Vignette Taylor, a 31-year-old non-binary, single parent of a 5-year-old and 2-year-old twins, presented for evaluation following an annual physical with their primary care physician. Taylor had no complaints other than fatigue that they attributed to long work hours, recently returning to night school, and sole caretaking responsibilities for their 3 children. They also expressed […]
Dr. Alan Davis presents the background and current research on psilocybin-assisted therapy, a summary of the acute and enduring effects of psilocybin, and a discussion about the features of the therapeutic approach of this novel treatment. Primary and long-term follow-up data from a randomized controlled trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for Major Depressive Disorder are discussed, […]
Written by Terry Bardagjy on June 16, 2020
Clinical Vignette Your patient, Sara, who you have been seeing in weekly therapy for a year, had a setback recently and was briefly hospitalized. She has now been released from the local psychiatric unit with a new medication plan. Her prescription for fluoxetine (Prozac; 60 mg/daily) was abruptly discontinued and replaced with a different antidepressant, […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
The idea that medications hold the key to repairing all manner of psychological and physical discomforts has been around for many decades. The acceptance of this idea has been reflected in steady, consistent sales data. For example, between 1960 and 1980 the sale of prescription drugs remained at a relatively stable percentage of the United […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
The debate within the field of psychology regarding the right to prescribe psychotropic medication has persisted for the past two decades, with the American Psychological Association (APA) officially considering the matter beginning in 1989.[1] Recent studies estimate that over 44 percent of Americans are prescribed at least one drug, and that 16.5 percent take at […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
Chronic pain, albeit a common medical complaint, is notoriously difficult to both define and study. Though as many as 35 percent of respondents to surveys report persistent pain on at least a weekly basis, pain is by definition subjective and difficult to characterize accurately. The experience of pain and the tolerance for pain vary substantially […]