Tag: depression

Reading of the Week: How Many Steps A Day to Avoid Depression? The New Lancet Study; Also, TikTok & Med Records and Lieberman on ChatGPT Therapy

August 14, 2025 /

From the Editor

How much exercise is enough to prevent illness?

In the first selection, Ding Ding (of The University of Sydney) and her co-authors attempt to answer that question in a new, clever study for The Lancet Public Health. They did a systematic review and meta-analysis involving 57 studies that looked at daily step count and health outcomes, including depression. “Although 10 000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 7 000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a more realistic and achievable target for some.” We consider the paper and its implications.

5 787 more steps needed?

In the second selection, Isabelle Toler and Lindsey Grubbs (both of Case Western Reserve University) look at medical records and language in a paper for The New England Journal of Medicine. In a unique approach, they observe themes in the TikTok videos of patients who are frustrated by what their physicians have written about them. “In the context of a system of medical documentation in which patients have little power to shape their own narratives, clinicians should respect the channels they have chosen to use to share their stories and listen to the messages they convey.”

And in the third selection, psychologist Harvey Lieberman reflects on therapy and ChatGPT in an essay for The New York Times. As a therapist and an octogenarian, he is skeptical of the therapeutic aspects of ChatGPT – but, with use, he partly changes his mind. “I concluded that ChatGPT wasn’t a therapist, although it sometimes was therapeutic. But it wasn’t just a reflection, either.”

Note: there will be no Reading next week.

DG

Continue reading

Reading of the Week: Physicians, Heal Thyselves – the New Nature Study; Also, Med Student Mental Health and Rodriguez on Her Depression & Healing

July 24, 2025 /

From the Editor

Today, we talk more about physician mental health problems than even a few years ago. But what would meaningful action look like? What are the evidence-based interventions?

Katherine Petrie (of the University of New South Wales) and her co-authors attempt to answer these questions in a new Nature Mental Health paper. They did a systematic review and meta-analysis by examining 24 studies involving almost 2 400 practicing physicians. “Our results indicate that a range of physician-directed interventions produce positive effects on symptoms of common mental disorders and that these moderate effects are maintained over time (up to 12 months).” We consider the paper and its implications.

In the second selection, from BMJ Mental Health, Yusen Zhai (of The University of Alabama) and co-authors draw on US survey data to look at trends of clinically significant anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and service utilization among medical students. The findings are troubling. “This study reveals a rising prevalence of clinically significant anxiety and depression self-reported by US medical students from 2018 to 2023.”

Finally, in the third selection, Ph.D. candidate Alexandra K. Rodriguez discusses her struggles with severe depression when she attended medical school. In a personal essay for PLOS Mental Health, she speaks about her recovery and the power of the arts. “When I dealt with suicidality, I could not conceptualize a future, let alone one with meaning. Sharing time creating with friends and singing lyrics that resonated with me helped me reframe my lowest period as an inflection point, one from which I could envision both fulfillment and joy.”

DG

Continue reading

Reading of the Week: Antidepressant Discontinuation – the New JAMA Psych Study; Also, Obesity Meds and Nazaryan on His Father’s Depression

July 17, 2025 /

From the Editor

“New Research Questions Severity of Withdrawal From Antidepressants”

– The New York Times

“Antidepressant Pullback Symptoms Fewer Than Thought, Study Shows”

–  Bloomberg

Millions of North Americans take antidepressants – about one in seven Canadians – yet these medications remain controversial. A 2019 Lancet Psychiatry study, which drew heavily from online surveys, found that roughly half of patients who quit these meds experienced severe withdrawal symptoms, sparking much debate – and many, many questions from our patients.

How common are discontinuation symptoms? Which one is most commonly experienced? Michail Kalfas (of King’s College London) and his co-authors attempt to answer these questions with a new JAMA Psychiatry paper. They did a systematic review and meta-analysis by analyzing 50 studies involving almost 18 000 people. “This systematic review and meta-analysis indicated that the mean number of discontinuation symptoms at week 1 after stopping antidepressants was below the threshold for clinically significant discontinuation syndrome.” We consider the paper and its implications.

