Psych Matters

As 2023 draws to a close, the Psych Matters team: David and Nishta, would like to thank you for your support during the year. We hope that you’ve enjoyed the many topics presented during 2023, and we look forward to bringing many more to you in 2024. We would especially like to thank College members and others who have generously given their time to develop and present Psych Matters. We’ll be back...

In this episode of Psych Matters, doctors Maura Kenny and Linda Kader engage in conversation about the need for staff wellbeing to be a priority for healthcare settings. They also touch upon a number of issues in the healthcare industry which are crucial to explore systematically and understand ways to address to create a sustainable transformative work culture, whereby excellent care provision is...

This podcast covers the content of a workshop held at the RANZCP Perth Congress 2023. There is a discussion about the nosological status of OCD; a review of controversies and advances in psychological and pharmacological treatments;  a discussion of neuromodulation (including TMS and DBS); and finally the potential role of psychedelic assisted therapy for OCD. Prof David Castle is a Professor in t...

Professor Vlasios Brakoulias is stepping down after a decade as the Editor of Australasian Psychiatry, during which the journal’s impact factor has doubled, the editorial board has greatly and inclusively expanded, and there have been a host of broad-ranging and high-quality papers on the science and art of psychiatry. In this podcast, Professor Brakoulias is interviewed by Associate Professor Jef...

Young onset dementias, including frontal lobe dementias, are dementias that occur in people less than 65 years old.  This episode discusses the challenges in diagnosing dementia in younger people, investigations including neuroimaging and cognitive testing and potential red-flags that might lead the general psychiatrist to consider a dementia diagnosis when reviewing middle-aged adults with psychi...

This series of two podcasts explores the effective communication strategies Psychiatrists could use with their patients, and the impacts of domestic violence on patients with intellectual disability. Episode 2 focuses more on Lachlan's experience with domestic violence and the added complexity in treatment, family, and communication. Dr Dan Mirmilstein is a loving dad and husband, avid medita...

This series of two podcasts explores the effective communication strategies Psychiatrists could use with their patients, and the impacts of domestic violence on patients with intellectual disability. Episode 1 is an introduction to Lachlan Sayer and his experiences living with intellectual disability and interactions with Psychiatrists. Dr Dan Mirmilstein is a loving dad and husband, avid meditato...

In this episode senior trainees Dr Ava Carter, Dr Matthew Brazel and A/Prof Jeffrey Looi discuss trainee and psychiatrist burnout. The episode covers the definition, research on burnout in Trainee and Psychiatrists, as well as the broader literature, medical student and career experiences, and evidence-based management. The podcast is based on a paper co-authored, with Professors Stephen Allison,...

Intellectual Disability (ID) in children is characterised by significant difficulties in both intellectual functioning (e.​g. understanding and communicating, memory and executive functioning, learning, problem solving) and adaptive behaviour (e.g. activities of daily living and everyday routines and social skills). To help those with ID reach their full potential, early identification and interve...

Doctors Israel Berger, Vidya Narayan, and Kieran Allen discuss their lived experience of mental illness and how mental illness affects doctors. They address the issues of suicidality amongst healthcare workers, particularly psychiatrists and SIMGs, how to seek help, regulatory concerns, managing confidentiality, and inpatient admissions. They speak about their own experiences of mental illness and...

Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu. Adorn the bird with feather and they will fly. Dr Hinemoa Elder. Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāpuhi. In this episode of Psych Matters, Dr Hinemoa Elder begins with a broad background related to Māori concepts of disability including those of 'Tangata Whaikaha' and 'Whānau Hauā’. The discussion includes Māori levels of need, and mātauranga Māor...

Hand-n-Hand (Helping Australian & New Zealand Nurses and Doctors) was founded in March 2020 in far north QLD. Initially a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing emotional burden that came with it, we have been amazed with the speed and enthusiasm with which peer support has been adopted. Today, hundreds of participants and volunteer facilitators have signed up to be a part of the gr...

Cognitive impairment is a core feature of mood disorders (depression and bipolar disorder) and is evident across a range of domains (memory, executive function, attention, processing speed). Research shows that cognitive impairment persists into recovery and relates to problems in occupational and psychosocial functioning. International task forces have thus identified cognition as an important tr...

