Psychofarm Podcast

Psychiatry, Skepticism, and Integration.

PsychoFarm Podcast is a deep dive into the intersection of psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and the evolving understanding of mental health. Hosted by psychiatrists Dr. Greg Malzberg and Dr. Fu, each episode breaks down the clinical insights and philosophical debates behind diagnosing mood and personality disorders, choosing medications (including our psychiatric medication tier lists), TMS, and the challenges of psychiatric training. Thoughtful analysis, expert opinions, and practical advice for clinicians and curious listeners.

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Tuesday · 1 hr 5 min
Diagnostic Hierarchy Explained: Why Patients Get 5 Diagnoses
Why do so many patients arrive with four, five or six psychiatric diagnoses? Mark Ruffalo, a psychoanalytically trained clinical social worker who teaches psychiatry residents, joins Dr. Malzberg and Dr. Fu to discuss his new paper with psychiatrist Ronald Pies in Psychiatric Services, “The Need for a Validity-Based Diagnostic Hierarchy in DSM-6.” We trace how DSM-III chose reliability over validity, why the Washington University group of Robins and Guze pushed back, and how losing the diagnostic hierarchy opened the door to false comorbidity, polypharmacy and symptom-by-symptom treatment. Mark lays out which conditions sit at the top of a validity-based hierarchy, why ADHD ranks low, how affective temperaments can pass for personality disorders, and what to do when a patient arrives with seven diagnoses: step back and ask what could be driving all of them. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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October 28 · 1 hr 6 min
The Psychology of Elizabeth Holmes in You Can See Everything: Narcissism, Autism, or Manipulation?
You Can See Everything psychological analysis returns in Part 2 as two psychiatrists revisit Elizabeth Holmes, Billy Evans, and Nathan Fielder’s documentary. We examine the scenes that divided viewers, from the Abbott and Costello joke and Holmes’s statements about Theranos to Billy’s egg-mixing, social media posts, and comments about revenge. Along the way, we discuss narcissism, psychopathy, autistic traits, and the difference between personality traits and psychiatric disorders. We also explore why people repeat familiar relationship dynamics and how a film can become a mirror for the audience’s own assumptions. This is a discussion of psychological ideas, not an attempt to diagnose the people on screen. What we cover * A caution at the outset about medicalizing behavior that is within the normal range or rationally driven, and why a diagnosis, willful action and moral responsibility are three separate questions. * The tendency to repeat, discussed as Freud's repetition compulsion (a bid for mastery) and as habit and homeostasis, followed by Eric Berne's transactional analysis and its recurring sequence of roles and payoffs mapped onto the film. * Overdiagnosis and the case for talking about traits rather than broad labels, using autism as the example, and whether autism could explain the Abbott and Costello joke and the statements about the Theranos machine. * Telling autism from personality pathology: inability versus lack of interest in others' emotions, and how aggression in each can look alike. * Ordinary versus clinical narcissism, the psychodynamic idea of narcissistic injury, antisocial personality and psychopathy, and how they overlap with narcissistic structure. * Scenes involving Billy Evans, including the egg-mixing moment and the power of attorney and social media posts, treated as a projective test that different viewers read differently. Clinical takeaways * A trait is not a disorder. One scene on film suggests a trait at most and cannot explain why someone acted as they did. Consider rational explanations, such as seeking sympathy, and ordinary variation before reaching for a diagnosis. * Keep apart whether behavior is part of a disorder, whether it was willful, and whether the person is responsible. The three questions are separate. * A very broad label loses meaning: two people with the same autism diagnosis can have completely different lives. One host prefers to describe traits and leave the question of disorder to clinical assessment. * To separate autism from personality pathology, ask whether the person cannot understand others' emotions or does not care. Aggression in autism often follows poor regulation or changes in routine, though it can look like calculated aggression. * Clinical narcissistic personality disorder, as the hosts describe it, means rigid defense of a chosen identity that defeats long-term goals, fragility when not admired, and poor attunement to others. Psychopathy often sits on a narcissistic structure. * Watch your own values. Clinicians can impose them when drawing the line between normal and pathological, people tend to apply personality labels to those they dislike, and seeing someone only as a victim leaves no hope of change. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: The Psychology of Elizabeth Holmes in You Can See Everything: Narcissism, Autism, or Manipulation?. Related episodes * You Can See Everything Psychological Analysis by Clinical & Forensic Psychiatrists * The Psychology of Seinfeld: What’s Really Wrong With George, Kramer, Jerry & Elaine? * Autism Diagnosis Explained: DSM-5 Criteria, Autistic Traits & the Difficult Differential For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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October 20 · 56 min
You Can See Everything Psychological Analysis by Clinical & Forensic Psychiatrists
You Can See Everything is one of the strangest films about Elizabeth Holmes yet, and in this episode two psychiatrists try to make sense of it. We explore what Nathan Fielder’s interviews bring out in Holmes and Billy Evans, from unusual facial expressions and her distinctive voice to the couple’s intense descriptions of love. Using psychoanalytic concepts such as narcissism, splitting, borderline personality organization, identity diffusion, and the “as-if personality,” we examine how people construct a sense of self and why someone might defend a version of reality that others find impossible to believe. We also ask what documentaries actually let us know about people, and how much of what we see is our own projection. Spoilers throughout. What we cover * How the hosts frame the discussion: independent commentary on public material, speculation rather than diagnosis, the Goldwater rule, and the film as a projective test because it is deliberately ambiguous. The episode contains spoilers. * Nathan Fielder's interviewing style in the film, with sparing words and expressive silence, as an example of clarification and confrontation, and the defenses people show when avoiding a line of questioning. * How Elizabeth Holmes appears on screen (restricted emotional reactivity, frequent smiling and nodding, a deep voice), whether it is a persona for the camera, and why any film frame removes context. * Psychoanalytic ideas used as lenses: the as-if personality, identity diffusion in the DSM-5 alternative model, borderline personality organization versus borderline personality disorder, and splitting, with the hosts differing on how far to go. * Whether a person can state something false and believe it, the film's structure as a magic trick, and what the film says about being a viewer of a performance. * How Billy Evans and Holmes describe their love: idealization, fusion between self and other, introjection, and borrowing traits from admired people, set against the hosts' point that these tendencies are universal in milder form. Clinical takeaways * Interviewing can be done with few words. Attentive facial expression, silence and well-timed clarifying or confrontational comments can draw material out, and the hosts see the film as usable teaching material for clinicians. * When a person's micro-expressions do not match the other person's, it may reflect difficulty reading another's emotional state. Many conditions can cause this, so the hosts avoid settling on one explanation. * Borderline personality organization is broader than borderline personality disorder and can include narcissistic, antisocial and histrionic patterns. Its core features include splitting, identity diffusion, primitive defenses and difficulty integrating good and bad in relationships. * Emotional development is separate from intellectual development, so someone who functions at a high level can still be emotionally underdeveloped in how they understand themselves and others. * Idealization, devaluation and taking in traits from others are ordinary human processes. What matters clinically is the degree, and whether the sense of self is stable enough to adopt traits without being replaced by them. * Be cautious about diagnosing from media. One host calls a diagnosis from public material a bridge too far, and both note that behavior filmed for an audience may differ from private behavior. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: You Can See Everything Psychological Analysis by Clinical & Forensic Psychiatrists. Related episodes * The Psychology of Elizabeth Holmes in You Can See Everything: Narcissism, Autism, or Manipulation? * The Psychology of Seinfeld: What’s Really Wrong With George, Kramer, Jerry & Elaine? * What Psychiatrists Get Wrong About Personality Disorders For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
