They get a bad wrap, but nursing homes are a better option than only having walls to talk to. – Sydney Morning Herald, March 2016 – 2UE Radio spot, 28th March 2016
An Easter Message
The Easter bunny’s origin has been thought to be related to an ancient motif of three hares found in sacred sites throughout Europe and the Middle East. Thought to be a symbol of the Trinity, it is an essential doctrine
Videogames – friend or foe?
Psychiatry has had an unusual relationship with videogames – and despite several hundred studies on the topic, it is still not clear how and to what extent they influence the mind. Do they encourage violence? And can they prevent dementia?
The Santa Clause in Mental Health
What does mental health literature have to say about talking to kids about Santa Claus? http://www.smh.com.au/comment/lying-to-the-kids-about-santa-claus-a-psychiatrists-view-20151217-glpn0z.html
Euthanasia – the problem of capacity
I once had a 70 year old patient with recurrent serious depressive episodes leading to suicide attempts. She was a “professional suicider”, in that she subscribed to an organisation that clandestinely posted out kits to help people kill themselves. I
Mental Health Resources
The Internet is rife with well-intentioned mental health advice, supposed resources, and many, many pitfalls. Much of the difficulty is the reality of psychiatry, in that the lack of objective evidence regarding psychiatric illness (save treatment responses and, in some
The Challenge of Ageing
On the 21st of July 2015 at a Swiss euthanasia clinic, Gill Pharaoh, a retired palliative care nurse, ended her life. She had been involved in the care of several terminally ill patients, and had had a long and successful
Internship: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
A little bit of advice to those newly starting their medical careers… (Published in the Australian Medical Association Newsletter May 2015.) I had no real interest in medicine when I first went into university. This ambivalence didn’t prepare me well
The Boring Patient
The Boring Patient Some articles provide their benefit by means of tangible changes to patient care. A few others yield an improvement in quality of life for the clinician as well. Then there are those that improve quality of life
Carbamazepine for Dementia – the forgotten, and superior, alternative to antipsychotics
Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) is a catch-all phrase referring to one of many behaviours that patients with dementia exhibit, leading to difficulties in maintaining their care. Agitation, wandering, and violence being amongst the most common, different