for problems such as PTSD, and even food and shelter. Read more on How To Help A Veteran In Pain…
Filed under News by on Feb 6th, 2012. Comment.
I guess people have to worship something.
I certainly have seen people idolize people before. Sometimes, to my amazement, when my parents managed to get me in the newspaper as a child for some alleged academic achievement, it was even me. Religion is something I generally avoid with patients. I sometimes will admit that I say things like “God love you.” As a matter of fact, I remember that my mother-in-law, Carolyn of blessed memory, said that sometimes, and I liked the feeling, and I suspect that is when I integrated it into my conversation, at least with patients who had limited time with me and wanted to discuss religion.
Filed under News, Religion by on Apr 21st, 2011. Comment.
I wrote not long ago about the problem with sleep-deprived doctors. Now I feel I must tell you that the person you are relying upon to perform delicate surgery may be so depressed that he’s contemplating suicide.
Why surgeons? I used to be one and maybe I can shed some light.
Of course you can’t prove causality. Maybe just the fact that a person is a surgeon doesn’t mean he is at risk. The same statement about “we can’t tell if there is something causing this or if this is an epiphenomenon” can be a criticism of almost any study, the way those invited to critique this study have spoken.
There is a problem, and this only hints at it.
Filed under Doctors by on Mar 11th, 2011. Comment.