- Transcript
October 13 · 1 hr 15 min
Antipsychotic Tier List: Ranking the Best and Worst Anti-psychotics
Antipsychotic medications are not interchangeable, and the tradeoffs between efficacy, metabolic burden, movement side effects, sedation, and adherence can be huge. In this episode, we build an antipsychotic tier list and rank medications including clozapine, olanzapine, haloperidol, risperidone, lurasidone, quetiapine, aripiprazole, and more. Along the way, we connect receptor pharmacology to practical clinical pearls, including food requirements, smoking effects, prolactin, akathisia, EPS, weight gain, long-acting injectables, and clozapine monitoring. We also discuss how medication choice shifts across schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, bipolar depression, and mood symptoms. What we cover * The ranking method: efficacy in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (not as an add-on) weighed against adverse effects, the idea that metabolic burden in a young patient starts a metabolic highway, and how GLP-1 medications and metformin change that calculation. * Haloperidol in S tier for its low metabolic burden, quetiapine in C tier, and extended-release quetiapine in D tier, with the point that quetiapine acts as a sedative at low doses, a mood agent in the middle and a D2 blocker above 400 mg. * Clozapine in S tier, olanzapine in A tier and olanzapine-samidorphan in B tier, covering the end of the REMS, restarting titration after a gap of more than 48 hours, bowel care, olanzapine's slow time to peak, and smoking as a CYP1A2 inducer. * Risperidone and paliperidone with its long-acting injectables in A tier, aripiprazole and cariprazine in B tier, and brexpiprazole in D tier mostly because of cost, including aripiprazole as the most studied add-on in major depression. * Lurasidone in S tier with its calorie requirement and akathisia risk, then ziprasidone in C tier, asenapine in B tier, lumateperone and xanomeline-trospium in F tier, pimavanserin in D tier, and iloperidone and perospirone as needing more experience. * The older drugs and add-ons: chlorpromazine in D tier, loxapine and fluphenazine in C tier, perphenazine in B tier, buspirone as a possible add-on in D tier, and adding a mood stabilizer in A tier. Clinical takeaways * One host argues haloperidol is underused: dose it like risperidone (most patients respond below 8 mg) and consider it after a couple of failed trials when weight gain and sedation are the worry. * Clozapine monitoring remains the standard of care even though the REMS is gone, and a gap of more than 48 hours means restarting titration. Ask about smoking and bowel movements. * Check prolactin early when a patient on risperidone reports menstrual, libido, breast size or milk production changes, and watch for EPS at 4 mg and above. * Add a mood stabilizer before a second antipsychotic when a schizophrenia spectrum patient shows any mood symptoms: valproate for agitation and impulsivity, lithium or lamotrigine for depression. * Lurasidone needs about 350 calories with the dose, so it suits steady eaters and is a poor fit when appetite fluctuates with mood or psychosis. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Antipsychotic Tier List: Ranking the Best and Worst Anti-psychotics. Related episodes * Choosing Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia: Side-Effects, Maximizing Efficacy, and Finding the Right Medication | Episode 17 * Top 10 Things to Know About Clozapine * Mood Stabilizers for Bipolar Disorder: Lithium, Lamotrigine, Depakote & More For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
- Transcript
October 6 · 1 hr 1 min
Trauma and PTSD: How the DSM Criteria Actually Help Us Understand What’s Going On
PTSD diagnosis is more complicated than identifying a trauma history. In this episode, we break down what qualifies as Criterion A trauma, the major PTSD symptom clusters, and how intrusion, avoidance, negative beliefs, hyperarousal, and dissociation can show up in practice. We also discuss acute stress disorder, fragmented traumatic memory, and why PTSD can be mistaken for depression, anxiety, mania, concentration problems, or psychosis. Along the way, we focus on careful trauma assessment: establishing a timeline, considering alternative diagnoses, monitoring the patient’s level of distress, and gathering what you need without turning a diagnostic interview into trauma therapy. What we cover * Big T versus little t trauma, and why the DSM-5 Criterion A definition (actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violence, whether experienced, witnessed, learned about, or met repeatedly through work) is the one that matters clinically. * Whether Criterion A is an objective or a subjective test, and two unusual cases: a threat experienced through a delusion or hallucination, and PTSD in perpetrators. * Why most people who go through a Criterion A trauma never develop PTSD, and why, by some research, many who do develop it remit within a year. * The DSM-5 criteria read in order (intrusion, avoidance, negative changes in mood and beliefs, hyperarousal) as a sequence that explains how PTSD persists. * Dissociation: what it means, how it fragments traumatic memory, and why patients may not report a trauma even on a formal trauma screen. * The differential, from depression, mania and anxiety to attention problems and psychosis, plus acute stress disorder in the first month. Clinical takeaways * A mental status pearl: patients with PTSD often say they are depressed but look more mood-reactive than someone with a melancholic depression. * When the history has an unexplained decline, ask what was happening at that time rather than suggesting a trauma. Be careful about trying to uncover memories. * Check the timeline. Symptoms must begin or worsen after the trauma and last more than a month. * Not every voice is psychosis. Flashbacks and dissociative experiences can be described as voices. * In a diagnostic interview, ask for brief facts (what happened and when), watch the patient's distress, and offer breaks. The goal is a diagnosis, not trauma therapy. * After early trauma, trust has to be earned. A steady frame and an honest explanation of why you are asking help the patient keep going. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Trauma and PTSD: How the DSM Criteria Actually Help Us Understand What’s Going On. Related episodes * Understanding Trauma and PTSD, Diagnosis and Dissociation | Episode 21 * PTSD Medications: Integrating Pharmacotherapy, Therapy, and the Treatment Frame | Episode 22 * CPTSD vs BPD: How to Think About the Difference and What to Do About It For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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September 29 · 1 hr 2 min
What Patients Should Know When Diagnosed With Depression
