Psychiatry & Psychotherapy Podcast

Catatonia is a severe motor syndrome. It is a secondary response to an underlying illness that requires quick diagnosis and treatment . There are many different things that lead to catatonia, so finding out the underlying cause is very important. In this episode, Dr. Cummings and I discuss the history, diagnosis, and treatment of catatonia.  By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry...

In this short episode of The Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast, I interview Dr. Cummings, a forensic psychiatrist, on the topic of the correlation of mental illness and violent crime, and what causes violent crime. I start out with reviewing some studies and then subsequently interview Dr. Cummings, a leading psychiatrist at one of the largest forensic psychiatric hospitals in the United States...

In this episode, David Puder, M.D. and Michael Cummings, M.D. discuss the history, uses, and side effects of Valproic Acid which is a mood stabilizer for various conditions including: Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Borderline Personality Disorder.  By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode, Dr. Puder talks about the importance of therapeutic alliance in the psychiatric interview, emphasizing the need for a strong therapeutic alliance in order to help patients with psychosis continue their medication.   By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

Therapy is an intensely focused relationship that involves acceptance, trust, unconditional positive regard, hope, attunement, tolerance, and mending empathic strains and ruptures. There is also emotional contagion between a therapist and patient, with transference and countertransference. On this week's episode, I talk about how attachment theory can be a powerful predictor in helping someone mov...

What is intelligence? Why is IQ controversial? In this week's episode Nelson Horsley (a 4th year medical student) and David Puder, M.D. discuss the IQ - if it is a predictor for a successful life, and what things can predict or influence IQ. By listening to this episode, you can earn 2 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

Joaquin Phoenix stars in "Joker" which has divided critics and movie goers alike. Surprisingly, it has divided mental health professionals as well. Some say Phoenix's performance shines a light on the misunderstandings of mental illness while others believe it promotes a falsehood that mental illness is responsible for violence. In this episode, David Puder, M.D. and Hans von Walter, M.D. discuss...

Fentanyl is a highly addictive drug which has led to the deaths of countless people including several well known celebrities. Fentanyl is being used to strengthen the potency of other drugs, such as cocaine, which means that people are being exposed to it without their knowledge. In this episode, David Puder, M.D. discusses the history, impact, and statistical analysis pertaining to the dangers of...

Since its introduction in the early 2000's, social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. It influences culture, current affairs, and connects us to the world like never before. As people spend more and more of their lives online, it's important for us to consider how this new online world is changing us . After all, healthy social connection is one of the key factors in good mental...

In this episode, David Puder, M.D., and Victoria Agee discuss possible links between marijuana use and psychosis. There a multiple studies which reveal links in genetics and marijuana potency that can lead to an increase in schizophrenia and psychosis.  Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

On this week's episode we will be covering a special topic-interviewing well-for psychiatry residency, and even in other interviews post residency. I am interviewing Neal Christopher, a 4th year, chief resident and the host of a podcast for the APA, The American Journal of Psychiatry Residents' Journal Podcast.  Link to blog. Link to YouTube video. AJP Resident Podcast with Dr. Christopher

People often think of emotions as ethereal, complicated depths that are difficult to explore. They are actually adaptive physical reactions to stimuli. There are a few main categories, and as we will discover, they are concrete, identifiable, and usually in a healthy therapeutic alliance, they can be discussed and even when emotions are painful to express or come with shame or linked with traumati...

This week on the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast, I am joined by Dr. Mark Ard, a chief resident physician at Loma Linda University's Psychiatry program, to talk about holds and capacity evaluations as it relates to medicine and psychiatry. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.25 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In the previous episode on Suicide , we discussed epidemiology, general risk factors, and associations of suicide with various mental health disorders. Now, in this second part of this series, we will focus on genetic and environmental factors associated with suicide.  The data here might be cold and distant, and so is the nature of suicide. It cuts at the core of families that have struggled with...

On this week's episode of the podcast, I interview Dr. Drew Ramsey , a nutritional psychiatrist. When I was a resident, I saw him give a lecture on diet and how it affects our mood, and I've been wanting to interview him for a long time. He is the author of several books about diet and health. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube vid...

Lithium is indicated for a number of things. Most clearly, as a mood stabilizer in bipolar spectrum disorders. It is unique among mood stabilizers in that it is very robustly anti-manic. The medication treats and prevents manic episodes from occurring, providing fairly robust prophylaxis against mood cycling. Lithium is also effective in treating bipolar depression, though not as effectively. Very...

This week the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast is joined by Dr. Walter A. Brown, Clinical Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University, author of the brand new book " Lithium: A Doctor, a Drug, and a Breakthrough ".  In order to capture the full experience of this week's episode, I've posted a transcript of my interview with Dr. Brown which you can...

One of the more controversial components of the Neuralink presentation was Musk's inclusion of his beliefs about the future of humanity and artificial intelligence. During the press release he stated one of his goals was to create the ability to achieve a "full symbiosis with artificial intelligence," essentially removing the "existential threat of AI" which he believes will one day "leave us behi...

Working with a good therapist often requires fewer sessions than other therapists to see improvement; in contrast, working with a therapist you don't connect with, or with inadequate training, may require an extended number of sessions ( Okiishi et al. 2003 ).  People that see effective therapists are more likely to recover or partially recover, whereas those that work with a "bad" therapist are m...

On this week's episode of the podcast, I interview Jaeger Ackerman, 4th year medical student about suicide risk factors and treatments. As a therapist, attempt to closely approximate their reality of feeling suicidal with words. When I first hear their thoughts and feelings, I try to clarify with the patient to make sure I'm understanding their feelings. I usually try to put it into other words, a...

In this episode of the podcast, I interview Steven, one of my patients who had a rare form of a stroke—in the right orbital frontal cortex. He participated in a psychiatric program that I run. He tells his story of how his function and emotions changed, and how he dealt with it. At the end of the episode, I talk more with Jaeger Ackerman (a 4th year medical student) about the science and neurology...

What is Psychodermatology? At the most basic level, Psychodermatology encompasses the interaction between mind and skin. It is the marriage between the two disciplines of psychiatry and dermatology, uniting both an internal focus on the non-visible disease, as well as an external focus on the visible disease. This tight interconnection between mind and skin is maintained at the embryological level...

What is an eating disorder? One of the most important things about anorexia and bulimia is understanding that they are caused by a complex interplay of genetics, epigenetics, early development, and current stressors. They can lead to dangerous outcomes because of how the eating disorder changes both the body and the brain. Many therapists and nutritionists, as you'll hear in my conversation with S...

Grief is the multifaceted response—emotional, behavioral, social—to a loss or major life adjustment (like a divorce, loss of a job, etc.). Bereavement is the process of grieving specific to the loss of affection or bond to a person or animal ( Parkes & Prigerson, 2013 ; Shear, Ghesquiere & Glickman, 2013 ; Shear, 2015 ). Some of the signs and symptoms of grief are: -somatic symptoms (e.g. choking...

What is clozapine? Not only is clozapine the gold standard medication for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, it is also one of the most unique drugs used in psychiatry. It was synthesized 1958, only eight years after chlorpromazine, the first antipsychotic drug, was created. At that time, researchers tested for antipsychotic properties by taking various compounds and testing to see if lab mice dev...