PsychPearls by Psychiatric Times

Jonathan E. Alpert, MD, PhD
PSYCHPEARLS PODCAST June is National Men’s Health Month, a good time to consider the unique mental health needs of men. In this edition of PsychPearls, Jonathan E. Alpert, MD, PhD discusses mood disorders and the surprising symptoms that male patients may present.
In this conversation, Alpert also covers:
1. The etiology of major depressive disorder in men and women
2. Common comorbidities to depression among men
3. How to build a therapeutic alliance with men and encourage adherence
4. Effective pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions for men and women
5. Future directions for scientific research on mood disorders, including their connections to autoimmune, cardiac, and thyroid conditions.
Dr Alpert is the Dorothy and Marty Silverman Chair in in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, and professor of psychiatry, neuroscience, and pediatrics at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

PSYCHPEARLS PODCAST
Although lithium is a first-line treatment that ranks high on the list of patient’s favorites, it has fallen out of general use, particularly in the United States. When lithium works well, however, its benefits tend to last. It is among the top medications that prevent hospitalization.
For the full transcript, see https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/dosing-tips-lithium-how-improve-tolerability
About the hosts:
Chris Aiken, MD, is the Mood Disorders Section Editor for Psychiatric Times, the Editor in Chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, and the Director of the Mood Treatment Center. He has written several books on mood disorders, most recently The Depression and Bipolar Workbook. He can be heard in the weekly Carlat Psychiatry Podcast with his cohost Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP. The author does not accept honoraria from pharmaceutical companies but receives royalties from PESI for The Depression and Bipolar Workbook and from W.W. Norton & Co. for Bipolar, Not So Much.
Kellie L. Newsome, PMH-NP, is the cohost of the Carlat Psychiatry Podcast and is also a practicing Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in Winston Salem, NC, at the Mood Treatment Center. Raised in Tasmania, Australia, Kellie moved to the United States in 1998.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many patients were already waiting months to see a psychiatrist. In this edition of Psych Pearls, we speak to James Phelps, MD, about the roots of the crisis and what psychiatrists can do to meet the nation’s mental health needs, especially through new models of collaborate care.
Phelps also reviews his long career treating bipolar and other mood disorders. He discusses some of the most exciting recent discoveries, including research on inflammation and circadian rhythm disturbance, and mood bias. He also reviews recent research on digital therapeutics, which may offer powerful new options for treatment.
Dr Phelps is research editor at the Psychopharmacology Institute, medical director at PsychEducation.org, and adjunct faculty at Samaritan Mental Health in Corvallis, Oregon. He is the bipolar disorder section editor for Psychiatric TimesTM and the author of A Spectrum Approach to Mood Disorders for clinicians and Bipolar, Not So Much for patients and their families.

In this episode of PsychPearls and the Columbia University Breakthrough Session, hosts Angela Coombs, MD, and Jennifer Sotsky, MD, discuss the possibilities and promise of psilocybin in treating psychiatric disorders and in enhancing everyday experiences with David Hellerstein, MD. Landmark studies and new research about the use of hallucinogens includes potential to treat:

• Advanced stage cancer & death anxiety
• Treatment-resistent depression
• Eating disorders
• Posttraumatic stress disorder
• Substance use disorders

Psilocybin (mushrooms) and other hallucinogens from plants and some animal life generate perceptual changes and hallucinations, altered physical sensations, strong emotional reactions, and even dissolution of self.
The question is whether these are wild rides or trips and whether they can result in lasting changes in the patient. Over time, some of the brain connections may become disrupted and new circuits may become activated.
Dr Hellerstein is a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University and is conducting clinical trials of psilocybin. His books include Heal Your Brain: How the New Neuropsychiatry Can Help You Go from Better to Well (Johns Hopkins University Press).
About the hosts:
Dr Coombs is a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor in Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She serves as the medical director and team psychiatrist at ONTrackNY Washington Heights Community Service clinic. She completed her public psychiatry fellowship and adult psychiatry residency at Columbia University where she was a chief resident and co-organized the curriculum on racial/ethnic mental health disparities. In addition to her clinical work in the public sector, she also works in Columbia's psychiatric emergency room and has a private practice in Upper Manhattan.
Dr Sotsky is a fellow in consultation-liaison psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center with a part time private practice. She was formerly a chief resident at Columbia’s psychiatry residency program. Before medical training, she received an MS in Narrative Medicine, an interdisciplinary field that studies illness through a humanities lens. She is co-author of Conquering Lyme Disease: Science Bridges the Great Divide and has interests in medical education, psychotherapy, and medical humanities.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Columbia University Department of Psychiatry for allowing us to present the Breakthrough Session podcast with experts in the field of psychiatry.

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During the first wave of COVID-19 cases in New York City, physicians of all kinds took on unfamiliar roles and, in many cases, potentially risked their lives to help their patients.
In this edition of Psych Pearls, a quartet of doctors remember the early, uncertain days the pandemic. Hosts Angela Coombs, MD, and Jennifer Sotsky, MD, talk to Sara Nash, MD, MS, and David Chong, MD, about their personal experiences, how the challenges of the pandemic have evolved over time, what has kept them going throughout the year, and why preexisting social inequalities made the pandemic even deadlier in some communities.
Dr Nash is assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and program director of its fellowship in Psychosomatic Medicine. Dr Chong is associate professor of medicine and program director of the Internal Medicine Training Program at Columbia University Medical Center.
About the hosts: Dr Coombs is a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor in Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She serves as the medical director and team psychiatrist at ONTrackNY Washington Heights Community Service clinic. She completed her public psychiatry fellowship and adult psychiatry residency at Columbia University where she was a chief resident and co-organized the curriculum on racial/ethnic mental health disparities. In addition to her clinical work in the public sector, she also works in Columbia's psychiatric emergency room and has a private practice in Upper Manhattan. Dr Sotsky is a fellow in consultation-liaison psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center with a part time private practice. She was formerly a chief resident at Columbia’s psychiatry residency program. Before medical training, she received an MS in Narrative Medicine, an interdisciplinary field that studies illness through a humanities lens. She is co-author of Conquering Lyme Disease: Science Bridges the Great Divide and has interests in medical education, psychotherapy, and medical humanities.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Columbia University Department of Psychiatry for allowing us to present the Breakthrough Session podcast with experts in the field of psychiatry.