What should patients know when they are diagnosed with depression? In this episode, psychiatrists Dr. Malzberg and Dr. Fu cover what they wish every patient knew from the start. They explain why a depression diagnosis is a useful shorthand rather than a fixed identity, how biological, psychological, and social factors feed into each other, and how medication, therapy, and lifestyle changes work together. You will hear practical first steps like behavioral activation, a steady wake time, morning sunlight, and cutting back on alcohol and cannabis, plus what to do if treatment stalls and how to decide who to tell. It is an hour of clear psychoeducation for patients and a resource clinicians can share. What we cover * The purpose of a series on what the hosts wish patients knew about each diagnosis, built as psychoeducation that clinicians can use or hand to patients, and why explaining the problem and the plan supports the alliance. * What depression and major depressive disorder tell us: an umbrella term that says little about cause or treatment, one host's preference for a syndrome of persistent low mood or anhedonia with changes in energy and sleep, and diagnosis as shorthand. * A biopsychosocial formulation, how biological, psychological and social sources feed each other, why no lab test or scan sorts them out, and why the hosts favor medication, psychotherapy and lifestyle change together. * Mimics and reasons for poor response: substance-related depression, PTSD, personality problems and complex trauma, bipolar disorders (including bipolar-type depression) and medical illness, with alcohol, cannabis and other addictions. * Stability and behavioral activation: a steady wake time, morning light, small scheduled goals and social connection, plus how to judge whether a therapy is a good fit. * How patients relate to the label, and how and whether to tell family, friends and coworkers. Clinical takeaways * Present the diagnosis as shorthand for what to treat. The hosts argue that patients who see the illness as part of who they are may respond less well than those who see it as something they have. * Offer medication, therapy and lifestyle change together. With no imaging or lab test, the response to treatment shows which source is driving the depression. * When someone has not improved, revisit the differential: substance use, PTSD, personality or complex trauma, bipolar spectrum (family history is a strong pointer) and medical illness. Nightmares, startle, irritability and fearful avoidance suggest trauma. * Behavioral activation: schedule an activity that helps and do it whatever the mood, since waiting to feel motivated rarely works. If goals are missed, shrink them. The hosts stress process over outcome. * Anchor the day with a steady wake time, morning light, regular meals and exercise. Early awakening that a steady wake time does not fix may have a medical cause, and one host then considers medication. * A failed past therapy does not rule out therapy: check what it targeted and how the therapist responded to concerns. Whom to tell about a diagnosis is the patient's decision, guided by whether disclosure will help. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: What Patients Should Know When Diagnosed With Depression. Related episodes * Treating Depression: Practical Tips & Pearls for Anti-Depressant Medications * Antidepressant Tier List: Psychiatrists Rank Depression Medications for MDD * Serotonin Hypothesis of Depression: Why Low Serotonin Is Too Simple For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
- Transcript
September 22 · 54 min
Autism Diagnosis Explained: DSM-5 Criteria, Autistic Traits & the Difficult Differential
Autism diagnosis is more complicated than recognizing a handful of autistic traits. In this episode, Dr. Fu and Dr. Malzberg unpack the DSM-5-TR criteria for autism spectrum disorder, including social communication differences, restricted and repetitive behaviors, developmental onset, impairment, and Levels 1–3. They then tackle one of the hardest parts of adult autism assessment: differential diagnosis, including overlap with ADHD, schizophrenia, and personality disorders. The conversation also explores theory of mind, masking, the double empathy problem, weak central coherence, and the empathizing-systemizing framework. The goal is a more clinically useful way to think about what distinguishes autistic traits from autism spectrum disorder and why developmental history matters. What we cover * Why the hosts take up autism without a child psychiatry background, then the DSM-5-TR criteria: Criterion A's three social communication domains (social-emotional reciprocity, nonverbal communication, developing and keeping relationships). * Criterion B (stereotyped movements or speech, insistence on sameness, fixated interests, sensory hyper- or hypo-reactivity), early onset typically recognized in the second year of life, clinically significant impairment, and exclusion of intellectual disability or global delay. * The 'bucket' problem: one diagnosis covering very different levels of function, the three support levels, the loss of Asperger's, the specifiers (including catatonia), and the argument that both overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis are real. * Associated features: executive dysfunction and its overlap with ADHD, uneven ability profiles, theory of mind (distinct from the mentalization problems in personality disorders), detail focus, clumsiness, GI and sleep problems, self-injury, and irritability. * The adult differential: schizophrenia spectrum disorders, narcissistic, schizotypal, schizoid, borderline and antisocial personality traits, and why early developmental history and multiple sources of information matter. * Theories of autism: social motivation, weak central coherence, mind blindness, and systemizing versus empathizing, with the double empathy idea. Treatment recommendations are left for a later episode. Clinical takeaways * Confirm onset in early development and use several sources: clinician observation, caregiver history and self-report. The hosts say a diagnosis based on one short interview is unlikely to be reliable. * Retrospective recall is fallible, so a history of early imaginative play, repetitive behavior and sensory sensitivities helps most when it is corroborated. * Literal answers can mislead. A patient asked about hearing voices when no one is there may mean the radio, so concreteness is not automatically thought disorder. * Ask what else could explain the social and repetitive features. The hosts describe a blind spot between clinicians who recognize personality disorders and those who recognize neurodevelopmental conditions, and say both can coexist. * Do not assume stimulants will fix executive dysfunction in autism. The DSM allows ADHD and autism to be diagnosed together. * Distinguish traits from disorder, since the DSM bar is a need for support. One host argues that apparent late-onset worsening usually reflects another condition interacting with baseline autistic traits, and the other agrees only in part. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Autism Diagnosis Explained: DSM-5 Criteria, Autistic Traits & the Difficult Differential. Related episodes * ADHD Is Not the Only Diagnosis: Differential and Diagnostic Hierarchy * What Psychiatrists Get Wrong About Personality Disorders * Assessment of Personality: Practical Assessment in a Short Timeframe For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
- Transcript
September 15 · 1 hr 5 min
How to Diagnose Bipolar Disorder with Dr. Phelps: Hypomania, Mixed States & the Clues DSM Misses
Diagnosing bipolar disorder is rarely as simple as finding a clear episode of hypomania. Dr. Phelps explains why bipolarity is better understood across a mood spectrum and walks through the clues that can help distinguish bipolar depression from unipolar depression: age of onset, family history, course of illness, treatment response, cyclicity, and collateral history. We also dig into mixed states, the “four A’s” of anxiety, anger, agitation, and attention problems, antidepressant activation, the HCL-32, and the Bipolarity Index. The larger theme is diagnostic humility: uncertainty is often appropriate, and treatment decisions should reflect both the strength of the evidence and the risks of getting the diagnosis wrong. What we cover * What hypomania is and why it is hard to rule out: the upper end shades into mania (the question is whether it was destructive), the lower end looks like a good day, and in one long-term study of bipolar II patients, hypomania took up only about 1% of weeks. * Why no magic screening question exists, and the five dimensions to assess in anyone with a mood or anxiety problem: symptoms plus the four non-manic markers (age of first depression, family history, illness pattern over time, response to treatment), as weighted in the Bipolarity Index. * Cyclicity over polarity: making the cycling the treatment target, plus clues such as three or more depressive episodes, sudden offset, postpartum onset, leaden paralysis, and odd reactions to an antidepressant. * The mood spectrum, with bipolarity as pigment added to paint, and its proposed contributors: genes, inflammation, metabolism, reward hypersensitivity and circadian differences. * Mixed states, especially mixed depression: DSM-5 major depression with mixed features, the four A's (anxiety, anger, agitation, attention problems), overlap with PTSD, GAD, ADHD and borderline traits, and 'borderlineity' as a spectrum idea. * Three ways through uncertainty (more data, recruit the patient, compare treatment risks), the HCL-32 for collateral, and simplified social rhythm therapy, lamotrigine and low-dose lithium as alternatives to an antidepressant. Clinical takeaways * No single question rules out bipolar disorder. Expect only to adjust probabilities in the first interview, and tell the patient how sure you are. * Ask the four non-manic markers every time. A closer relative counts more, and these markers carry 80% of the Bipolarity Index weight, with symptoms carrying 20%. * Ask how past depressions ended. A sudden, unexplained lifting is described as a more useful marker than recurrent depressions that each have a reason. * Aim treatment at less cycling, and reassess any leftover depression once the cycling is quiet. * When unsure, send the patient home with a one-page HCL-32 for a partner or relative to answer, and gather collateral in proportion to the stakes. * Compare the risks of an antidepressant with regular bedtime and rise time, lamotrigine or low-dose lithium before choosing. Where suspicion of bipolarity is high, start an antidepressant only with close watching, and treat a bipolar lens as a hypothesis to try to disprove. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: How to Diagnose Bipolar Disorder with Dr. Phelps: Hypomania, Mixed States & the Clues DSM Misses. Related episodes * How to Diagnose Bipolar Disorder: The Interview Framework That Beats Screening Questions * Dr. Jim Phelps’ Bipolar Treatment Tier List: Lessons from 30+ Years in Psychiatry * The Best Bipolar Medication Review From The Best Bipolar Expert For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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September 9 · 1 hr 7 min
