September 26th, 2011 by Dinah Miller, M.D. in Opinion
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My hat goes off to kiddy shrinks. It’s a tough field, full of issues we don’t see in adult psychiatry.
Our comment section often buzzes with talk about the over-diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and the ethics of giving psychotropic medications to children. The Shrink Rappers never comment on these things. Why? Because we don’t treat children. I have no idea if the children being treated are mis-diagnosed, over-diagnosed, wrongly-diagnosed, or if the increase in treatment represents a good thing—- perhaps children who would have suffered terribly now are feeling better due to the option of medications. I’ve certainly had adult patients tell me their children were treated with medications, the children have often eventually stopped the medications and emerged as productive adults. Would they have outgrown their issues anyway. Or did the treatment they received switch them from a bad place to a good place and enable them to carry on in a more adaptive way? Ugh, my crystal ball is on back-order at Amazon!
Why I’m Happy I’m Not A Child Psychiatrist: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
September 26th, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Opinion, True Stories
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Whenever a patient asks whether they can exercise, or go here, or there, I liken it to them asking whether they can live life. My answer is always the same…YES. The alternative seems terrible.
In this regard, moving on in the face of illness, let me share with you the writings of a very famous twitteratti, my friend, Melissa T (or @drSnit). Her post today about “doing sick well” struck my optimistic neurons.
You may wonder, how it is possible; putting sick and well together in the same sentence? Let me share her writings…
Dr Snit, author of the blog, “Living with Lupus–But Dying of Everything Else,” should know. She lives with the disease called Lupus–a mysterious ailment known for its flares of inflammation. These spasms of joint, muscle and overall body aches make a post-ride soreness feel like nothing. It’s a tough lot having Lupus.
But yet, Dr Snit stomps forward in life–in defiance of the most inflamed of the inflammatory diseases. She writes Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
September 25th, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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Normally, my vision is better than 20/20. (20/15 is mine, which always prompts my eye doctor to say “Oh, you should be a pilot!” and then I laugh my face off because, really, do you know me, lady?) I’m lucky not to wear glasses or contacts at this point in my life, especially considering that everyone else in my family needs a little visual help at this point.
I’m grateful that my vision is excellent most of the time, despite a few diabetic retinopathy issues. But for the last 48 hours, it’s been a little dodgy, and managing diabetes while my eyesight is impaired has been challenging. Yesterday was the worst day for this latest relapse of the ol’ corneal abrasion, so my vision was very limited in the affected eye (and the other eye was swollen in a lovely, compassionate response to its friend’s injury, so basically I look like I’d been tagged in the face with a baseball – twice.).
My Dexcom graph was next-to-impossible to read. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
September 25th, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in Opinion
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In a highly-promoted appearance, legendary Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden went on ABC’s Good Morning America yesterday to announce that he had kept silent since 2007 about his diagnosis with prostate cancer.
First, let me say that I’ve always liked this guy. Funny. Charming. Coached teams that were fun to watch.
But that doesn’t make you an effective communicator on prostate cancer.
If you listen very carefully to the following clip (it took me 3 times watching the clip before I caught this), you’ll hear interviewer Robin Roberts rapidly mention that Bowden “is being compensated” for his appearance by “On the Line.”
“On the Line” is sponsored by several entities including two drug companies that make prostate cancer drugs and by Project Zero – whose executive made news on this blog recently by writing that Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society “has killed more men by giving them an excuse to not be tested.”
You could probably find less conflicted sources Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
September 25th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Research
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More than two in five patients hesitate to discuss depression in the primary care setting, leading researchers to offer practical tips on how to encourage people to broach the subject.
The big reasons for not talking to doctors included fears about patient confidentiality and fear of losing emotional control in front of the doctor, among those with a history of depression. Among those with no prior history, a fear of antidepressants/psychiatry and the perception that primary care isn’t the right setting are two big reasons.
To learn why patients choose not to talk about their depression, researchers Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
My hat goes off to kiddy shrinks. It’s a tough field, full of issues we don’t see in adult psychiatry.
