Embarking on your first psychiatrist appointment can be a journey into the unknown. Understanding what to expect can significantly ease your anxiety and help you prepare more effectively. A typical initial consultation with a psychiatrist involves a comprehensive assessment of your mental health, where the psychiatrist aims to understand your needs and concerns deeply. Remember, the goal of this first appointment is to establish a connection with your psychiatrist and lay the foundation for your treatment plan. It’s okay to…

I am sure we would all agree that happiness is a valuable commodity sought after by most people. But I believe that when most people are asked what brings happiness most citizens of western developed countries would provide a litany of expected answers. Examples would include money, good looks, successful career, athletic prowess or social popularity. With the advent of social media the happiness formula now includes the number of “likes” or followers on the ever expanding internet platforms. Most…

“Now is the winter of our discontent,” a speech by Shakespeare in Richard III says it all as we muddle through the beginnings of a third year of this pandemic. This horrendous experience has taken a toll on all of us. David Brooks in his op-ed in the NY Times (America Is Falling Apart at the Seams, NYT, Jan 14, 2022) comments on the current misbehavior of Americans. He describes the angry outbursts noted on commercial airline flights, in retail…

No one can deny that 2021 has been a momentous year. It has had a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly for sure. It has at times been frightening, confusing, comforting and educational. We have witnessed a very unusual presidential election, a subsequent denial by some of the validity of the election and an unheard of polarization of our peers and lawmakers. Most critically, we have endured a gift that keeps on giving; the novel coronavirus that has killed…

The human brain is a curious organ. It is programmed from birth to actively search the world around us. As we get older and mature this search gets fine tuned and focused. We pursue education, friendships, hobbies, sports. Our quest for life experience allows us to learn about the world around us and just as importantly develop a better sense of our own identity. We progress from a period of knowledge acquisition (“knowing”) that can last decades into a prolonged…

Psychiatrists Prescribe Medication – This Psychiatrist Prescribes Hope A first time patient comes into my office. I attentively listen to their story, ask pertinent questions, order tests when necessary, make an assessment and recommend a course of treatment. The prescription of medication is often involved. Thankfully, most people get better. But why do they get better? – Was it the medication, the talking therapy or just the “tincture of time?” I would like to think that it was my careful choice…

Never before in modern memory has the human race been faced with such a stressful and anxiety provoking foe. The novel coronavirus or covid 19 has resulted in untold emotional unrest and fear among all nations and peoples of our world. There has been a lot of talk about the “invisible enemy,” an RNA based complex protein that looks like a World War 2 anti-ship mine with spikes sticking out of its surface. We are informed daily by the media…

The virus pandemic has certainly had an impact on all of us. Not being able to meet with my patients in person has required a major clinical adjustment. Thankfully, telemedicine has provided me with the ability to provide necessary ongoing treatment. But I also know firsthand how difficult and taxing social isolation and sheltering in place can be. What has made this viral illness so stressful? After all, we have been dealing with annual episodes of influenza for decades. We…

What is resilience? Resilience is something we all want, few of us practice and most of us have little idea as to what it is. We go through our lives in lock-step dealing with life’s numerous pitfalls and challenges without an understanding of the impact that stress has on our bodies and psyche. Resilience represents an individual’s ability to effectively tolerate life’s stressors, to more effectively “go with the flow” so to speak. To be resilient means that even though…

As reviewed in a past article, the field of Psychiatry is unique among medical specialties. At present, medical technology has yet to provide adequate imaging or laboratory testing that would allow for more objective assessment of a patient’s symptoms and concerns. A person with chest pain, fatigue and a racing heartbeat can rest assured that a carefully designed testing protocol will clarify the nature of the problem. Cardiac enzymes, electrocardiogram, chest x-ray and even cardiac catheterization will provide objective evidence…

Since the cocaine scourge of the ’70s and ’80s and the ongoing tragedy of the opiate epidemic, the American public has become painfully aware of the societal impact of addiction. Because of the prevalence and lethality of fentanyl-laced opiate overdoses almost everyone knows of a family that has lost a loved one. And despite all the time, effort and money invested in eradicating tobacco we now have to confront the growing addiction to nicotine through the expanding use of nicotine…

The biological field consists of not just our brain but the body systems that ultimately influence brain function such as the cardiovascular, endocrine, pulmonary and gastrointestinal. As an example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can reduce the availability of oxygen to the brain and consequently alter brain function. A simple experiment decades ago demonstrated that the use of a portable oxygen generator can significantly increase the IQ of a person suffering from COPD. This same individual would subsequently experience less…

I consider myself a well-trained mental health professional and as such an expert on human behavior. These days however, I find myself more and more at a loss pondering the amount of violence and hate visible in our world. This week I attended an interfaith vigil united to protest hate crimes and violence. It was uplifting to share in the community expression of mutual support, love and the need to heal. However, I left feeling that there still were no…

Looking back on my many years as a physician I thought it appropriate to comment on this profession especially in a time when the core values of physician-hood are being tested. I truly am grateful and honored to continue to serve as a physician to my patients. Unlike other “jobs”, being a physician is a unique calling. Perhaps the best way for me to share with you the special nature of this profession is by relaying an experience from my…

As I have discussed in previous blogs on this website, the practice of Psychiatry is challenging. Unlike other medical specialties there are a paucity of laboratory testing or radiologic imaging that will reveal the true nature of the problems being presented at the time of our appointment. Instead of relying on objective data I must process a wealth of subjective information; that is, the words that you use in describing your current emotional state. I view this challenge much like…

Dr Gross was recently involved (along with Dr David A Rosen) in presenting an educational webinar on the topic of Anxiety and Depression. Presented by Neil Sideman, the co-chair of the public education committee for ADAA (Anxiety and Depression Association of America). Topic of the webinar was For my Anxiety or Depression, Should I Use Medication or Therapy? Click on the video below to view this very informative webinar. For more information about ADAA – check out their website at www.adaa.org.

Veterans of the Vietnam War have sadly raised our awareness of the existence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).   PTSD is a chronic, sometimes lifelone condition resulting in pathological changes in mood, thinking and behavior  It can be incapacitating and lead to job loss, family turmoil and dissolution, poor quality of life and often suicide.  We now understand that the development of PTSD has its basis in enduring alterations of brain function that helps to explain the chronic and…

Having witnessed first hand the extreme societal turbulence of the 1960s and 1970 I am struck by the striking similarities present in our current national scene. More specifically, I have been absolutely dumbfounded by the support that the “medical” marijuana movement has garnered across much of this nation. As a level headed physician whose medical belief systems are based on scientific knowledge and the credo “do no harm,” I find the groundswell of support for marijuana most troubling. In addition to the carefully studied health…

It is safe to say that anxiety is ubiquitous. No one escapes the experience. That being said, anxiety is not necessarily pathological or an indication of a psychiatric disorder. Believe it or not, anxiety can be a necessary experience. Many of us need a certain level of anxiety to succeed because it does have a motivational value. Consider the athlete or performer who acknowledges significant anxiety before their event only to succeed admirably at their task. This is where the…

Despite being a very reasonable and simple request from my patients, I find this one of the more difficult questions to answer adequately. Why is this so? The answer lies in the reality that Psychiatry remains a relatively “soft”  science. As I have previously discussed, my discipline is not as clearly defined as found in specialties like endocrinology, cardiology, etc. I will do my best in providing some basic guidelines. More detailed information may be found at the American Psychiatric Association’s “Practice Guidelines.” If one suffers…