Writings of relevance to the medical community.

 

  • How to sleep – Outback Radio Style Sunday November 13th, 2022
    There’s this awesome radio station in Broken Hill called 2DRY FM. They were kind enough to assist us with our health promotion activities. We had a great chat about the ...
  • How to get to sleep Tuesday November 01st, 2022
    Drink milk. Sleep is one of the commonest problems people see their doctor with. One study identified as many as a third of general practitioner attendees had concerns with chronic insomnia. ...
  • Understanding Ageism Saturday June 18th, 2022
    (This post includes material recently published in MindCafe.) Ageism is a worldwide problem. A literature search of ageism and its impact on older persons’ health (Chang E, 2015) included over seven ...
  • Old Age Psychiatry – Four Areas That Can Change The World Thursday July 15th, 2021
    It’s difficult to get excited about old age psychiatry. Often seen as the “palliative” end of psychiatry, there is a reluctance to see much of a benefit with regards to ...
  • Ageing and Mental Health Wednesday September 02nd, 2020
    When considering ageing and mental health, it would not be surprising to regard ageing as a risk factor for mental health in itself. However, this is a misnomer. Research has consistently demonstrated ...
  • When experts found isolation was a great thing Friday May 29th, 2020
    The COVID pandemic has forced many of us into isolation. About 50 years ago, one of the largest sociological experiments of its time found that that may be a good ...
  • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for the Older Adult – 2 contrasting cases Wednesday January 22nd, 2020
    My latest paper discusses the psychodynamic therapy of two patients over the age of 65, with some dramatic results – for them as well as me! Please contact me ...
  • Innovative treatments for OCD Wednesday April 03rd, 2019
    https://2ser.com/new-treatment-for-ocd/ My chat with 2SER regarding a novel study in the UK which altered mechanisms of deep brain stimulation to prodigious results. It is worth noting, as the podcast details, that ...
  • Ageing in Australian Health Systems: A Review Monday March 11th, 2019
    Ageism refers to discrimination against older persons. It may not appear apparent that this could, let alone should, happen in healthcare systems, but it regrettably does. This narrative review outlines ...
  • The Carer Appraisal Scale – a new way to communicate. Tuesday July 18th, 2017
      One of the commonest complaints of mental health services is a perceived failure of communication between caregivers and clinicians regarding those with mental health issues. With this in mind, a ...
  • Elder Abuse – A National Legal Response Friday June 30th, 2017
      I work in an old age mental health service. We have a patient, a 77 year old woman, who used to live in her family’s backyard in a tent. She ...
  • Grey Expectations Monday June 05th, 2017
    My interview regarding the plight of the elderly in Australia.
  • Mentorship – The Meaning of Life For the Elderly Tuesday May 23rd, 2017
    I look after the mental health of older adults in the community. Despite common opinion, older adults are usually not more depressed – whilst physical deterioration commonly occurs, one is ...
  • Glutamate and Dopamine – why it matters in Schizophrenia Thursday March 02nd, 2017
      Published in MindCafe February 2017 Dopaminergic theories of schizophrenia predominate most psychopharmacological teaching regarding relevant receptor contributions to mental illness. We discuss dopamine-mediated flow through prefrontal and limbic regions, with a ...
  • Psychotherapy and the Older Person – A Review Tuesday February 28th, 2017
      In the latest Australasian Psychiatry journal, I provide an update regarding the current state of evidence for psychotherapeutic interventions for the elderly.
  • Analysing Trump: Pitfalls and Professionalism Tuesday February 21st, 2017
    No political figure has ever mobilised, and frustrated, the mental health profession as much as President Trump. Prior to Mr Trump’s inauguration, 3 professors of psychiatry called for a ‘neuropsychiatric evaluation’. ...
  • Breaking free of unhelpful fantasies about ageing Thursday January 12th, 2017
      “Break Free” is a commercial created by German student Eugen Merher. Intended for Adidas, it shows a gentleman in an aged care facility who becomes obsessed with reliving his glory ...
