215 - Anna Lembke: On Philosophy and Psychiatry

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Dr. Anna Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and her medical degree from Stanford University. She is currently Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also Program Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. This is Anna’s second time on the show. On episode 117, she and Robinson discussed her latest, New York Times bestselling book, Dopamine Nation (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021). In this episode, they discuss psychiatry and some of its philosophical connections. Some of the topics they cover include psychiatric phenomenology, eating disorders, the patient-psychiatrist relationship, therapeutic modalities, moral realism, the goals of therapy, and the upcoming Official Dopamine Nation Workbook.

Dopamine Nation: https://a.co/d/0AJw6Je

The Official Dopamine Nation Workbook: https://a.co/d/0eVHKFc1

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

03:01 Meta-Commentary, Telehealth, and In-Person Psychiatry

13:50 Transference in Therapy

23:01 Moral Realism

33:45 Nietzsche and Veganism

42:43 Reductionism, Emotion, and Psychiatry

45:55 On Treating Eating Disorders

52:24 The DSM-V and Psychiatric Practice

01:00:00 The Relationship Between Science and Psychiatry

01:08:31 Robinson’s Speech Patterns

01:15:40 Medication Versus Therapy

01:23:07 Creative Pursuits and Therapy 

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, and everyone in-between.