Lindsay Clancy Case: Biggest Misconceptions After the Mistrial Explained by a Forensic Psychiatrist
Lindsay Clancy’s insanity defense is the focus of this forensic psychiatry follow-up after the mistrial. We revisit the case through the lens of legal insanity, postpartum psychosis, malingering, criminal responsibility, and the difference between a legal conclusion and a moral judgment. We also discuss why psychosis cannot be reduced to a single reported voice, how forensic psychiatrists think about exaggeration versus malingering, questions around expert testimony and diagnosis, and the relationship between psychosis and violence. Finally, we look at medication nonadherence, culpability, how uncommon the insanity defense may be, and what questions arise when someone is found not guilty by reason of insanity. What we cover * Why a legal conclusion is not a moral judgment, why 'legally guilty' and 'legally innocent' are clearer terms, and why a forensic expert applies the rules of the jurisdiction in which the case sits. * The forensic host's criticism of the Massachusetts insanity rules: the prosecution must disprove insanity beyond a reasonable doubt, the wrongfulness prong is framed unusually, and a volitional prong is hard to assess medically. * Whether a voice or an intrusive thought matters, why the logic of a psychotic person should be compared with the history and circumstances, and the range of malingering from invented illness to exaggeration. * How a DSM label captures one slice of a presentation, using the apparent conflict between a bipolar II diagnosis and postpartum psychosis. * Psychosis and violence, how rarely the insanity defense is raised and succeeds, what release requires, whether nonadherence affects culpability, and the aims of punishment: retribution, rehabilitation and isolation. * What clinicians could do: build the therapeutic alliance, involve family, document sleep in detail, assess bipolarity with shared decisions, and consider discharging patients who repeatedly decline treatment. Clinical takeaways * Malingering is a range. A person can invent an illness, report some false symptoms, exaggerate real ones, or have genuine symptoms that arise from stress or the unconscious and not from the disorder they name. * Take the facts and work toward a diagnosis, not the reverse. One host argues that a DSM label never explains a person in full and that some questions are left to clinical judgment. * Both common claims about psychosis and violence are too simple. The host argues that risk is raised but most people with psychotic disorders are not violent, and that substance use and a criminal personality weigh more than hallucinations alone. * When a patient is not following the plan, check the alliance: agreement on the problem, goals and method. Ask what the patient sees as the problem and compare it with your formulation. * With limited insight or higher acuity, ask to involve family or friends and document the request. Bipolarity and psychosis are hard to assess by self-report alone, so take a detailed sleep history, including any short-sleep nights. * Document shared decisions about bipolar risk and the alternatives, and avoid over-correcting by treating every hint of elevated mood as bipolar disorder. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Lindsay Clancy Case: Biggest Misconceptions After the Mistrial Explained by a Forensic Psychiatrist. Related episodes * Lindsay Clancy Trial: A Forensic Psychiatrist Explains Psychosis, Malingering, & the Insanity Defense * Lessons from Forensic Psychiatry: Insanity Defense, Subtle Patients and Culpability * Detecting Subtle Signs of Psychosis: Assessment of Voices, Delusions, and Psychosis For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
- Transcript
September 1 · 58 min
Lindsay Clancy Trial: A Forensic Psychiatrist Explains Psychosis, Malingering, & the Insanity Defense
Lindsay Clancy postpartum psychosis and the insanity defense are examined through a forensic psychiatry lens in this episode. We discuss how psychiatrists distinguish psychosis from malingering, whether someone can be psychotic while still appearing organized, command hallucinations, delusions, altruistic filicide, and what criminal responsibility actually asks. We also look at Dr. Philip Resnick’s testimony, Clancy’s psychiatric treatment, fragmented care, collateral information, and the limits of ruling out bipolar disorder after a brief evaluation. Finally, we explore why the case has produced such intense public reactions and why psychiatry often requires tolerating uncertainty rather than forcing complex patients or cases into simple categories. What we cover * Why the case drew so much public attention, how the reactions split into monster versus victim, and why that splitting avoids the ambiguity of real life. * How the Massachusetts insanity rule differs: the prosecution carries the burden beyond a reasonable doubt, and a behavioral-control element has no scientific test. The question is the legal criteria, not whether the person is mentally ill. * Motives for filicide a forensic psychiatrist weighs (psychosis, accident, rational motive, impulsive rage), including altruistic filicide, and how pre-evaluation probability from the person's history shapes the opinion. * How malingering is assessed: self-report is one source, records and video from the time of the act count more than later recollection, and the adversarial system filters which expert opinions reach a jury. * How someone can be psychotic and look organized, what makes a belief a delusion and not a religious belief, voice versus thought, and the episodic pattern of postpartum psychosis. * Lessons for clinicians: continuity of care, honest histories, the differential for bipolarity, mood episodes on SSRIs, and the link between postpartum illness and bipolar disorder. Clinical takeaways * In a forensic or legal setting, always consider malingering, but weigh records and evidence from the time of the event above later recollection, because memory is fallible. Ask whether the history before the act fits an invented illness. * Psychosis is not the same as disorganization. In a mood disorder with psychotic features, the DSM describes delusions and hallucinations, so organized behavior does not exclude psychosis. * A delusion is better defined by origin than by falsity: a belief that arises from a psychotic syndrome, differs from the person's baseline and was not acquired through ordinary cultural or religious routes. * Whether a voice was heard or was an intrusive thought matters less than the mental state of the person and how their decision-making was impaired at the time. * A single visit cannot rule out bipolar disorder. Absence of hypomania or a family history of psychosis does not close the question; keep a working diagnosis, say what you will keep monitoring, and revisit it. * The host argues for thinking about lower-grade bipolarity: brief periods of elevated mood, mixed depression, and agitation or short sleep on an SSRI may call for mood stabilizer augmentation. Take a thorough medication and sleep history and document it. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Lindsay Clancy Trial: A Forensic Psychiatrist Explains Psychosis, Malingering, & the Insanity Defense. Related episodes * Lindsay Clancy Case: Biggest Misconceptions After the Mistrial Explained by a Forensic Psychiatrist * Lessons from Forensic Psychiatry: Insanity Defense, Subtle Patients and Culpability * How to Diagnose Bipolar Disorder with Dr. Phelps: Hypomania, Mixed States & the Clues DSM Misses For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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August 25 · 59 min
