News

The role of transplant psychiatrists is to assess both transplant and donor candidates to determine capacity to consent to the surgery, recent stressors and coping skills, social supports and availability of caregivers, and whether there are psychological or substance abuse issues that would affect outcomes.

Who hasn’t been at a public gathering and, after identifying yourself as a psychiatrist, heard someone respond nervously, “Can you read my mind?” Just as Thanksgiving can be compromised by family conflict, being a psychiatrist can at times feel like a curse in our public lives.

This psychiatrist takes notice when he hears public remarks by celebrities on their alleged psychiatric illnesses. A perfect example is when Jerry Seinfeld claimed he was “a bit autistic” to Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News.

This article reviews the reasons for measuring serum levels of psychotropics and provides optimum serum levels for various psychotropic agents to optimize their effectiveness and safety.

We need to join forces with our natural allies: the patients we treat and their families, as well as government, community, and business leaders, to make addressing the impact of violence and abuse one of our highest public health priorities.

After years of working with troubled individuals claiming to have been abducted by extraterrestrials, Harvard University Professor John Mack published a book. What made Mack and the book so controversial was the fact that he had come to accept that his patients’ stories were an accurate description of real events.

For this psychiatrist, learning a section of the Talmud known as Megillah brought to light an important exchange that has implications in therapy and psychopharmacology, regardless of theoretical stance.

Although 2 weeks of protected touring is hardly enough time to get a sense of Morocco, there was a familiar parallel to cross-cultural psychiatry. Let the patient tell you what they are about culturally, respect that particular point of view, relate to them as they wish, and support that with study.

For those suffering from severe mental illness, this is the worst of times. Walk the streets of any city and you will find multitudes of the mentally ill left homeless to fend as best they can for themselves.