Sunday, May 15, 2011

We Got Our Duck!



Jackie, our wonder editor, told me there was a duck surprise. Oh, good. I like surprises. And Shrink Rap likes ducks. And then I forgot.

So this morning I went to check out the Johns Hopkins University Press booth at the Exhibit Hall here in Honolulu at the APA. Lots of books, lots of people, and they have a poster up for Shrink Rap in a corner. And a big screen with images that change. Then I noticed it: the Shrink Rap stuff all has ducks on it! This, after they denied us a duck on our cover and said it made us look like quacks.

Ok, so it's beautiful here in Oahu and I'm off to soak up some sun.
I woke up at 5:20 this morning and have been learning about psychiatry all day!

Just a quick note to myself and a to-blog-about list. We've been so busy lately that time has been short for blogging and podcasting, but I still have ideas, so coming posts will (some day!) be:

--Response to the med student who wanted to know how to deal with negativity when she says she wants to be a psychiatrist.
--What is anti-psychiatry and why does it bother me. (Please pray for me if I go there).
--The chapter I wish I'd written, inspired by Jesse's comments.
--We got a request to talk about how autism may mimic psychiatric symptoms on our next podcast. Maybe we'll respond to the medical student on a podcast instead.

Ever feel like life gets just too busy? Okay, having fun at APA, gotta catch some rays now.
--

9 comments:

Sarebear said...

Yay for ducks! Love it!

My daughter is high-functioning autistic, so anything you say on the subject of autism will interest me.

As do other subjects interest me, of course, but this one is particular to me.

Rach said...

I think it would be great to hear what the med student would say. I've come across many a med student in my day, and some of them seemed thoroughly interested whereas others couldn't give a rats A$$.
So it would be interesting to hear their thoughts.

Sarebear said...

Ducks are delicious!

(candy ones that is!)

Anonymous said...

Dinah,

You said,

"What is anti-psychiatry and why does it bother me. (Please pray for me if I go there)."

Well, I will pray for you if you pray for my response:)

All jokes aside, you might want to read this link to a comment by someone who works in a mental health unit who sympathizes with the anti psychiatry movement.

http://forums.randi.org/showpost.php?p=7142875&postcount=550

These comments are very similar to what many people have reported who have been hospitalized.

By the way Dinah, when I still thought that psych meds were the eighth wonder of the world, I was also very critical of the anti psychiatry movement. I didn't think they knew what they were talking about.

It was only after they caused great damage which my psychiatrist didn't seem to recognize that I realized these folks had many legitimate points.

I just feel that until psychiatry addresses those abuses, that blasting the anti psychiatry movement is an exercise in futility. Obviously, it your blog to do as you please.

Anonymous said...

Hi again,

I wanted to address this point:

""Response to the med student who wanted to know how to deal with negativity when she says she wants to be a psychiatrist.""

Tell the med student that if she treats patients with respect and is willing to expand her horizons, she has nothing to worry about. Here is what I mean.

1. If I report a legitimate side effect, don't act like I am making it up and that it is due to my label.

That is very demeaning and patronizing.

2. Don't maintain I need to be on antidepressants for life when the cure becomes worse than the disease.

3. Quit making the mistake of confusing withdrawal symptoms for a relapse and start visiting boards like http://survivingantidepressants.invisionzone.com/index.php? to get the real picture of discontinuation syndrome.

4. Understand that discontinuation syndrome is greatly minimized in the medical literature and that it is high time that psychiatry listen to patients who report problems.

5. Learn about supplements like fish oil and diet that may help with depression. In my opinion, the best medical professional are ones that understand both conventional and alternative medicine. Extremism on either side is not good for patient care.
Looking at the website of Emily Deans, a psychiatrist would be a good place to start regarding diet.

That is a start. If I think of anything else, I will let you know.

SteveBMD said...

Hey, it was great to meet you! Thanks for the blogging tips too.

Like you, I have a long "to-blog-about" list, thanks to the APA meeting. I hope I can get to them before the enthusiasm wanes.

As for me, I'm off to a very romantic dinner and hope to be happily engaged in a few hours. :)

Anonymous said...

I have recently come into contact with the psychiatry world for the first time and have thus speculated on certain aspects of it…

I am a university student and recently started taking Ritalin again due to the stress of school and falling behind academically. I took it as a kid for 4-5 years in grade school so it was fairly easy for me to obtain again. The only constraint was that the university health center would not prescribe stimulants, understandably due to the misuse potential; instead I had to see the clinic psychiatrist at the university counseling center to obtain the prescriptions and thus my introduction to the field of psychiatry. I had no problem per say with this, except that I feel like I am wasting the psychiatrist's time, who has his own private practice in the community and only visits campus one day a week, and that my needs do not warrant his specialty…. I see the pdoc for approximately 7 minutes every 3 months and our appointments generally go as follows: I'm good, yes classes are fine I'm passing everything, medication is working fine, no I don’t have any problems sleeping or eating, no questions for you, ok thanks for the script ill pick up the next one in a month and see you in three.

Now my questions do not necessarily relate to my personal experiences (just providing a context where a patient might believe care by a psychiatrist was not warranted) nor are they asking for your medical advice but regard issues I have thought about since encountering the psychiatry world…

1. Do you ever transfer care and how do you decide when to transfer care? If a patient is stable do you transfer care and prescribing over to a general/family/primary care doc? I know that most depression, anxiety, adhd, etc is diagnosed and treated in primary care these days anyways, under what situation is diagnosis and treatment management by a psychiatrist recommended over a general practitioner or conversely when is treatment management by a general practitioner recommended over a psychiatrist? Do you ever feel like your patient's level of need/functioning/distress doesn’t warrant your care, such as when they are improving with treatment, if so do ever you suggest that they should reduce their visits or seek care elsewhere?

2. Does a patient have to be diagnosed with a disorder in order to be prescribed medications? For example, do they have to fit the clinical criteria in the DSM for depression before you will feel comfortable prescribing antidepressants to them, or is just complaining of feeling sad and hopeless enough? Is complaining of being inattentive and failing classes enough to warrant adhd medications? I know it gets dicey with controlled substances and insurance coverage/reimbursement, but in general I am curious regarding the indications for medication prescriptions? If a patient doesn’t fit the exact DSM criteria for a disorder but they feel they will benefit from medications, do you give it to them?

Yikes, that was longer then I expected. Would be interested to hear your input/insights. Thanks

Dinah said...

SteveMB--
Thank you so much for stopping by, it was great to meet you. Wow! Let us know how the dinner turned out. Gorgeous place to get engaged!

wolfetone75 said...

What, no pictures of the APA attendees who actually picked up the candy ducks and ate them?