There are actually people in southern California who complain about the winter. You have to get your jacket out of storage. It gets dark too early, but luckily some people start their night lives earlier.
There are flus and there are coughs.
There is cough syrup.
When I was in grade school, the only cough syrup our kindly family practitioner could give was something with codeine. I was a sick little girl who seemed to be allergic to everything she touched, so I got a little of some kind of precious substance when the winter snows hit New England, and my respiratory system remained intact with that little bit of codeine.
Filed under Substance Abuse by on Dec 21st, 2009. Comment. 
I have learned my lesson. I have now done this long enough to know that not everything comes out initially. It takes time.
I had thought that more intelligent celebrities would have learned that public relations is best left to the professional public relations agents, to the “spin doctors.”
I guess Tiger Woods did not learn this valuable lesson. We heard a lot of reports, generally conflicting, but often sounding as if an attempt were being made to make something serious sound a great deal less serious.
“Stonewalling never works…” reads the Baltimore Sun post-mortem on the number of mistresses who have come out of the woodwork.
A chronology and an attempt at a sort of “fact” list by the Toronto Globe and Mail is not without use.
Filed under Celebrities by on Dec 19th, 2009. Comment.
Here is a letter signed by prominent Irish psychiatrists saying that there is no evidence whatsoever that antidepressants cause homicide.
The “PLOS” or “Public Library of Science” is supposed to be an easier and gentler place to get science published, although the esteemed (foreign) colleagues who have done research with me on natural substances have informed me it is not so easy a door to enter.
Nevertheless, here is a very scholarly angle. There is evidence that the prescription of antidepressants may engender aggression, violence, or homicide.
There is also an article cited by Dr. Peter Breggin in the Journal of Safety and Risk in medicine, to which I cannot seem to link anyone directly but a download is available through the wonderful people at this Irish foundation. These folks are trying to bring forth the truth and the light.
I am now of the opinion that the academic ideal I once pursued does not exist, and is, if it exists, a pack of lies at best.
There are FDA black box warnings about antidepressants promoting aggression, but I am unaware of such warnings having ever stopped a colleague from prescribing any antidepressant.
Read more on Seeking Truth In Drug Research — And Getting Frustrated!…
Filed under prescription drugs by on Dec 15th, 2009. Comment.
I was in my psychiatric training. My supervisor and clinic director had booked me to see a patient. I was often booked for some very difficult patients, because I am good at this sort of thing. But he warned me about this particular patient.
“She is not a patient we want to follow in this clinic. Just see if she needs medicines, and give her a little bit. The psychologist will do the work.”
I thought he had to be kidding, as I prided myself on being an all-around psychiatrist, and I wanted to take care of everything psychiatric. Especially while in training, under the malpractice coverage of the University, with their supervision.
“They say she has multiple personality disorder. We don’t believe in that diagnosis. We leave it, as much as we can, to the psychologists that do. This patient is a mess. Lots of commitments, lots of suicide attempts, lots of restraining orders. Let the psychologist do it. Stabilize her quickly on medication, and get her out of here, with monthly checkups, then bimonthly.
Read more on Multiple-Personalities — Rare, but they happen…
Filed under Dissociative Disorder by on Dec 1st, 2009. Comment.
This was the last item I posted on the blog Nov 6 before we took it down a few days later to start the overhaul. In case you didn’t get a chance to read it, I’m reprinting it.
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She was a saleswoman prone to bipolar mood swings, stable on a brand name prescription mood stabilizer. It had originally been marketed as an anticonvulsant and her medication was doing its job. She recently returned to full-time work after a manic attack had cost her both her marriage and the custody of her child.
“I don’t have the insurance I once did; I now sell home decoration instead of heating fuel like I used to. The money is better, but now all of a sudden the cost of my medication is really ridiculous. The generic is lots cheaper.”
Read more on What Happens When A Pill Gets Inside Your Body?…
Filed under Generic drugs by on Nov 20th, 2009. Comment.
I wanted to re-post this message now that we are starting a new round of articles. The reason is probably obvious — it’s a very personal statement. But also, it was only posted for a few days before we took the blog down to refurbish it. I hope you enjoy this.
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The opening sentence of Erich Segal’s novel Love Story asks the question, “What do you say about a girl who died?”
I think of that when I’m going to talk about Harry — my little brother.
Read more on Remembering Brother Harry — A Case of Asperger’s…
Filed under Asperger's by on Nov 20th, 2009. 1 Comment.