Cymbalta Goes Generic
On December 11th, the FDA approved the use of generic Cymbalta. The generic version, Duloxetine, delayed release, became available in the USA four days ago.Generics generally work just fine and they cost less. Now and again, some people have side effects or feel the generic is not as effective effective, and for those individuals, it makes sense to remain on the name brand medication. Generics cost less and the active ingredients are the same. Oh, but there was a little issue with the efficacy of one pharmaceutical company's preparation of Wellbutrin, XL, 300mg. See the In The Pipeline d...
Source: Shrink Rap - December 21, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Who are the Mentally Ill? Please take my Brief Survey!
We hear about "the mentally ill" all of the time. They shouldn't have guns. They die an average of eight years younger than those without mental illness. We don't have enough hospital beds for them. They're filling our prisons and some of them are homeless... oh, the list goes on.Defining the term is important because we single this group out for all types of discriminatory practices related to employment, driving, gun ownership, and even the ability to enter the United States for a vacation (at least on a few occasions). We also single this group out for special benefits such as being allowed...
Source: Shrink Rap - December 10, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Andrew Solomon on Shameful Profiling of the Mentally Ill by Immigration Officials
In Today's New York Times, Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon and Far From the Tree, has an opinion piece on "Shameful Profiling of the Mentally Ill." It's on a topic that ClinkShrink has been very interested in: the disturbing issues that arise when the immigration department ("ICE") decides the fate of psychiatric patients. I'll leave you to read Mr. Solomon's article about tourists who were not allowed to enter the United States because they had been hospitalized for depression in Canada. One woman was simply traveling through the US to get to her cruise ship, stringed lights in hand to m...
Source: Shrink Rap - December 8, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Guest Blogger Dr. Erik Roskes with an Update on Gun Legislation and the Mentally Ill
In case you haven't heard enough from the Shrink Rappers on mental illness and gun legislation, I'm stealing a synopsis of the recent legislative changes from The Crime Report, a blog by forensic psychiatrist Dr. Erik Roskes. Taken verbatim, with permission of course:--------On October 1, 2013, Maryland’s modified firearms safety law took effect. Passed in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre, this law expanded the group restricted from owning certain firearms. This blog will focus only on the mental health aspects of the law, as I have no claim to expertise outside the mental health arena. &n...
Source: Shrink Rap - December 6, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Guest Blogger Dr. Ronald Chase on Historical Misuses of Psychiatry
Dr. Ronald Chase is the author of Schizophrenia: A Brother Finds Answers in Biological Science. Today, he joins us as a guest blogger to talk about his recent trip to Heidelberg and the atrocities committed by the Nazis under the guise of psychiatry and a reminder for all of the things psychiatry should not be. Dr. Chase is a biologist who taught neurobiology at McGill and now writes about mental illness. As per the title of his book, the topic can be very personal. A Memorial is a Reminder To research a book I am writing about the 19th century origins of modern psychiatry, I recently travel...
Source: Shrink Rap - December 4, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Quantifiable Goals
A local hospital was recently reviewed by one of those hospital accreditation agencies. It did well-- passed with bells and whistles -- but for a few citations for psychiatry.Individual Treatment Plans (ITP)s:"Surveyors cited us for not having measurable goals in the ITPs. So, changes were made to [the electronic records system] to clarify the requirement for objective and measurable patient goals as well as the patient’s progress toward those goals."Okay, so help me with this. Two decades of trying to come up with acceptable, measurable goals and I'm left with the idea that therapy has a limited number...
Source: Shrink Rap - December 1, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Happy Thanksgiving! Free Novels Now through Black Friday.
Happy Thanksgiving!Now through Black Friday (November 27-29, 2013), three of my novels will be available as free downloads to Kindle. No cost. No parking. No crowds. No Kindle, you say? There is a link below to download a free Kindle app onto your computer, phone, or tablet. Double Billing is the story of a woman whose life changes when she discovers she has an identical twin she never knew existed. It's a short book and a quick read with some plot twists. So far, I think it's my best fiction. Home Inspection is a story told through psychotherapy sessions in a format that is simila...
Source: Shrink Rap - November 28, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Holiday Shopping at Shrink Rap? Free Novels Tomorrow through Black Friday.
