In March of 2020 sales of alcohol increased by 54% in stores and 262% in online purchases compared to 2019. But then again people were stocking up on everything last March as they hunkered down for an indeterminate quarantine. But what we need to know is how much of that...

How the SSRIs were derived from Benadryl, how a forgotten antidepressant almost brought the serotonergic industry to a halt in the 1980’s, and how this all culminated in a Nobel prize and a new theory of dopamine.Published On: 11/16/2020Duration: 23 minutes, 35 secondsTranscript:How the SSRIs were derived from Benadryl, how...

The FDA issued a warning in September about a dangerous game that teens have been playing with Benadryl during COVID. [FDA Link, Study Link]Published On: 11/14/2020Duration: 2 minutes, 29 secondsTranscript:The FDA issued a warning in September about a dangerous game that teens have been playing with Benadryl during COVID.The Benadryl...

We’re hearing a lot about people at risk for death with COVID – the elderly, African Americans, men, those with medical problems or low vitamin D, and this new study adds people with mental illness to the list.Published On: 11/11/20Duration: 1 minute, 48 secondsTranscript:We’re hearing a lot about people at...

Do you see patients who have no motivation to do anything? Michael Posternak has a novel strategy for working with this depressive symptom during the medication visit. Also, the word of the day: delirium mussitans.Published On: 11/9/2020Duration: 17 minutes, 8 secondsArticle Referenced: "Brief Therapy During the Medication Visit," The Carlat...

This month the first systemic meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies of ultra processed foods has come out, and we have a clearer picture of what poor dietary habits do to 300,000 people. [Link]Published On: 11/7/2020Duration: 5 minutes, 34 secondsGot feedback? Take the podcast survey.

In 2004 Morgan Spurlock decided to see what would happen when he ate a typical McDonald’s meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Over the next 30 days, we watched as he gained 24 pounds and developed high cholesterol, fatty liver, and signs of depression in the now classic documentary Supersize...

The FDA keeps recalling medications for contamination with NDMA, and the contamination was recently found in the first-line antidote for antipsychotic weight gain: metformin.Published On: 11/2/2020Duration: 13 minutes, 13 secondsTranscript:Welcome to the Carlat Psychiatry Podcast, keeping psychiatry honest since 2003. I’m Chris Aiken, the editor in chief of the Carlat Report. And...

Chemicals from plastics, pesticides, and food processing are linked to ADHD, according to a new paper in JAMA Open Network. [Link]Published On: 10/31/2020Duration: 3 minutes, 1 secondGot feedback? Take the podcast survey.

Xyrem is a branded form of sodium oxybate, the sodium salt of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB , to precursor to GABA, glutamate, and glycine which is FDA approved for narcolepsy and cataplexy. The news on Xyrem is that the FDA just approved a new version of it – called Xywav – made...