A Psychiatrist's Mental Health Blog

A Psychiatrist's Mental Health Blog

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Auckland, New Zealand

A Tale of Two Cities: Comparing the Mental Health Care Systems of Auckland and Ottawa

One of the coolest things about working abroad, is seeing how different places tackle similar social issues. I came to Auckland, New Zealand, eager to compare its mental health care system with the one in my hometown of Ottawa, Canada. Here are my observations so far. Difference #1: Access to

A Crisis of Credibility: Modern Psychiatry is being derailed by The Cultural Zeitgeist and The False Promises Medication

A Crisis of Credibility: Modern Psychiatry is being derailed by The Cultural Zeitgeist and The False Promises Medication

Warning: This article mentions self-harm and suicide Somewhere along the line, mental health diagnoses and the subsequent prescribing of medications began following cultural trends rather than objective science. Pharmaceutical companies have played a massive role in this shift, spinning a highly profitable narrative: that unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and existential discomfort

Saying Good-Bye

Saying Good-Bye

I am closing my practice down for the next 24 months. In so doing, I am saying good-bye to all of my patients and colleagues. And though 24 months is not a very long time, it is just long enough to question if I am returning at all, and

Why I Left: The Shortcomings of the Mental Health System in Ottawa

Why I Left: The Shortcomings of the Mental Health System in Ottawa

It was never the people. Most of the clinicians I have worked with were amazing and did their best. It might be cliche, but it was “the system” that broke me, the faceless, omnipotent, patriarchal institutions that made up the mental health system in Ottawa. It took me a long

Recovering from Anxiety: How to face what you fear

Recovering from Anxiety: How to face what you fear

So you have decided you want to tackle your anxiety. It has simply taken up too much of your life. Whether your anxiety manifests as uncontrollable thoughts that put you on edge, physical symptoms like shortness of breath and crushing chest pain, or a combination of the two, anxiety robs

Clinical Pearls from Real-World Psychiatric Practice: The Chaos of Treating ADHD

Clinical Pearls from Real-World Psychiatric Practice: The Chaos of Treating ADHD

It has taken me a while to write this article about ADHD. Even though this diagnosis has exploded in the population, there is a lack of ADHD training in most psychiatric residencies, so taking this on as a staff psychiatrist has been daunting. When I first entered practice, my instinct

Anxiety Disorders Need Your Undivided Attention

Anxiety Disorders Need Your Undivided Attention

All psychoeducation about anxiety begins with how anxiety is actually adaptive and protective. Anxiety is what alerts us to danger and helps us survive. The classic example is how our ancestors needed anxiety to detect and respond to predators and other dangers. Without anxiety, we would not be here today.

The Long Shadow of Childhood: Impacts of Your Upbringing Last into Adulthood

The Long Shadow of Childhood: Impacts of Your Upbringing Last into Adulthood

I was accidentally referred a 13-year-old girl for psychiatric assessment. When she arrived, I would not have known she was 13 until I looked in her chart. She looked much older. A little flustered, I told the mother that I was not a child psychiatrist. She was aware

The Long Flight Home: Managing a Patient's Need to Return Amidst Psychosis

The Long Flight Home: Managing a Patient's Need to Return Amidst Psychosis

She does not believe she is sick. Even with her sister supervising, Rita has stopped taking her medication. Hours after Rita's first dose, her sister finds half-dissolved tablets in tissues hidden all around the bedroom. In the appointment Rita looks guarded and defensive. My heart sinks. I

Recovery in First Episode Psychosis

Recovery in First Episode Psychosis

There are a series of clinics across Canada and internationally whose sole purpose is to treat patients with first episode psychosis. Here in Ottawa, our first episode psychosis program, aka FEPP, is made up of a multidisciplinary team including nurses, social workers, psychiatrists, and other allied health. These clinics were

