November 9, 2010
Bob--
Today, I saw a very friendly, highly intelligent (she has a PhD in economics) and overweight 34 year old woman for a refill of...
November 4, 2010
Bob--
Today, I saw a healthy, strapping young man, 28 years old and an avid recreational softball player. He is a former college athlete and...
The Successful Creation of a Societal Delusion . . . and the Increase in...
Ever since the revised edition of DSM III was published in 1987, the psychiatric establishment in the United States -- i.e., the American Psychiatric...
Tardive Dyskinesia in the Atypicals Era: Is The Risk Any Less Today Than Before?
A few weeks ago, while I was at a birthday celebration, a friend who works in a mental health setting remarked that she was...
New Rat Study: SSRIs Markedly Deplete Brain Serotonin
Dutch investigators will soon publish an article in Neurochemistry International that sheds light on how SSRI antidepressants affect the serotonergic system over the longer...
October 28, 2010
Bob--
I had an interesting case today.
A friendly, 24 year old, very slender and slightly distracted Vietnamese woman who has a 18 month-old...
Do Antidepressants Worsen the Long-term Course of Depression? Giovanni Fava Pushes the Debate Forward.
In 1994, Italy's Giovanna Fava, editor-in-chief of the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, wrote for the first time of his concern that "long-term use of...
October 25, 2010
Bob--
A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from the mother of one of my teenage patients, a 14 year old Chinese-american boy...
October 21, 2010
Bob--
I'm going to try to be quick today (unlikely), but I want to share two cases:
1) I saw a pleasant 32 year old woman...
October 17, 2010
Bob--
A couple of very positive patient encounters yesterday:
• First, I saw a fit, vibrant 45 year old woman who presented for the first time...
October 14, 2010
Bob--
Had two very interesting cases this morning:
First, I saw new patient, a very thoughtful, intelligent retired pastor who is on Citalopram. We were visiting...
SAMHSA, Alternatives, and A Psychiatrist’s Despair over the State of American Science
In my last post on my Psychology Today blog, which I also publish here, I told of my experience speaking at the Alternatives conference...
Chapter Two: Opening Pandora’s Box
Soon after awakening to my crisis of ‘self’, I was sent to my first therapist. My social circles had changed, and I’d begun to...
October 10, 2010
Bob--
Today was full of psych stuff from the first patient to the last. Yes, these clinic days are representative of my typical practice. Just...
SAMHSA, Alternatives, and the Story of an Opportunity Lost
In the last chapter of my book Anatomy of an Epidemic, I noted that if our society is going to stem the epidemic of...
October 6, 2010
Bob--
Yet another challenging day. I had two more patients today whose trajectories would relate perfectly to Anatomy of an Epidemic.
The first was an 61...
Keeping Tabs on the Serotonin Theory of Depression
In 2008, Philip Cowen published an essay in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. His essay leads off with the provocative question, “Serotonin and Depression: Pathological...
Chapter One: Journeying Back to Self
This blog is an attempt to make sense of what brought me into the world of psychiatry as a child and of where it...
September 25, 2010
Bob--
My brain is still buzzing from my second day back in the trenches. My final patient today was a middle-aged woman who...
September 21, 2010
Dear Bob:
Today, fittingly, was a very psych heavy day at my clinic. I saw the whole gamut of patient situations, patients (and their conflicted...
September 18, 2010
Dear Robert,
I just finished Anatomy of an Epidemic while on vacation.
I am a family physician (and writer) practicing in Colorado. For years, my practice...
Introducing Our Blog
Consider these findings: The antidepressant drugs, used to treat depression and many other mental disorders have limited effectiveness, they have significant side effects, and...
September 27, 2010
Bob--
I would guess that as I am typing this, you are in the midst of a spirited defense of your book at the conference....
And Now For the Rest of the Story
Check out the story that appeared on August 30 on CNN.com titled “Growing Up Bipolar,” and the one on August 31 in the New...