In this episode, Professor Richard Harvey is in conversation with Professor David Castle (University of Tasmania) and Associate Professor Lynette Averill (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston and Yale School of Medicine) to discuss their perspectives on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in clinical practice. Professor Richard Harvey has been a consultant psychiatrist since 1998. He trained in the...

It is well known that rural/regional Australians face greater health and mental health burdens at the same time as lower levels of service access. Dispersed populations and lower levels of research infrastructure are barriers to rural/regionally based academic psychiatrists. Nevertheless, opportunities exist for those willing to follow the dictum "Do what you can, with what you have, where yo...

While all people may experience the detrimental impacts of loneliness, there are unique health and social impacts of loneliness and social isolation for people with mental health conditions and their families/whānau/carers. They are at higher risk of experiencing loneliness and social isolation and its associated stigma can be a key factor in impeding recovery for people with mental illness. The R...

This episode of Psych Matters explores Psychosocial Rehabilitation within a recovery oriented service system. The esteemed panel includes A/Prof Stephen Parker, A/Prof Frances Dark, Dr Catherine Brasier, and Will McKinlay. Through their discussion they provide us the great opportunity to learn not only clinical perspectives but also from lived experience perspectives about rehabilitation and what...

In this episode of Psych Matters, A/Prof Suresh Muthukumaraswamy and Dr Chiranth Bhagavan discuss Suresh's talk 'A sceptical look at the use of psychedelic drugs in medicine'. While there is significant interest in the use of psychedelics as medicines in psychiatry the evidence base has a number of limitations and these are delved into in this discussion. Interested listeners can re...

This episode is the final episode in a 3-part series on the History of Psychiatry. In this particular episode Dr. Kaplan speaks about the notable names in the movement of Anti-Psychiatry during the 20th Century. Dr Robert M. Kaplan, MBChB FRANZCP MA MPhil, is a Forensic psychiatrist, lecturer and speaker with positions at the University of New South Wales, Western Sydney University and Wollongong...

This podcast tracks the 20 years of learning and programme development of a psychiatrist working in primary care, culminating in development, piloting, and evaluation of an “Integrated Primary MH&A programme”.  The programme integrates three new roles (a mental health clinician, a health coach, and access to NGO peer/community support) into primary care teams, seeing people on the day they pre...

This episode is the second in a series on the History of Psychiatry. In this particular episode Dr. Kaplan explores the development of different drugs, methodology, and diagnoses that were discovered, researched, and applied from World War 1 to the 1980's. Dr Robert M. Kaplan, MBChB FRANZCP MA MPhil, is a Forensic psychiatrist, lecturer and speaker with positions at the University of New Sout...

In this Episode Dr Rees Tapsell (Māori fellow) interviews Ms Moe Milne and Mr Ron Baker (Māori cultural elders and advisors for the RANZCP) to get their insights into a range of issues related to Māori mental health.  In addition to being recognised cultural experts both Moe and Ron have nursing training and are deeply ensconced within the Maori world.  They bring decades of experience to bear as...

This podcast is a brief summary of the History of Psychiatry from as early as hunter gatherer societies to the beginning of the first World War. Dr Robert M. Kaplan, MBChB FRANZCP MA MPhil, is a Forensic psychiatrist, lecturer and speaker with positions at the University of New South Wales, Western Sydney University and Wollongong University. His fields of expertise are sleep and pain disorders, n...

This episode of Psych Matters includes 4 child psychiatrists who have or are currently working in regional, rural or remote locations across Australia. Child and adolescent psychiatry is an important subspecialty within psychiatry and the distribution of child psychiatrists in Australia and New Zealand is disproportionately within metropolitan settings. Working in rural and remote settings brings...

In this episode of Psych Matters, Dr Rees Tapsell, a Māori fellow of the RANZCP interviews Dr Rātahi Bell, a senior registrar in forensic specialty training about the specific challenges and opportunities that come with training as a Maori psychiatric registrar in New Zealand.  They discuss the importance of dual competence (being able to walk equally in both the Māori and Psychiatric worlds) in w...