Affective Neuroscience: Understanding Patients Beyond DSM Diagnoses
Affective neuroscience in psychiatry may offer a better way to understand patients who do not fit neatly into DSM categories. Dr. White joins us to explain Jaak Panksepp’s seven primary emotional systems, the difference between affect and emotion, and how subcortical emotional arousal interacts with cortical regulation. We discuss anger, borderline personality disorder, cognitive decline, mindfulness, ACT, emotional blunting with SSRIs, and why some cases labeled treatment-resistant depression may need a better formulation rather than another medication. We also get into the neuroscience behind the model… from decortication and brain-stimulation studies to TMS… and ask what psychiatry loses when diagnosis comes before understanding affect.Dr. White’s Substack: What we cover * The case from animal neuroscience that conserved subcortical circuits drive emotional behavior in mammals, Jaak Panksepp's work, and why Dr. White thinks the DSM largely leaves affect out (the push for reliable checklists around DSM-III). * Affect versus emotion: affect as raw subcortical arousal, emotion as affect shaped by cortical appraisal, memory, culture and narrative, and how Dr. White draws a brainstem, midbrain and cortex for patients. * Panksepp's seven primary systems, including the negative-valence fear, rage and panic-grief (separation distress), and a proposed set of four dimensions for each system: baseline activity, reactivity, recovery time and threshold. * Clinical uses: patients with intense anger who do not fit a DSM box, borderline personality as arousal outrunning cortical capacity, DBT as building that capacity, and late-life anxiety or distress when cortical regulation declines. * Medication management and short visits: describing medications as changing emotions broadly, asking about emotional blunting, adding mindfulness and acceptance-based skills, and why bottom-up intensity is not yet treatable. * Evidence and implications: decortication in cats, children born without a cortex, cortical versus deep brain stimulation, TMS to the DLPFC as top-down input, aprepitant trials in depression, and doubts about treatment-resistant depression labels. Clinical takeaways * When a patient has intense anger or big feelings without the full borderline picture, consider formulating it as strong arousal that outpaces regulation. Dr. White finds this less invalidating than a fixed personality label. * A simple drawing helps: feelings come up from below without planning, and the aim is to build the capacity to observe a feeling and delay a response; the feeling itself stays. * In older patients with new anxiety or depression and no history, check cognition (Dr. White uses the MoCA). Declining cortical regulation may explain reactions such as distress at separation. * Counsel that a medication may change emotional intensity broadly, and ask about emotional blunting, which patients prone to intense feelings tend to notice. * Before calling depression treatment resistant, Dr. White reformulates and asks what would change in the patient's life if they felt better, checking sleep, activity, exercise and connection. * Pair medication with brief skills and a referral for real psychotherapy. He argues that treatments strengthen top-down control and that evidence for lowering bottom-up intensity is lacking. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Affective Neuroscience: Understanding Patients Beyond DSM Diagnoses. Related episodes * What Psychiatrists Get Wrong About Personality Disorders * Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder with Dr. Mark L. Ruffalo * Nancy McWilliams on Psychoanalytic Diagnoses, Part 1: Personality, Defenses, Themes, Paranoid Personality For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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August 19 · 57 min
The Psychology of Seinfeld: What’s Really Wrong With George, Kramer, Jerry & Elaine?
We put the Seinfeld cast on the proverbial couch, not to slap diagnoses on fictional characters, but to show why personality formulation can tell us far more than a psychiatric label. Is George a vulnerable narcissist, borderline, or something more complicated? Does Jerry’s obsession with cleanliness and order actually resemble OCD or an obsessive-compulsive personality style? Could Kramer meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder despite being charming, affectionate, and largely nonviolent? And is Elaine secretly the healthiest person in the group? Along the way, we explore flanderization, narcissism, borderline personality organization, obsessive-compulsive personality traits, psychopathy versus antisocial personality disorder, gambling disorder, and the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders. What we cover * Why the hosts object to forcing fictional characters into Axis I-type diagnoses, why a formulation says more than a label, and how flanderization (a trait exaggerated over the seasons) shapes the characters. * The DSM-5 alternative model for personality disorders, which rates identity, self-direction, empathy and intimacy and then maladaptive traits, used throughout to describe each main character. * George: generalized anxiety disorder as a loose fit, and a disagreement over whether he is best seen as vulnerable narcissism, with false-self performance and a critical mother, or as borderline personality organization. * Jerry: personality functioning in the normal range, with an obsessive-compulsive style (intellectualization, emotional constriction, the conflict between obedience and defiance, humor as a coping skill) rather than OCD. * Kramer: the argument for antisocial personality disorder without aggression, the Hare psychopathy checklist's lifestyle features, the question of genuine empathy, and gambling disorder as the one possible Axis I diagnosis. * Elaine as a higher-functioning George, plus Joe Davola as the clearest case of a major mental illness, and a closing case against over-identifying with a single diagnosis. Clinical takeaways * A label often adds little. Two people with the same DSM diagnosis can have very different lives, and a formulation of personality shows what is driving the problem and what can change. * The DSM-5 alternative model for personality disorders pairs levels of functioning (identity, self-direction, empathy, intimacy) with trait domains. One host recommends clinicians read it because it covers a range from unimpaired to severe. * Diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder are loose enough to fit almost anyone. Anxiety may be better explained by personality traits than by a separate Axis I-type diagnosis. * To tell narcissism from borderline organization, look for a stable protective identity, grandiosity and attention seeking, and whether the person adapts when rejected. One host argues vulnerable narcissism is assigned too readily. * Obsessive-compulsive personality style is not OCD: look for conscientiousness, order and emotional constriction, and require actual obsessions and compulsions before diagnosing OCD. Antisocial personality disorder does not require aggression and is not the same as psychopathy. * Axis I-type problems and personality are linked rather than separate, as impulsivity and gambling are in one character. Over-identifying with a single diagnosis can leave a person feeling stuck, while a personality view allows more room to change. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: The Psychology of Seinfeld: What’s Really Wrong With George, Kramer, Jerry & Elaine?. Related episodes * What Psychiatrists Get Wrong About Personality Disorders * Assessment of Personality: Practical Assessment in a Short Timeframe * The Psychology of Elizabeth Holmes in You Can See Everything: Narcissism, Autism, or Manipulation? For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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August 11 · 1 hr 9 min
Sleep Medications Treatment Tier List: Best Insomnia Medications Ranked