Celebrities use them; politicians discuss them; our patients ask about them. Are semaglutide and sister drugs game changers for those with mental health problems who struggle with obesity? To explore the opportunities and challenges of these new medications, in a new episode of Quick Takes, I speak with Dr. Mahavir Agarwal (of the University of Toronto), Lisa Schaefer (of Obesity Canada), and Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam (of the University of Toronto). “Imagine a world where you have all the effects of antipsychotics, but none of the side effects.”

Finally, in the third selection, journalist Alexander Nazaryan discusses his father’s mental illness and its impact on his life. In a deeply personal essay for The New York Times, he notes the long shadow of illness. “My father never got to become a famous physicist or see his son go to M.I.T. Worse, he couldn’t ask for help until it was too late.”

DG

Continue reading

Reading of the Week: Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists & Mental Health – the New JAMA Psych Study; Also, Innovation and Lee on His Depression

May 29, 2025 /

From the Editor

These medications are widely discussed – and, yes, our patients ask about them. But how do glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists impact mental health and overall wellness? Should we hesitate before reaching for the prescription pad?

Aureliane C. S. Pierret (of King’s College London) and her co-authors attempt to answer these questions in a new paper just published in JAMA Psychiatry. In their systematic review and meta-analysis, they included more than 107 000 patients, comparing treatment with GLP1-RAs to placebo, looking at psychiatric, cognitive, and quality of life outcomes in those who are overweight, obese, or have diabetes. “Our results provide reassurance regarding the psychiatric safety profile of GLP1-RAs and suggest that GLP1-RA treatment is associated with improved mental well-being, in addition to the known physical health improvements.” We consider the paper and its implications.

When we hear innovations in mental healthcare, we tend to think of apps or wearables. In the second selection from Quick Takes, Daisy Singla (of the University of Toronto) discusses her recent study that expanded access to psychotherapy for perinatal women, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety by drawing a page from work done in low-income countries. The key concept: training up laypeople to deliver therapy (task sharing). “It’s one of the largest psychotherapy trials in the world.”

And in the third selection, from The Globe and Mail, Joe Lee writes about his realization that he has depression and that it has affected his life for years. In a personal essay, he talks about his illness and the impact on his life. “Depression is weird like that. For some people, it sneaks in. For me, it’s always been there – like blood in my body.”

DG

Continue reading

Reading of the Week: Lived Experience of Postpartum Depression & Psychosis – the New World Psych Paper; Also, Involuntary Treatment and Family Stress

May 15, 2025 /

From the Editor

“You are normal and then the next thing, you know, you’re crazy.”

So comments a woman about her postpartum depression. Typically, we describe this illness with a list of symptoms. But how do patients experience it? In a new World Psychiatry paper, Dr. Paolo Fusar-Poli (of King’s College London) and his co-authors attempt to answer this question with a “bottom-up” approach, looking at both postpartum depression and psychosis. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first bottom-up review of the lived experience of postpartum depression and psychosis. Experts by experience co-designed, co-conducted and co-wrote the study, leveraging an established methodological template developed by our group to investigate the lived experience of psychosis [and] depression…” We look at the paper and its implications.

Should people with substance problems be forced into treatment? Across North America, some are proposing this idea, including governments in British Columbia and Alberta. In a new Canadian Journal of Psychiatry paper, Benedikt Fischer (of the University of Toronto) and his co-authors look at the issue and the evidence. “Involuntary treatment for severe SUD is a complex and contentious concept that requires careful in-depth consideration before its adoption.”

In the third selection, a paper written anonymously for The BMJ, the author describes the challenges for families of those with severe mental disorders. He notes his deep frustration with visits to the ward, often leaving him in tears. “Perhaps family support needs to become part of the culture on mental health wards, and we should recognise the need for help in communicating.”

DG


Continue reading

Reading of the Week: Task-sharing in Therapy for Perinatal Depression – the New Nature Med Study; Also, Yoga, and Donelle on Grief After Her Daughter’s Suicide

March 27, 2025 /

From the Editor

She was so excited about the pregnancy; in our sessions, she expressed joy. But, as with some women after childbirth, her mood declined. She couldn’t properly care for her son, which she reported with shame and guilt. Perinatal depression is common – and yet many women in Canada and other high-income countries don’t receive care.

