When Sue W’s mother died in 2018, she struggled terribly. She was already seeing a psychotherapist and was taking duloxetine, prescribed by her primary care physician. But her grief was profound, and her depression became paralyzing. She needed to see a psychiatrist, and there were many available in or near her hometown, a Connecticut suburb … Read more
High use of telemental health services by patients with serious mental illness (SMI) who live in nonmetropolitan US counties is associated with improvements in key outcomes, including greater post-hospitalization follow-up, new research suggests. In a nationwide study, researchers drew on Medicare data from nearly 3000 counties covering the period from 2000 to 2018. Results show … Read more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health clinics in the United States successfully upheld the standard of care for patients with schizophrenia using telepsychiatry and long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs), a new survey data show. “Mental health centers rose to the challenge and did what they needed to do for their patients,” study investigator Dawn Velligan, PhD, … Read more
We have been dealing with the COVID pandemic since 2020. And due to that, there is a lot of discussion about related physician burnout. I had my own share of challenges with the pandemic, and for the most part I can relate to a majority of the people I interact with. I shared a similar … Read more
Researchers are reality turning their attention to virtual VR for the treatment of psychiatric disorders in older adults. Recent studies have highlighted the usefulness of VR in treating depression and loneliness in older patients who may be socially isolated because of their age, comorbidities, or the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Harmehr Sekhon “The unique capability of … Read more
I was taught to think clinically first and legally second. There are moments when following every regulation is clearly detrimental to the well-being of both the patient and the medical community at large, and these challenges have been highlighted by issues with telemental health during the pandemic. A friend emailed me with a problem: He … Read more