Solving this problem — the way modern life interacts negatively with our psyches — is a defining task of our era. — During my 30-year career practicing and teaching psychiatry, there has never been anything like COVID to stress test the emotional vulnerability of our society. I have written two articles about the mental health fallout of the pandemic (to be clear, I mean life during the pandemic, not specific things like…

How to talk about suicide — Each year, over half a million people show up at emergency rooms because they are contemplating suicide, or have already hurt themselves. In the year that follows this visit, these people are at very high risk for completing suicide. This is a nightmare scenario for anyone who care about these…

We live in an era of a national opioid crisis, common suicides and mental illness, which seems to spread like wildfire. Given these concerns, and the undoubtedly stressful world we live in, it’s reasonable to ask if most of us know when we are emotionally overwhelmed. …

A How to Guide — After 30 years in the practice and teaching of psychiatry it occurred to me that no one discusses the best way for people who are neither sufferers of psychiatric disorders nor their families to understand what mental illness is all about. If you wanted to learn what mental illness was…

As a psychiatrist with 30 years of experience, I still make it a habit to browse general medical journals. Over the past few years the subject of Burnout has begun popping up in these publications. The people discussed in these articles were usually doctors, nurses or others with intense, life…

Kristina--this is important stuff and I am glad you are giving it voice. As a psychiatrist I hate to hear when someone copes with an N by saying : "F--- then, they are pieces of s---." They are cultivating the same devaluing that a narcissist uses to deal with conflict. You can stand strong and look them in they eye and say "I do not like that" or "I do not agree with you." You may be scarred but you must keep your dignity intact for the future. Please keep up this writing.

Will it lead to a world war again? — On May 29, 1919, Arthur Eddington tried, for the third time, to confirm Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. He sent an expedition to the African island of Principe and went himself to the Brazilian town of Sobral to observe a solar eclipse. If Einstein was right, the eclipse would show…

A careful review of your psychiatric history is due before receiving this label — In psychiatric practice, a sad but common thing to hear is, “I’ve tried everything, and nothing works.” The person giving this history may have any disorder: Depression, Bipolar Disorder, OCD, or others. The story is, unfortunately, the same: many years of hard work without much relief. What should the clinician…

Disability, Chronic Illness, and Passing Your Time Nothing to Do For me, a chronically ill, disabled individual, there is a phrase that I can only speak to people like me. If you speak it, it has a different meaning. “I have nothing to do.” I recently lost a connection I…