Renegade Psych

Today, we have Kassondra Ola joining the podcast to give a patient perspective on the dangers of psychiatric polypharmacy.  Kassondra is a mental health advocate who was misdiagnosed as bipolar at the age of 10 and put on multiple psychiatric medications over the subsequent decade.  She is here to tell her story and promote a positive message that we, as psychiatric prescribers, need to think long...

Join myself and Dr. Ken Gillman, MD, as we discuss the inherent problems with modern scientific research, and the lack of emphasis put on building critical thinking skills endemic to our academic institutions.  In Part 3 of our conversation, we continue to illuminate how and why most modern medical research is flawed and why you can't just TRUST THE GUIDELINES or allow industry to dictate what is...

So many of my episodes revolve around how poor our healthcare system is in the United States, so I wanted to create a special episode giving guidance on how you can reduce your hospital bills.  Persistence is the key; do not give up and keep pestering your insurance company and the hospital billing departments.  Whether or not your persistence pays off in reducing your bill is one thing, but it's...

Join myself and Dr. Michael Shuman, PharmD, BPCC, as we discuss the latest overhyped and under-delivering class of medications, the new Alzheimer's drugs.  These drugs can cause brain swelling and bleeding in a substantial proportion of patients and even death in some.  Not only are they NOT SAFE, but they're also NO MORE EFFECTIVE than currently existing treatments.  It's another clear ploy to se...

Join myself and Dr. Michael Shuman, PharmD, BPCC, as we discuss the latest overhyped and under-delivering class of medications, the new Alzheimer's drugs.  These drugs can cause brain swelling and bleeding in a substantial proportion of patients and even death in some.  Not only are they NOT SAFE, but they're also NO MORE EFFECTIVE than currently existing treatments.  It's another clear ploy to se...

Join myself and Dr. Michael Shuman, PharmD, BPCC, as we discuss the latest overhyped and under-delivering class of medications, the new Alzheimer's drugs.  These drugs can cause brain swelling and bleeding in a substantial proportion of patients and even death in some.  Not only are they NOT SAFE, but they're also NO MORE EFFECTIVE than currently existing treatments.  It's another clear ploy to se...

Join myself and Dr. Ken Gillman, MD, as we discuss the inherent problems with modern scientific research, and the lack of emphasis put on building critical thinking skills endemic to our academic institutions.  In Part 2 of our conversation, we delve furtther into how research has been commandeered by industry and our over-reliance on Randomized Controlled Trials, or RCTs, at the expense of all ot...

Join myself and "Clever Trevor" Jones for Part 2 of our discussion as we talk about the role of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in GOLF.  Trevor works with professional golfers to optimize their mental game, through ACT processes like acceptance, defusion, meditation and mindfulness, flexible perspective-taking, and values-driven living.  It's easy for our primary focus in golf (or any other spo...

Join myself and "Clever Trevor" Jones as we discuss the role of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in GOLF.  Trevor works with professional golfers to optimize their mental game, through ACT processes like acceptance, defusion, meditation and mindfulness, flexible perspective-taking, and values-driven living.  It's easy for our primary focus in golf (or any other sport or life goal for that matter)...

I can only imagine the surprise and energy that must have been flowing through Jim Murphy's body on Sunday night when he started receiving hundreds, if not thousands, of texts, when he incidentally went viral with AJ Brown reading his book,  Inner Excellence, on the sidelines of Philadelphia Eagles' 22-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.  I may have the longest-form interview ex...

Join myself and Dr. Michael Shuman, PharmD, BPCC, as we discuss the latest overhyped and under-delivering class of medications, the new Alzheimer's drugs.  These drugs can cause brain swelling and bleeding in a substantial proportion of patients and even death in some.  Not only are they NOT SAFE, but they're also NO MORE EFFECTIVE than currently existing treatments.  It's another clear ploy to se...

Join myself and Dr. Michael Shuman, PharmD, BPCC, as we discuss the negative impact of Direct-To-Consumer-Advertising (DTCA) in the US Healthcare System.  This is a recurring series where Dr. Shuman and I will talk about various examples of the negative impacts of DTCA in America over the last 40+ years.  We're living and working in a system now that is rife with misinformation and poor-quality re...