What can be done to help them? Could nonspecialist providers – like nurses, midwives, and doulas – be trained up to deliver psychotherapy effectively? Can telemedicine be used? In a new paper for Nature Medicine, Daisy Singla (of the University of Toronto) and her co-authors attempt to answer these questions. In their study, SUMMIT, they conducted a pragmatic, noninferiority trial comparing specialist and nonspecialist providers, delivering care in person or through telemedicine. Participants received eight treatment sessions of behavioural activation. They found noninferiority with both providers and modality of treatment. “This trial suggests compelling evidence for task-sharing and telemedicine to improve access to psychotherapies for perinatal depressive and anxiety symptoms.” We discuss the paper and its implications.

Daisy Singla

Alternative treatments – think mindfulness, acupuncture, yoga – have been historically popular with patients but generally lacking in evidence. Times have changed: mindfulness as a psychotherapy, for instance, is included in the CANMAT depression guidelines. What about yoga? Does depression care include the downward dog? In the second selection, a new episode of Quick Takes, I speak with Dr. Vanika Chawla (of Stanford University) who is part of that university’s lifestyle medicine team and a registered yoga teacher. “I think yoga is a wonderful way to expand providers’ toolbox of existing treatments.”

And in the third selection, Caroline Donelle writes about the suicide of her daughter. In a deeply personal essay for The Globe and Mail, she notes the loss, her decision to move across the country, and her slow healing. “I’m not the person I was when she died and never will be again. I’ve evolved and grown in unexpected ways.”

DG


Continue reading

Reading of the Week: More Therapy, More Inequity? The New JAMA Psych Study; Also, Dr. Reimer on Living with Depression and Generative AI & Biases

January 23, 2025 /

From the Editor

What has been the most significant innovation in mental healthcare delivery in recent years? It wasn’t a new medication or therapy, but the widespread adoption of the webcam in 2020. Over the course of a handful of pandemic weeks, psychiatrists and therapists switched to virtual sessions, making it easier for people to receive care, including psychotherapy, unbound by geography, and thus addressing inequity – or, at least, that was the hope. As noted recently in The New York Times: “In the 1990s, teletherapy was championed as a way to reach disadvantaged patients living in remote locations where there were few psychiatrists. A decade later, it was presented as a more accessible alternative to face-to-face sessions, one that could radically lower barriers to care.”

So, are more people receiving psychotherapy? And has this new era of virtual care resulted in better access for all? Dr. Mark Olfson (of Columbia University) and his co-authors attempt to answer these questions in a new paper for JAMA Psychiatry. Drawing on the data of more than 90 000 Americans, they analyzed trends in outpatient psychotherapy in the US, finding more care than ever before. That said, they note greater inequity: “psychotherapy use increased significantly faster among several socioeconomically advantaged groups and that inequalities were evident in teletherapy access.” We consider the study and its implications.

As doctors, we often shy away from discussing our health, especially our mental health – even with our own physicians. This is particularly concerning because doctors have a higher suicide rate than the general population, yet fears of vulnerability, judgment, and stigma keep many of us silent. In this episode of Quick Takes, I sit down with Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, who openly shares her own experiences with depression, as a doctor and as a patient. “We all need help sometimes.”

And in the third selection, Matthew Flathers (of Harvard University) et al. analyze AI depictions of psychiatric diagnoses in a new paper for BMJ Mental Health. They tested two AI image models with different diagnoses and commented on the results. “Generative AI models acquire biases at every stage of their development – from societal prejudice in online training data, to the optimisation metrics and safety guidelines each developer puts in place. These layered biases persist even when their precise origins remain elusive.”

DG

Continue reading

Reading of the Week: ECT & Maintenance – the New JAMA Psych Paper; Also, Social Contagion & Psychiatry and Dr. Julie Trivedi on Resilience

December 12, 2024 /

From the Editor

He didn’t get better despite several medication trials. Exhausted and feeling suicidal, he chose ECT. The change was incredible. When he returned to the clinic after discharge – bright and energetic – a member of the outpatient team didn’t recognize him. 

But how can we keep people like my patient well and out of hospital? How strong is the evidence supporting maintenance ECT? Dr. Anders Jørgensen (of the University of Copenhagen) and his co-authors attempt to answer these questions in a new JAMA Psychiatry paper. Drawing on a Danish national database and spanning almost two decades of data, they analyzed outcomes for nearly 20 0000 patients who began ECT, including the risk of hospitalizations. “In this cohort study involving patients who had ECT, continuing ECT was associated with a decreased risk of rehospitalization after the acute ECT series and also associated with reduced treatment costs.” We consider the paper and its implications.