  • The Role of the Father Saturday September 03rd, 2016
    A famous study on parenting styles had two groups of psychiatrists being shown the same video clip. In the clip, a man is seen seated reading a newspaper, whilst his ...
  • Personality disorders – the ignored mental health epidemic Saturday June 18th, 2016
      Pancreatic cancer is well known as the cancer with the lowest profile. A poorly understood and minimally researched disease, its dismal prognosis has an aura of untreatability that is instilled ...
  • “Is it better to not exist?” Thursday May 12th, 2016
    A new update in the Journal of Applied Psychology provides a rebuttal against the soundness of a theory that supports abortion. In doing so, it provides an interesting framework as ...
  • Nursing homes can be the best place to grow old Sunday March 27th, 2016
    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 ...
  • An Easter Message Thursday March 24th, 2016
    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 ...
  • Videogames – friend or foe? Tuesday January 12th, 2016
    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 ...
  • The Santa Clause in Mental Health Friday December 18th, 2015
    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 Saturday November 28th, 2015
    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 ...
  • Mental Health Resources Saturday October 10th, 2015
    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 ...
  • The Challenge of Ageing Friday September 04th, 2015
    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 ...
  • Internship: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Sunday August 16th, 2015
    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 ...
  • The Boring Patient Wednesday August 05th, 2015
    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. ...
  • Carbamazepine for Dementia – the forgotten, and superior, alternative to antipsychotics Wednesday July 01st, 2015
      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, ...
  • The RANZCP Psychotherapy Case – how to choose a case Tuesday June 16th, 2015
    For psychiatry registrars planning for their long term psychotherapy case – this is a short primer into the world of psychotherapy, as well as some advice regarding choosing your case. ...
  • Neuroimaging in Schizophrenia Tuesday April 14th, 2015
    (The following includes content originally published in mindcafe) The role of neuroimaging in schizophrenia detection and management is an exciting but problematic issue. On one hand is the promise of targeted ...
  • Psychotherapy at the APA Tuesday April 14th, 2015
    (This article is a review of psychotherapy-related workshops and lectures at the American Psychiatric Association’s May 2014 conference. It involves content originally published at mindcafe) The APA has a reputation for ...
  • Asylum seekers and mental health – a resolvable social problem Tuesday April 14th, 2015
    It is difficult to maintain a consistent attitude, as a nation, to the issue of asylum-seekers. The extremes of “White Australia” are long gone since its final dissolution in 1973, ...
  • What the Germanwings crash says about mental health. Monday March 30th, 2015
    I was flying back home whilst reading about the loss of Germanwings flight 4U 9525. The plane I took had on board about as many people who were lost. Speculation ...
  • Why Doctors Commit Suicide Saturday March 28th, 2015
    This image – of an overwhelmed emergency physician dealing with the loss of a patient – went viral on the Internet. Trying to explain why leads to important considerations regarding ...
  • Personality Disorders in Geriatric Inpatients – A Prevalence Study Thursday March 12th, 2015
    How common are personality disorders in the elderly? I looked at a “captive” audience, the general medical inpatient, in order to try to estimate this. Community studies generally hover around ...
  • Flight of Ideas – Death of a Definition Thursday March 12th, 2015
    The term “flight of ideas” is commonly known, but do you know what it actually means? Or where it comes from? The disturbing answer to both of these questions explains ...
  • The Psychiatrist as Priest Thursday March 12th, 2015
    The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists recently ran their annual elections for college president. Perusing the biographies of the nominees, one stood out in that they stated ...
  • Recommended Textbook Tuesday March 10th, 2015
    Gabbard’s Long Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy is a slim yet well-written volume regarding key concepts of psychodynamic practice, and provides an excellent base from which to build your psychotherapeutic knowledge.
  • Black Clouds After the Fires Tuesday February 24th, 2015
    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following natural disasters – There has been a remarkable shift in how we respond to it, that has more than a little to do with common sense. Black ...
  • Post Festive Period is Unrecognised Mental Health Dark Spot Monday January 19th, 2015
    Sydney Morning Herald Opinion Piece – did you know that Christmas isn’t statistically the worst time of year for mental health? The weeks after, however, are another matter. Post Festive Period ...