Month: August 2020

Reading of the Week: Burnout & North American Psychiatrists – the Big AJP Paper; Also, Satel on Kanye West’s Mental Illness (USA Today)

August 20, 2020 /

From the Editor

“Burnout is notoriously difficult to characterize.”

So comment the authors of a new American Journal of Psychiatry paper.

In recent years, we have been collectively speaking much more about physician burnout, but we often lack basic data. Using an online survey, Dr. Richard F. Summers (of the University of Pennsylvania) and his co-authors attempt to find out how common it is among North American psychiatrists. While there are many surveys of physicians, this one focuses on our specialty. What do they find? “Psychiatrists, like other physicians, have substantial burnout.”

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In the second selection, we look at a new essay by Dr. Sally Satel (of Yale University). Writing in USA Today, she discusses the presidential campaign of Kanye West and the unusual comments that he has made. “None of this is funny.” She notes that he has a history of mental illness, and wonders how journalists should have covered the story.

Please note that there will be no Reading next week.

DG

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Reading of the Week: Depression Outcomes: What Matters to Patients (Lancet Psych)? Also, NYT on Mental Health Apps and Startup Culture

August 13, 2020 /

From the Editor

“US Food and Drug Administration accepts only three outcome measures as primary endpoints in phase 3 studies to support an indication for major depressive disorder: the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, or the Children’s Depression Rating Scale.”

The editors of The Lancet Psychiatry make this point in in the August issue of that journal. Their concern: the FDA view is very narrow and confined to these three scales.

In the first selection, we look at a new paper from The Lancet Psychiatry. Dr. Astrid Chevance (of the Center for Epidemiology and Statistics Paris Sorbonne) and her co-authors consider depression outcomes. To understand different perspectives, they draw on three groups: providers, patients, and caregivers. For the record, the resulting paper is fascinating and includes outcome measures that aren’t captured by these three scales. We consider the paper and the editorial that runs with it.

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In the second selection – also on the topic of depression – Kashmir Hill and Aaron Krolik report for The New York Times on a popular therapy app. They note that Talkspace has good marketing and a growing client base. But should you recommend the app to your patients?

DG

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Reading of the Week: Is Yoga Useful for Depression (CJP)? Also, Women & COVID (JAMA) and Stergiopoulos on Masks & Medicine (UofTMed)

August 6, 2020 /

From the Editor

Complementary and alternative medicines are trendy – but are they helpful?

“Depressed patients… often perceive CAMs [complementary and alternative medicines] as safer, accessible, more tolerable, and easily acceptable compared to pharmaceuticals. It has been estimated that 10% to 30% of depressed patients use CAM therapies, often in tandem with conventional treatments and frequently without the knowledge of their physician. This percentage is even higher amongst those with bipolar disorder (up to 50%) and in clinic populations (up to 86%).”

So writes Dr. Arun V. Ravindran (of the University of Toronto) and his co-authors in a new Canadian Journal of Psychiatry paper. That study – our first selection this week –considers the use of one type of CAM: yoga. They find that it “may be helpful as an adjunctive intervention.”

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In the second selection, writing in JAMA, Dr. Linda Brubaker (of the University of California, San Diego) considers gender and roles in medicine. While she is careful not to over-generalize, she notes that: “As a group, women physicians spend proportionately more time on home and family care activities.” With the disruptions of COVID-19, she wonders what must be done to support all physicians. “Women and men physicians should be able to share the joy and the work of their lives equally.”

And, in the third selection, University of Toronto psychiatry resident Dr. Erene Stergiopoulos considers masks – and humility – in a time of COVID-19. In a personal essay that turns on a split-second decision, she notes: “These days it’s hard to remember a time before masks. And some days, it’s just as hard to imagine a future without them.”

DG

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