In this episode, the hosts rank the behavioral and medication strategies they use for sleep problems in psychiatric practice, starting with strict wake times, CBT-I, sleep hygiene, exercise, and treating the underlying disorder. They compare doxepin, trazodone, mirtazapine, hydroxyzine, melatonin, gabapentin, benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, antipsychotics, and other options, with attention to sleep onset, sleep maintenance, side effects, dependence, sleep architecture, and comorbid conditions. The conversation also covers caffeine and stimulant timing, alcohol and cannabis, primary sleep disorders, and why diagnosis should guide insomnia treatment before medication choice. What we cover * The framing for the tier list: treating sleep in patients with psychiatric diagnoses, and why one host considers sleep society guidelines of limited use here, since the underlying studies mostly exclude people who meet DSM criteria. * The behavioral tiers: a strict waking time, CBT for insomnia (CBT-I) and the pieces that fit into a medication visit, sleep hygiene (including moving the phone charger out of the bedroom), and daytime activity and exercise. * An ACT-informed way to reduce effort around sleep, the medal system (calm rest in bed as silver, instead of fighting for the gold of sleep), and the caution that sleep hygiene can be taken too far. * Screening for primary sleep disorders, treating the underlying psychiatric disorder, and limiting and timing stimulants such as caffeine and prescribed stimulants. * The medication ranks: doxepin, trazodone, mirtazapine, hydroxyzine, tricyclics such as amitriptyline, gabapentin and pregabalin, melatonin and ramelteon, buspirone, paroxetine, quetiapine, and the sedating antihistamines. * The bottom of the list: benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, alcohol, cannabis, olanzapine and risperidone used only for sleep, valerian, and sodium oxybate, plus a short comment on orexin antagonists, which neither host has used enough to rank firmly. Clinical takeaways * A fixed waking time is described as the easiest anchor for circadian rhythm, though hard at first. Reserving the bed for sleep and sex is a CBT-I element that can be taught piecemeal in medication visits. * Before starting a sleep medication, ask about snoring, a partner's report, wearable data, cardiovascular risk factors, obesity and metabolic syndrome. With marked fatigue or heavy snoring, one host refers to a sleep specialist first. * Ask whether the sleep problem is secondary. With early morning awakening plus other depressive symptoms, one host expects sleep to improve as depression is treated. The other adds a non-habit-forming sleep aid at the first visit if the patient wants one. * Patients are poor judges of how stimulants affect their sleep. Ask about timing and quantity; even an early morning stimulant can matter. * Both hosts favor doxepin first. Coverage of the branded low-dose tablets varies, and the liquid is often cheaper. Trazodone helps some patients and agitates others. Mirtazapine brings weight gain even at low doses and a few days of daytime slowing at the start. * When patients say alcohol or cannabis helps them sleep, one host agrees that it helps them fall asleep, then explains the cost to sleep quality. After stopping cannabis, expect weeks of vivid dreams from REM rebound. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Sleep Medications Treatment Tier List: Best Insomnia Medications Ranked. Related episodes * Insomnia and Sleep Medications in Psychiatry * Antidepressant Tier List: Psychiatrists Rank Depression Medications for MDD * Anxiety Medications Tier List: The Best and Worst Treatments for GAD For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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July 28 · 1 hr 1 min
Mood Stabilizers for Bipolar Disorder: Lithium, Lamotrigine, Depakote & More
Mood stabilizers for bipolar disorder can be confusing because lithium, lamotrigine, Depakote, carbamazepine, and oxcarbazepine have very different strengths, risks, and clinical roles. In this episode, two psychiatrists break down how they think about maintenance treatment, lithium dosing and monitoring, common side effects, lab levels, toxicity counseling, and medication interactions. They also compare Depakote for mania, lamotrigine for bipolar depression, carbamazepine’s interaction burden, and the potential role of oxcarbazepine. Along the way, they discuss combination treatment, diagnostic uncertainty, pregnancy and fertility considerations, rash counseling, and why effective bipolar care requires focusing on long-term episode prevention rather than the symptom of the day. What we cover * Why 'mood stabilizer' is a loose label covering lithium, valproate, lamotrigine, carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine, how these differ from antipsychotics, and why maintenance and episode prevention drive outcomes in bipolar disorder. * When polypharmacy is reasonable, the risk of stacking medications on a wrong diagnosis such as a personality disorder, and uses beyond bipolar I and II, including subthreshold presentations and adjunctive use in schizophrenia. * Lithium: why prescribers avoid it, starting approach, counseling on hydration, salt, NSAIDs and interacting blood pressure drugs, kidney, thyroid and calcium monitoring, common side effects, and level ranges. * Valproate: easier monitoring (platelets, ammonia, liver), the fertility and fetal risks, and the special cases the hosts consider, such as irritability, migraine and brain injury. * Lamotrigine: its role in bipolar depression and maintenance, tolerability, Stevens-Johnson syndrome counseling, the slow titration, and the valproate interaction. * Carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, gabapentin and benzodiazepines: interactions, the debate over evidence, sodium checks, and the place of scheduled benzodiazepines in catatonia and as a last resort. Clinical takeaways * Confirm the diagnosis before adding agents. Polypharmacy is common in serious bipolar disorder, but the hosts warn against layering mood stabilizers onto a personality disorder or unaddressed comorbidity, and describe cases where the diagnosis had to be updated over time. * For lithium, treat the patient rather than the number. Standard teaching puts maintenance at 0.6 to 0.8 and acute mania at 0.8 to 1.2, with lower levels sometimes enough for depression or adjunct use. Bring the level down once mania resolves. * Counsel on stable hydration and salt intake, avoiding NSAIDs, and telling every prescriber about lithium. One host frames the lab monitoring as what makes lithium safer, and both suggest walking patients through a written sheet with their results. * Be careful lowering or stopping lithium abruptly, since it may provoke mania. Onset takes at least two weeks and benefit builds over months, so set expectations early. * Valproate needs platelet, ammonia and liver monitoring, and the hosts avoid it in people who could become pregnant. Lamotrigine needs the slow titration followed exactly. * For lamotrigine, warn patients to stop it and seek urgent evaluation for any new rash. With valproate on board the lamotrigine dose is reduced, so check the prescribing information. The FDA label recommends HLA-B testing before carbamazepine in patients of Asian ancestry. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Mood Stabilizers for Bipolar Disorder: Lithium, Lamotrigine, Depakote & More. Related episodes * Dr. Jim Phelps’ Bipolar Treatment Tier List: Lessons from 30+ Years in Psychiatry * The Best Bipolar Medication Review From The Best Bipolar Expert * How to Diagnose Bipolar Disorder with Dr. Phelps: Hypomania, Mixed States & the Clues DSM Misses For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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July 23 · 1 hr 12 min
Dr. Jim Phelps’ Bipolar Treatment Tier List: Lessons from 30+ Years in Psychiatry
Bipolar disorder treatment is put to the test in this clinically grounded tier list with psychiatrist Jim Phelps. He and Dr. Malzberg rank low-dose lithium, lamotrigine, social rhythm therapy, dark therapy, dawn simulators, antidepressants, carbamazepine, supplements, ketogenic diet, mood tracking, and group psychoeducation. Along the way, they discuss why sleep and circadian rhythm belong in the mood stabilizer conversation, how antidepressants may worsen cycling or mixed states, and why the long-term goal is not simply treating the mood of the day. The episode also explores practical adherence, bipolar comorbidity, passive sleep tracking, and underused nonmedication approaches. Dr. Phelps’ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@psycheducation What we cover * Low-dose lithium, graded S by Jim Phelps: start at 150 mg, step up by 150 mg every four to seven days, step back after any side effect, and check a level near 600 mg. Lithium orotate gets a provisional B for lack of data. * Rhythm and light tools: simplified social rhythm therapy (regular bedtime and rise time), dawn simulators and dark therapy (a very dark bedroom, blue-blocking glasses), all graded S, with formal light boxes at C for cost, hassle and risk. * Lamotrigine, graded S for the middle of the mood spectrum: very low long-term risk, a gap between Phelps's experience and the meta-analyses, little value in unipolar depression, and only adjunct use in bipolar I. * Antidepressants in bipolar disorder, placed in the bottom tier: the concern is mood instability, cycling and mixed states more than mania. Bupropion would come first and venlafaxine