Denmark: a land of islands, picturesque cities, and maintenance ECT

In the second selection, Dr. Joel Paris (of McGill University) ponders the societal increase in psychiatric problems, arguing that social contagion may be a factor. In a new BJPsych Bulletin paper, he focuses on non-suicidal self-injurious behaviour. “When clinical symptoms or mental disorders rapidly increase in prevalence, social contagion should be considered as a likely mechanism shaping changes in the form of psychopathology.”

And in the third selection from JAMA, Dr. Julie B. Trivedi (of The University of Texas System) discusses her depression and its treatment. She notes her hospitalization – and her coming to terms with her illness, as a physician, a parent, and a person. “Today, I am focused on bringing light to topics that are stigmatized, talking about topics like mental health and burnout in health care workers that everyone wants to fix but are without an adequate solution, raising awareness of how to recognize mental health challenges among health care professionals, being an advocate for others, and reminding everyone that help is needed.”

DG

Continue reading

Reading of the Week: Physician Burnout – the New NEJM Review; Also, Depression in India and Dr. Ushna Shamoon on Bias

November 7, 2024 /

From the Editor

I started watching the clock, thinking about how much time is left in my day. That just started getting earlier and earlier. One day, at 8:35 am, I thought: Oh boy, it feels like I’ve been here a while already.

So comments a colleague on his burnout. 

More and more, we are discussing physician burnout. But how has the concept of burnout evolved over time? How is it distinct from depression? What are evidence-based interventions? Drs. Constance Guille (of the University of South Carolina) and Srijan Sen (of the University of Michigan) seek to answer these questions in a new review for The New England Journal of Medicine. Though they note challenges, including with the definition itself, they strike an optimistic tone. “Over the past 15 years, progress has been made in raising awareness about physician well-being and improving well-being in specific populations, including physicians in training. There is a clear pathway for investing in and implementing established interventions and developing new interventions to improve well-being for all physicians.” We consider the review and its implications.

In the second selection, Dr. Felix Teufel (of Emory University) and his co-authors explore the treatment of depression in India. In a new JAMA Psychiatry brief report, they drew on a national survey, finding limited care, particularly among those living in rural areas. “Nationwide, 97% of individuals with depression were undiagnosed, and around half of individuals with diagnosed depression were untreated.”

And, in the third selection from Academic Psychiatry, Dr. Ushna Shamoon (of the University of Texas) writes about her medical school rotation in a county jail. She discusses her biases before stepping into the correctional facility. She then describes her connection to an inmate suffering from mental illness. “Though her mind was riddled with psychosis, she was not just a victim of her illness.”

Note: there will be no Reading next week.

DG

Continue reading

Reading of the Week: rTMS vs Meds for Antidepressant Non-responders – the New AJP Study; Also, Stea on the Wellness Industry

September 12, 2024 /

From the Editor

He’s had two antidepressant trials, yet he still can’t get out of bed. What’s the next step for my patient with depression? With so many antidepressant options available, the simplest answer is another med. But what could be an alternative? These questions are highly practical – consider that roughly 700 000 Canadians struggle with treatment-refractory depression. 

Iris Dalhuisen (of Radboud University) and her co-authors attempt to shed light on the issue. In a newly published American Journal of Psychiatry study, they describe a randomized comparison involving 89 people with treatment-refractory depression who received either rTMS or another antidepressant. “In a sample of patients with moderately treatment-resistant depression, rTMS was more effective in reducing depressive symptoms than a switch of antidepressant medication.” We analyze the study, the Editorial that accompanies it, and the implications for practice.

In this week’s other selection, Jonathan N. Stea (of the University of Calgary) writes about the wellness industry in an essay for The Globe and Mail. He bemoans the snake-oil salesmen and their big promises. “As a clinical psychologist, I have encountered many patients who received pseudoscientific assessments and treatments for their mental-health concerns. The tidal wave of pseudoscientific mental-health practices originates both within and outside of the mental-health professions.”

DG

Continue reading