Dr Drew Ramsey discusses the role of diet and nutrition in brain and mental health, promising areas of nutrition, and the importance of evidence-based treatment with food. Good nutrition is not a contest between zucchini and medications. Dr Ramsey is assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. His clinical work focuses on the treatment of depression and anxiety with a combination of psychotherapy, diet and lifestyle modification, and psychopharmacology. From 2005 to 2008, he directed the Audubon Continuing Day Treatment Program, a bi-lingual service for the severely mentally ill located in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan; a program of New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia Psychiatry. About the hosts:  Angela Coombs, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor in Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She serves as the medical director and team psychiatrist at ONTrackNY Washington Heights Community Service clinic. She completed her public psychiatry fellowship and adult psychiatry residency at Columbia University where she was a chief resident and co-organized the curriculum on racial/ethnic mental health disparities. In addition to her clinical work in the public sector, she also works in Columbia's psychiatric emergency room and has a private practice in Upper Manhattan. Jennifer Sotsky, MD, MS, is a fellow in consultation-liaison psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center with a part time private practice. She was formerly a chief resident at Columbia’s psychiatry residency program. Before medical training, she received an MS in Narrative Medicine, an interdisciplinary field that studies illness through a humanities lens. She is co-author of Conquering Lyme Disease: Science Bridges the Great Divide and has interests in medical education, psychotherapy, and medical humanities. Acknowledgement: Thanks to Columbia University Department of Psychiatry for allowing us to present their Breakthrough Session podcast with experts in the field of psychiatry.

PSYCHPEARLS PODCAST Learn to Recognize and Treat Traumatic Brain Injury David Arciniengas, MD   March is brain injury awareness month. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 3 million individuals a year suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and psychiatric disturbances are the most-common long-term effects of these injuries. In this edition of Psych Pearls, we speak to David Arciniegas, MD, about how to spot TBI and its psychiatric sequalae—and how to give effective treatment.    Dr Arciniegas is professor and senior research neuropsychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He is director of research at the Marcus Institute for Brain health and editor of the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.

PSYCHPEARLS PODCAST    LGBTQ issues are some of the most pressing and difficult topics facing psychiatrists today. In this podcast, Psychiatric Times interviews Michael F. Myers, MD, about gender and sexuality. Topics of discussion include:   1.     Current subjects in gender and sexuality, including gender dysmorphia 2.     How psychiatry’s understanding of sexuality and gender has changed over time 3.     His own experience as a doctor during the AIDS crisis   Find out more about Dr Myers and his experience treating patients during the AIDS crisis in his new memoir, Becoming a Doctors’ Doctor. Dr Myers is professor of Clinical Psychiatry and immediate past Vice-Chair of Education and Director of Training in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY.  

Psychiatric Times interviews Omar Reda, MD, about international medical graduates (IMG) and his own personal and professional journey. In this podcast he discusses:  1. His childhood and medical training in war-torn Libya 2. The challenges facing immigrants who want to become doctors in the United States 3. How his colleagues, and the American medical establishment at large, can help IMGs realize their dreams Dr Reda is a practicing psychiatrist, Providence Healthcare System, Portland, OR. See more podcasts at PsychPearls by Psychiatric Times.

Psychiatric Times interviews Charles Figley, PhD, about his work in the area of PTSD, trauma, and disaster. In this podcast he discusses:  1. Female combat medics 2. What the military is (and is not) doing to help veterans with PTSD 3. His own experiences as a marine in Vietnam   Dr Figley is the Paul Henry Kurzweg, MD Distinguished Chair in Disaster Mental Health at Tulane University and founder and director of the Tulane Traumatology Institute. See more podcasts at PsychPearls by Psychiatric Times.

PSYCHPEARLS Many factors have come into play during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, not the least of which has been meeting the flood of challenges in the realm of mental health. Rather than paint a bleak picture, Christine Moutier, MD, presents the unique opportunities for clinicians in identifying risk and preventing suicide. In this podcast, Moutier discusses her recent paper published in JAMA Psychiatry, "Suicide Prevention in the COVID-19 Era: Transforming Threat Into Opportunity." Moutier is chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

How can clinicians help patients struggling with addiction, especially during this time when uncovering past traumas might feel impractical? Psychiatric Times interviews child and adolescent and addiction psychiatrist, John Calvin Chatlos, MD. Dr Chatlos is affiliated with Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in New Brunswick, NJ, and medical director of the Wei Ji Point Ambulatory Withdrawal Management program and the Specialized Addiction Treatment Services outpatient program.

There are many reasons why symptoms worsen in younger patients who are prescribed antidepressants. Five possible scenarios are discussed in this podcast with Chris Aiken, MD. The full report can be accessed here: When Children Get Worse on Antidepressants: Activation or Bipolar?

Chris Aiken, MD, and Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP, discuss how to dose quetiapine for the treatment of bipolar disorder. Dr Aiken is the Mood Disorders Section Editor for Psychiatric Times, the Editor in Chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report,and the Director of the Mood Treatment Center. His written several books on mood disorders, most recently The Depression and Bipolar Workbook. He can be heard in the weekly Carlat Psychiatry Podcast with his co-host Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP. Dr Aiken does not accept honoraria from pharmaceutical companies but receives royalties from PESI for The Depression and Bipolar Workbookand from W.W. Norton & Co. for Bipolar, Not So Much. Kellie L. Newsome, PMH-NP, is the cohost of the Carlat Psychiatry Podcast and is also a practicing Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in Winston Salem, NC, at the Mood Treatment Center. Raised in Tasmania, Australia, Kellie moved to the United States in 1998. For more on this topic, see Top Mood Stabilizers for Bipolar Disorder.

In a recent podcast, the presenters listed 4 mood stabilizers that stand out in bipolar disorder treatment. In this podcast, Chris Aiken, MD, and Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP, will discuss how to dose one of them: lithium.