Psychiatry

There’s been increasing buzz about psychedelic therapies. In July, bestselling author Michael Pollan highlighted their healing effects in his Netflix series, How to Change Your Mind. This week, four-time football MVP Aaron Rodgers revealed his use of the intense psychedelic ayahuasca in 2020, crediting it with improving his career and self-love. If you’re like many … Read more

When one of America’s most prominent psychiatrists expresses deep disdain for depth psychotherapy, especially when that criticism is misinformed and outdated, it should concern all of us. Dr. Tom Insel directed the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) from 2002 to 2015. Formerly a psychiatric researcher “at the cellular level,” he studied medications and neuroscience. … Read more

Source: Simon Berger/Unsplash None of us can afford to be passive recipients of health care. In our time-pressured medical system, in which many physicians are required to see a high volume of patients, it is incumbent upon all of us to be our own best advocates and make the most of our time with our … Read more

For decades, some investigators and clinicians have promoted the theory that depression is caused by abnormalities involving the serotonin system. This hypothesis has been encouraged by pharmaceutical companies that have developed selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant medications. A recent systematic review by Joanna Moncrieff and colleagues published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry concludes that “the … Read more

Antidepressants can be lifesavers, even if we don’t know how they work. Source: Prostock-Studio/iStock A recent review of the literature has spooked a lot of people because it purports to show that the “serotonin hypothesis” of depression is wrong. The researchers concluded that there is no significant association between serotonin levels and depression. Does that … Read more

Chelsea was in 10th grade the first time I told her directly to stop doing her homework and get some sleep. I had been working with her since she was in middle school, treating her anxiety disorder. She deeply feared disappointing anyone—especially her teachers—and spent hours trying to finish homework perfectly. The more tired and … Read more

In a commentary-response article published this past week for the journal Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Peter Tyrer, a personality psychologist, engaged in what some might call heated rhetoric—or perhaps even “fighting words.” Tyrer is a well-known and prolific personality researcher with a focus on tracing the history and evolution of personality disorder categories from … Read more

Do you know the nursery rhyme called “There once was a woman who swallowed a fly”? It describes responding to a problem with more and more cumulative absurdity. The woman in the rhyme swallows a spider to catch the fly, then a bird to catch the spider, and so on. This rhyme could be understood … Read more