Join myself and Dr. Ken Gillman, MD, as we discuss the inherent problems with modern scientific research, and the lack of emphasis put on building critical thinking skills endemic to our academic institutions.  We constantly refer back to the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), which is the basis of the faux religion called PASTAFARIANISM with FSM as its' primary deity, to illuminate the importance of...

Join myself and Dr. Michael Shuman (PharmD, BPCC - Board Certification in Psychiatric Pharmacy) as we discuss the negative impact of Direct-To-Consumer-Advertising (DTCA) in the US Healthcare System.  This is a recurring series where Dr. Shuman and I will talk about various examples of the negative impacts of DTCA in America over the last 40+ years.  We're living and working in a system now that i...

Join me and PharmD Michael Shuman as we discuss the negative impact of Direct-To-Consumer-Advertising (DTCA) in the US Healthcare System.  This is a recurring series where Dr. Shuman and I will talk about various examples of the negative impacts of DTCA in America over the last 40+ years.  We're living and working in a system now that is rife with misinformation and poor-quality research, and we w...

Please join us this week for a discussion on Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and how it relates to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Training (ACT), with the conceptual creator of RFT and ACT, Dr. Steven Hayes.  I highly recommend you view this on YouTube so you don't miss out on all the added video graphics that supplement our discussion.  Dr. Hayes found himself at a crossroads during his early ca...

Please join us this week for a discussion on Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and how it relates to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Training (ACT), with the conceptual creator of RFT and ACT, Dr. Steven Hayes.  I highly recommend you view this on YouTube so you don't miss out on all the added video graphics that supplement our discussion.  Dr. Hayes found himself at a crossroads during his early ca...

This week, we're back to give you more information on bipolar illness, lithium, dementia, and the failures of the NIH in their research efforts, with one of the world's leading psychiatric experts, former Chief of the biological psychiatry branch of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) for 20 years, Dr. Robert Post, MD and psychiatrist.  Dr. Post has spent nearly the entirety of his car...

This week, we're back to give you more information on bipolar illness in youths and the use of lithium with one of the world's leading experts on both, former Chief of the biological psychiatry branch of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) for 20 years, Dr. Robert Post, MD and psychiatrist.  Dr. Post has spent nearly the entirety of his career working in academia and research, and like...

Hey there again... This week, we're back to give you more information on lithium with one of the world's leading experts on lithium, Dr. Janusz Rybakowski, MD and Polish psychiatrist.  Janusz was one of the first researchers in the world to illuminate some of the ancillary medical benefits of lithium, publishing one of the first series of reports with JD Amsterdam on Lithium's ability to directly...

Hey all, hope you enjoy this latest episode with Nicole Lamberson, PA with the Taper Clinic, who graciously has shared her story about being over-medicated on psychiatric medications.  We discuss why limited duration 'Rehab' and 'Detox' units can be extremely harmful to patients with dependence on certain prescription or illicit drugs, using her own experience with an escalating dose of prescribed...

Join me with Cara Hoepner, a San Francisco-based PMHNP, to discuss how we SHOULD be practicing psychiatry.  This is a 2-part series and in this 2nd part, we talk more about some of the issues that plague our field.  We talk about how our first imperative has to be to rule out any medical cause of psychiatric symptoms, then discuss how Cara individualizes her treatment for each patient, balancing n...

Join me with Cara Hoepner, a San Francisco-based PMHNP, to discuss how we SHOULD be practicing psychiatry.  This is a 2-part series and in this first part, we will talk more about Cara's background that led her into psychiatric practice, then discuss the inherent problems with the DSM's massive over-expansion of psychiatric diagnoses and the major inherent limitations in modern psychiatry.  We dis...

Clozapine is one of the first antipsychotics with a unique chemical structure compared to any other antipsychotic.  It is the most effective at treating patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, but is severely underutilized despite its efficacy.  It does have a significant side effect profile that needs to be monitored and managed, but can provide relief to patients who have not found reli...

Enjoy my rant on a healthcare bill.  Please send me your rants if you have them and I'll post them. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @RenegadePsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at Renega...