last, after mood stabilizers with antidepressant effects (lithium, lamotrigine, quetiapine). * Carbamazepine (B, bumped to A for effect) and oxcarbazepine (B): a slow build toward about 1200 mg because of enzyme induction, Stevens-Johnson and teratogenicity cautions, and oxcarbazepine's low sodium risk and thin evidence. * Omega-3 and the ketogenic diet (both C), why paper mood charts fail, passive tracking of sleep and activity, and the 20-session group psychoeducation manual that Phelps says has some of the best efficacy data in psychiatry. Clinical takeaways * Lithium is easier to start when the patient holds the dial. We found that promising to step back at the first side effect opens the conversation with patients who fear blood tests and toxicity. * Ask before advising on sleep. Phelps asks what keeps a patient up at 2 a.m., then moves bedtime earlier in 15 minute steps every couple of nights. * Treat the cycling first. Phelps then reassesses apparent ADHD, anxiety and trauma symptoms, which he finds often shrink once mood is steady. * A formal morning light box acts like an antidepressant in bipolar disorder and, per Phelps, can induce mixed states and irritability. A dawn simulator carried no such risk in his experience. * Antidepressants worry us in bipolar disorder because of long-term instability and mixed states. Stopping one abruptly is also an acute stressor, so changes need care. * Count pills and tasks. Pill burden leads some patients to stop everything, and stacking lifestyle changes early overwhelms them. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Dr. Jim Phelps’ Bipolar Treatment Tier List: Lessons from 30+ Years in Psychiatry. Related episodes * How to Diagnose Bipolar Disorder with Dr. Phelps: Hypomania, Mixed States & the Clues DSM Misses * Mood Stabilizers for Bipolar Disorder: Lithium, Lamotrigine, Depakote & More * The Best Bipolar Medication Review From The Best Bipolar Expert For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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July 14 · 1 hr 3 min
Anxiety Medications Tier List: The Best and Worst Treatments for GAD
Anxiety medications tier list: two psychiatrists rank the treatments they actually use for generalized anxiety disorder… and the ones they avoid. The discussion covers first-line SSRIs, why buspirone may be underrated, when benzodiazepines can help or harm, and how to think about mirtazapine, hydroxyzine, propranolol, gabapentin, pregabalin, quetiapine, and bupropion. Just as important, the episode argues that “anxiety” is not a diagnosis: re-diagnosis, mindfulness, CBT and ACT principles, exercise, reducing caffeine or stimulants, and understanding avoidance may matter more than adding another prescription. The result is a practical, opinionated guide to anxiety treatment that combines evidence, clinical experience, side effects, dependence risk, and long-term recovery. What we cover * Scope and stance: we rank treatments for trait-like, physiological anxiety, apart from anxious distress in depression, personality disorders or trauma, and favor scheduled treatment over as-needed pills. * Non-drug S-tier picks: mindfulness, the CBT book Feeling Great, the acceptance and commitment therapy book The Happiness Trap, spirituality, and re-diagnosis, since anxiety is a nonspecific signal that many conditions produce. * SSRIs and SNRIs: sertraline and escitalopram first, long-acting fluoxetine for patients who start and stop, venlafaxine held back by withdrawal, paroxetine low for weight gain and anticholinergic effects, and duloxetine for comorbid pain or migraine. * Buspirone, graded S minus: no sexual side effects or weight gain, but twice-daily dosing and weeks to work, so it is not an as-needed drug. One of us tries it before the SSRIs. * Benzodiazepines and Z drugs, graded C to F: they work quickly, but we weigh dependence and impaired learning in exposure-based work. Hydroxyzine, propranolol, gabapentin and pregabalin sit in the middle or lower tiers. * Other picks: mirtazapine (B), quetiapine (neither of us uses it despite trial evidence), bupropion (disputed), caffeine and stimulants, exercise (A or S), kava (low), lavender oil (B or A), and tricyclics as late options. Clinical takeaways * Make the diagnosis before choosing the drug. Anxiety can come from mania, depression, personality disorders and many other conditions, and treating only the stated complaint leaves no shared understanding. * Benzodiazepines are most defensible for an acute decompensation in a patient without addiction risk, with a clear plan for short-term use. They also interfere with learning that feared situations are safe. * Bupropion divides us. One of us thinks it can worsen generalized anxiety over time. The other might still offer it for weight loss or smoking cessation, with warnings and close tracking of sleep and function. * Check stimulants and caffeine. They raise physiological anxiety, though in true ADHD treatment can lower psychological anxiety enough to outweigh that. * Propranolol is rated higher for performance anxiety than for generalized anxiety. Gabapentin trials showing benefit used much higher doses than many clinicians prescribe. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Anxiety Medications Tier List: The Best and Worst Treatments for GAD. Related episodes * Psychiatrist's Guide to Anxiety Medications: First Line to Last Resort * Understanding Anxiety, GAD, and Treatments of Anxiety * Antidepressant Tier List: Psychiatrists Rank Depression Medications for MDD For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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June 30 · 40 min
Psychodynamic Technique and Therapeutic Intervention: Mirroring, Clarification, Confrontation, Interpretation
Psychodynamic therapy interventions are the focus of this episode, organized through a practical levels framework for clinicians. Dr. Fu and Dr. Greg break down empathic mirroring as a way to keep the patient’s narrative moving, clarification as a tool for deepening detail, confrontation as a gentle way to point out patterns or discrepancies, and interpretation as the rare intervention that should come only after enough groundwork. Along the way, they connect these skills to diagnostic interviewing, medication management, forensic psychiatry, therapeutic alliance, and the difference between helping a patient talk more and pushing too quickly toward insight. What we cover * A recap of the levels framework, which orders interventions by how often they are used, with level zero (support, alliance and technical containment) covered in the earlier episode. * Level one, empathic mirroring, defined as anything that keeps the narrative going without changing its direction: 'tell me more', nonverbal acknowledgment, varied 'hmm' sounds, and punctuation (repeating a key word the patient just said), with the hosts differing on how it relates to containment. * Level two, clarification, split into surface questions (events, sequence, context) and depth questions (feelings, wishes, fantasies), a river analogy for noticing when the narrative dams up, and paraphrasing to check understanding. * Exploring memory in a hallucinatory level of detail, meaning step-by-step sensory recall used in therapy, diagnostic interviews and forensic work such as insanity evaluations, with the caution that memory is edited. * Level three, confrontation, defined as holding up a pattern, a discrepancy or a gap between values and behavior for the patient to look at, with examples from therapy, diagnostic interviews and medication management. * The ordinary reasonable person standard and shared cultural scotoma as checks against colluding with patients, then level four, interpretation, and why it is rare. Clinical takeaways * Prompts that add no new content, such as repeating a key word, can bring a richer narrative than direct questions in therapy, diagnostic interviewing and forensic evaluation. * Clarify before challenging: gather concrete details first, then feelings and wishes, without disputing the story or pointing out inconsistencies yet. * Confrontation needs a good alliance and a gentle manner. Dr. Fu says to start by the third session of formal therapy, and it can also appear in a first diagnostic interview, for example by asking how a main complaint relates to regular cannabis use. * Compare the patient with population norms and use common sense to avoid colluding with defenses, for example when someone reports doing spectacularly well right after a breakup. * Hold interpretation back until a pattern has been confronted many times and the patient is nearly able to say it. Both hosts see no place for it in infrequent medication visits. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Psychodynamic Technique and Therapeutic Intervention: Mirroring, Clarification, Confrontation, Interpretation. Related episodes * Psychodynamic Technique and Therapeutic Intervention: Containment * Psychiatric Technique for Diagnostic Interviewing and Therapy: 6 Mantras Every Clinician Should Know * Probably The Most Important Topic in Psychiatry: Therapeutic Alliance and Frame For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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June 17 · 54 min