How to Think about Thinking: A Psychiatrist's approach

How to Think about Thinking: A Psychiatrist's approach

Psychiatry deals with the intangible parts of the brain; some might call it the mind. And how we know the mind exists, how the mind most commonly communicates to its owner is by having thoughts. In health, our thoughts serve a purpose. They help us to understand, to connect and

AI has arrived: My experience using a Medical Artificial Intelligence Scribe in Psychiatric Practice

AI has arrived: My experience using a Medical Artificial Intelligence Scribe in Psychiatric Practice

Documentation in my job, meaning writing my clinical notes and filling out other necessary paperwork (e.g. Notes for patients' work or school, government forms etc.) takes up an additional 1-2 hours of my day. What this looks like is I typically see patients from 9-5pm leaving

Conversations in Therapy

Conversations in Therapy

What is a therapist but someone trying to figure out who she is in the context of you, the patient? What I love about therapy are the important questions that arise that are fundamental to all of us and our well-being. Questions about connection and being understood, questions about

My Grandmother's Ritual: A More Personal Essay on Aging

My Grandmother's Ritual: A More Personal Essay on Aging

My life could not be more different than my grandmother's. She was born and raised in a farming village in China and deprived of an education because she was female. She narrowly escaped having her feet bound because she was too important to the family's livelihood,

How to Feel Better: The Basics

How to Feel Better: The Basics

Patients seek out mental health services with the hopes of feeling better. I see it as the job of the clinician to help patients understand better why they are feeling as they do; to help patients organize what must feel chaotic and distressing. Most importantly, mental health clinicians try to

What is Time Well-Spent?

What is Time Well-Spent?

There are so many moments where I feel demoralized, exhausted and unappreciated. So it is important that I recognize when I am feeling better about myself and the work. It warrants some time and space also. Today I am feeling grateful and honored that I get to do what I

Advocating for a Ban on Surveillance Capitalism

Advocating for a Ban on Surveillance Capitalism

Please consider joining me in writing to your member of parliament (can be found here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en), regarding legislation regulating/banning surveillance capitalism. My MP is the honorable David McGuinty. Here is what I have sent to him, please feel free to use it as a

When Relationship is the job: a Sisyphean task

When Relationship is the job: a Sisyphean task

"Did I even stand a chance?" I think to myself. If I were to talk to my younger self, with what I know now, would I have said anything? Probably not. What is there to say to a younger, less experienced, idealistic version of myself? Perhaps I would

Medications and Therapy in First Episode Psychosis: Difficult Crossroads

first episode psychosis

Medications and Therapy in First Episode Psychosis: Difficult Crossroads

I had been seeing a patient for 6 months now for psychosis but also longstanding personality problems and other difficulties. When she first came into my care, she was not sure if she wanted to be on any medications and so I decided that I would follow along for some

Dying is not Giving Up

Dying is not Giving Up

I am seeing a woman who has a progressive terminal illness. She is 80 years old and has outlasted her prognosis by 10 years. Since I started seeing her 3 years ago, I have seen the steady decline of her physical being. In the last 6 months, the cognitive decline

JOY: A Missing Ingredient in Mental Health Recovery

JOY: A Missing Ingredient in Mental Health Recovery

I see many people through their journeys from illness to wellness. A big sign that someone is not doing well and the severity of their symptoms, is when they have taken time off work. I am often consulted when what was initially supposed to be a two-week break, has

One Patient, Two Perspectives

One Patient, Two Perspectives

It can be difficult to put into words why I have found my psychiatric training and how standard psychiatry is practiced today lacking. On one end, we have smart, compassionate, well-meaning, highly trained clinicians and on the other end, we have motivated patients wanting help. Both of whom want

The Promises and Pitfalls of Psychedelics

The Promises and Pitfalls of Psychedelics

There has not been a mental health subject that has gotten more attention in recent years than psychedelics. It seems like they are a cure for everyone. In the medical literature, we are seeing positive results in many patient populations, from treatment-resistant depression, to drug addiction and post traumatic