Choosing a medical caregiver, like any good consumer behavior, involves comparison shopping. Mindful of the restrictions of your health-care plan, cost, geography and/or time, choosing a psychological therapist is no different from choosing any other medical provider. In some ways, it’s even more important to have a good match between doctor and patient, because for….
Continue ReadingMental Illness
Antidepressant Drugs Increasingly Prescribed for Nonpsychiatric Diagnoses
As reported in the journal Health Affairs, antidepressant drugs are the third most commonly prescribed class of medications in the U.S. Much of the growth of these drugs has been fueled by prescriptions written by nonpsychiatrist caregivers, and are not accompanied by a psychiatric diagnosis. Between 1996 and 2007, the proportion of doctor visits at….
Continue ReadingMalpractice and Patients with Body Dysmorphic Disorder
An article by Jane Brody in the New York Times, “When Your Looks Take Over Your Life,” draws attention to a tragic mental health issue called “body dysmorphic disorder.” These are people who are obsessed about a “flaw” in some aspect of their bodily appearance, and who sometimes subject themselves to repeated rounds of cosmetic….
Continue ReadingMental Health Care in America: Many Issues in Getting the Right Treatment to the Right People
A new study that concluded that two commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs don’t work for people with mild depression has opened an interesting discussion about the quality of mental health care in America. The quality score: C-minus, for lots of reasons. Judith Warner wrote in the New York Times that the news media reports about the….
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