Black Friday is Coming!From Wednesday through Black Friday (November 27-29, 2013), three of my novels will be available as free downloads to Kindle. No cost. No parking. No crowds. No Kindle, you say? There is a link below to download a free Kindle app onto your computer, phone, or tablet. Double Billing is the story of a woman whose life changes when she discovers she has an identical twin she never knew existed. It's a short book and a quick read with some plot twists. So far, I think it's my best fiction. Home Inspection is a story told through psychotherapy sessions in a format...
Source: Shrink Rap - November 26, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Virginia's Law On Civil Commitment: 4-6 Hours to find a bed or the dangerous go free
Virginia is a funny state. They like their guns and they like their civil rights. Well, not for sex offenders who get to serve life terms in "treatment" facilities after their prison terms are finished, but that's for another day.If you've been paying attention to the news, you know that former Virginia state senator and gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds was stabbed in the chest and face by his 24 year old son on Tuesday. After the altercation, the son died of a gun shot wound, at this point his death was believed to be a suicide. The son was a student at William and Mary College, one of Vi...
Source: Shrink Rap - November 24, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
The "Magic" of the Doctor-Patient Relationship
There is no doubt that in psychotherapy, some of what heals is the relationship the patient has with the therapist. Medicines can be helpful, even when they are prescribed by a doctor with no personality, but no one enjoys going to see a doctor "just to get a prescription." In therapy, it's hard, if not impossible, to heal if the patient does not see the therapist as being reasonably kind, empathic, and mutually valued, at least some of the time. Aside from any medications, aside from the exact use of the words chosen, and aside from what tribe of psychotherapy the therapist aligns with, part of wha...
Source: Shrink Rap - November 24, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
So You Want to be a Psychoanalyst?
I'm not a psychoanalyst and I've never been in analysis. However, our blogger world friend, PsychPractice, is a psychoanalyst in New York, and she has a post up on what becoming a psychoanalyst entails. I think the final answer is an enormous amount of time and money. See her blog post, "The Couch, First Session." PsychPractice writes:I interviewed with 2 different analysts, 2 times each. I don't remember for sure, but I think each of the 4 interviews lasted at least an hour, maybe 90 minutes. Or it might have just felt that long. The first interview with each analyst was a get-to-know-me session. The ...
Source: Shrink Rap - November 23, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Now It's the Cardiologists' Turn
People like to rag on psychiatry: we've got our own anti-psychiatry movement, and one of the biggest issues for these groups is that "psychiatry" (whoever our singular voice might be) misrepresented itself by saying there are chemical imbalances responsible for mental illness, when no precise imbalance has yet been identified. We're not like internal medicine and it's sub-specialties where there are numbers and a cut-off for when you have diabetes, and when your cholesterol raises your risk of heart disease. Those numbers are reportedly precise science, but, actually, those illnesses are defined like psychiatri...
Source: Shrink Rap - November 20, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Turning the heat on ICE
Today's blog post can be found over on Clinical Psychiatry News HEREwhere ClinkShrink is talking about the fate of mentally ill immigrants who are detained without either legal representation or psychiatric treatment. Clink also tells us what to do if an illegal immigrant is admitted to your inpatient unit and ICE comes knocking at your door. ICE: Immigration Customs Enforcement. -----
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Source: Shrink Rap - November 19, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Is Video Game Addiction for Real?
For the moment, it appears that I'm an "expert" on Internet addiction to video games: Candy Crush and Angry Birds in particular. I had a great time as a guest on Antonio Mora's show Consider This on Friday night, when I was interviewed with Time Magazine reporter Eliana Docterman. We were the final segment, a lighter-side close to the 10 pm news, and it aired around 10:50 pm. A driver came to pick me up, someone was at the studio to do hair and makeup, a studio man to rig me up to a microphone and earpiece, and there were a half-dozen calls with producers in New York to discuss what topics I w...
Source: Shrink Rap - November 17, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
PTSD and the Forensic Psychiatrist
This blog post is aimed at anyone considering a career in forensic psychiatry. Please read this interview in the Ottawa Citizen entitled 'Tough forensic guy' John Bradford opens up about his PTSD'.I'm going to preface this post by saying that I know the man featured in this interview. He is an extremely accomplished and internationally recognized authority on the evaluation and treatment of sex offenders. To think that we could have lost him is a devastating idea to me. He has always been respected within the forensic community, but I respect him even more after this interview.In this article Dr. Bradford talks abou...
Source: Shrink Rap - November 16, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: ClinkShrink Source Type: blogs
