In 2012, psychiatrists at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital discovered a novel antidepressant. It seemed to improve depression and cognition without causing any significant side effects. There was only one problem. The ingredients were practically free, and there was no way that was going to sell. Published On: 2/21/2021 Duration: 19 mi

Bupropion and restless legs syndrome: a randomized controlled trialWhen a patient complains that their mood got worse on an antidepressant, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are sensitive to medications. In this episode, we detail 6 other reasons why depression can get worse on an antidepressant. Published On: 2/15/21 Duration: 22 minutes, 42 sec

Behavioral activation came about in the 1990’s as a challenge to the CBT model of depression. The basic strategy behind this therapy blends well with brief medication visits, and we explain how to use it in this professional guide. Check out the patient companion to this edition in the Pocket Psychiatrist podcast. Published On: 2/1/2021 Durati

The Queen’s Gambit is Netflix’s critically acclaimed series about a chess prodigy who gets “a little help from her friends.” In this episode we find out what they got right, and wrong, about psychiatric meds and cognitive enhancement. Published On: 1/11/2020 Duration: 29 minutes Transcript: Dr. Aiken: Cognitive problems are one

Brett Stevens has lived through the worst of bipolar and come out standing. Here’s what he did to get his life back. This is the first edition of The Pocket Psychiatrist, a monthly series you can share with your patients through a separate podcast stream. Published On: 1/4/2021 Duration: 15 minutes, 24 seconds Transcript: Last year, we put o

Retractions are on the rise in medical research, and we get to the bottom of it with Ivan Oransky, cofounder of RetractionWatch.com. Published On: 12/21/2020 Duration: 25 minutes, 12 seconds Rough Transcript: Can you personalize antidepressant selection, use antipsychotics in dementia, or treat adolescent OCD with brain surgery? Yes, you can….

About 1 in 50 US adults use stimulants like amphetamines (Adderall), methylphenidate (Ritalin), and modafinil (Provigil) without a prescription, and 80% of them take the drugs to enhance cognition, not to get high. The ethics of all this are vexing, but putting that aside, how well does the practice work? And how does it compare to drug that most of

While medication is the mainstay of treating symptoms in ADHD, Edward Hallowell, MD, shares a positive, relationship-based approach to ADHD with practical strategies to help children and adolescents manage ADHD. Published On: 11/30/2020 Duration: 18 minutes, 10 seconds Related Article: "Reimagining ADHD," The Carlat Child Psychiatry Report

Chemicals from plastics, pesticides, and food processing are linked to ADHD, according to a new paper in JAMA Open Network. [Link] Published On: 10/31/2020 Duration: 3 minutes, 1 second Got 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 by Jazz pharmaceuticals. [FDA Prescribing Information] Date Publis