ECT Treatment: When to Refer, Who It Helps, and What Actually Happens with Dr. MaryEllen Eller
Unfortunately no Dr. Fu today, but Dr. Malzberg speaks with the wonderful psychiatrist Dr. Mary Ellen Eller, who walks through what modern electroconvulsive therapy actually looks like and when clinicians should consider it. The episode covers ECT history, stigma, seizure monitoring, memory concerns, side effects, and the real-world logistics patients face during a treatment course. It also explores where ECT fits in the algorithm for severe depression, depression with psychosis, catatonia, bipolar mania. The result is a grounded, clinician-friendly guide to a misunderstood treatment. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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June 2 · 1 hr 3 min
Suicide Risk Assessment: Acute vs Chronic Risk, Formulation, and Suicidal Ideation Types
Suicide risk assessment is often taught like a checklist, but this episode argues that the real work is formulation. We talk about why history is only the starting point, how acute and chronic risk differ, and why suicidal ideation can mean very different things depending on context. We cover stress-related suicidality, intoxication, baseline recurrent thoughts, mood and psychotic disorders, OCD intrusive thoughts, hospitalization decisions, red flags, countertransference, and documentation. The result is a practical psychiatry conversation for clinicians and trainees who want to think more clearly about suicide risk without pretending they can predict the future. What we cover * Why suicide screening mandates and checkbox forms can replace clinical thinking, why they still matter for the standard of care, and how rapid yes or no questions teach patients which answers lead to discharge. * The first rule of emergency work (take your own pulse, be professional rather than afraid), building a narrative of how the patient got here, and two starting points: the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale and a 2007 Psychiatric Times article on documentation. * What an assessment is: grading chronic and acute risk as an actuary would, not predicting the future, followed by diagnosis, formulation and a treatment plan, with a car insurance analogy. * Varieties of suicidal ideation: rational suicidality (rare in psychiatric settings), a dysregulated response to stress or intoxication, baseline recurrent ideation, ideation secondary to mood or psychotic disorders, and ego-dystonic obsessions in OCD. * How the variety shapes treatment: brief detention for stress or intoxication crises, possible harm from admission for recurrent baseline ideation, lithium in bipolar disorder, clozapine in schizophrenia, and telling OCD from borderline presentations. * Galynker's suicide crisis syndrome (entrapment, affective disturbance, loss of cognitive control, hyperarousal, social withdrawal), countertransference as a signal, red flags, and liability that follows process and documentation. Clinical takeaways * Separate history from assessment. A scale such as the Columbia scale collects history, and the assessment is the judgment that links risk to a formulation and a treatment plan. * Avoid a checklist interview. Patients who learn that denying ideation leads to discharge may stop being candid, so we favor an open narrative interview. * Suicidal ideation is not by itself a reason to start an SSRI. The hosts point to lithium in bipolar disorder and clozapine in schizophrenia as the medications with evidence for reducing suicidality, and argue that SSRIs have not shown a specific anti-suicide effect. * Match the response to the variety. Stress or intoxication crises often settle with time and support, while recurrent baseline ideation may do better with therapy such as DBT, and admission can slow progress. * Listen for entrapment, hopelessness, agitation and insomnia, and notice a pull to rescue or give up. Change from baseline, planning, or refusing a safety agreement call for rethinking the level of care. * Liability attaches to process. Assess to the standard of care and document the exam, history and reasoning. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Suicide Risk Assessment: Acute vs Chronic Risk, Formulation, and Suicidal Ideation Types. Related episodes * Involuntary Treatment & Agency, Thoughts and Feelings | Episode 19 * Handling Difficult Situations in Psychiatry: ADHD Evaluations, Benzo Requests, Disability Claims, and Involuntary Admissions * Treating Borderline Personality Effectively aka How To Be A Good Psychiatrist Through GPM For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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May 19 · 1 hr 14 min
Antidepressant Tier List: Psychiatrists Rank Depression Medications for MDD
Psychiatrists rank antidepressants for major depressive disorder, including SSRIs like sertraline, escitalopram, fluoxetine, and paroxetine; SNRIs like venlafaxine and duloxetine; and atypical options like bupropion and mirtazapine. They also cover lithium, low-dose aripiprazole, trazodone, esketamine, stimulants, benzodiazepines, TCAs, and MAOIs, with emphasis on diagnosis, side effects, withdrawal, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, anxiety, insomnia, and why “which antidepressant is best” depends on the patient. What we cover * How the hosts set the rules for a tier list of antidepressants for major depressive disorder: one ranks by tolerability (especially avoiding weight gain) and then efficacy, the other goes by feel, and both say the ranking depends on the patient population. * Why stimulants and benzodiazepines land in the bottom tier for depression: the hosts argue they give a drug effect that fades with tolerance and leaves the underlying illness untreated, and they debate a one-week benzodiazepine during an acute crisis. * The SSRIs: sertraline at the top, then escitalopram, fluoxetine (a split between the hosts, with its long half-life and high ceiling), paroxetine, citalopram, fluvoxamine, vortioxetine and vilazodone. * SNRIs and atypicals: venlafaxine and its withdrawal syndrome, duloxetine, desvenlafaxine, milnacipran, then mirtazapine, bupropion and trazodone, judged for depression only, with their uses for sleep or trauma set aside. * Lithium as a position statement for recurrent depression, low-dose aripiprazole, quetiapine and buspirone as add-ons, and why lamotrigine stays off the unipolar list. * Esketamine, tricyclics and MAOIs: why esketamine sits in a low tier, and why tricyclics and MAOIs (phenelzine, selegiline patch) remain options for true treatment-resistant depression. Clinical takeaways * If a patient reaches a third antidepressant in a row without remission, reconsider the diagnosis. The hosts say treatment-resistant depression is where personality disorders can hide. * In a patient with ADHD plus depression, a stimulant can feel good on day one while the depression goes untreated, and irritability and somatic symptoms may creep up. Waning benefit may reflect the drug effect fading. * Bupropion can worsen anxiety, especially at the start, so one host suggests a first dose when the patient has nothing to do. The hosts caution against choosing it only because a patient wants to avoid side effects. * Venlafaxine works well for some patients but has the worst withdrawal syndrome of the class, so taper slowly. The hosts disagree on its rank and agree that an SSRI should not be combined with an SNRI. * Low-dose trazodone is not an antidepressant dose, and its metabolite mCPP can cause agitation in some people. Describe possible sleep effects carefully, and believe a patient who reports a bad night. * Low-dose aripiprazole augmentation carries a tardive dyskinesia risk, including in patients without schizophrenia, so learn to do an AIMS. Be sure of the diagnosis before adding antipsychotics or lithium. Read the full transcript The complete transcript of this episode is on psycho.farm: Antidepressant Tier List: Psychiatrists Rank Depression Medications for MDD. Related episodes * Treating Depression: Practical Tips & Pearls for Anti-Depressant Medications * Sleep Medications Treatment Tier List: Best Insomnia Medications Ranked * Anxiety Medications Tier List: The Best and Worst Treatments for GAD For education only. Not medical advice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychofarm.substack.com
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