residents

On this week’s episode of the podcast, I interview Jaeger Ackerman, 4th year medical student about suicide risk factors and treatments.

As a therapist, attempt to closely approximate their reality of feeling suicidal with words. When I first hear their thoughts and feelings, I try to clarify with the patient to make sure I’m understanding their feelings. I usually try to put it into other words, and echo back to them. I’ll say something like, “I hear that you feel like there’s no other way out, that you feel lost and like it’s a very dark time for you.” I ask myself continually how to be present with them in their feelings, in the moment.

Link to full episode: notes

Resource Library: here

Link to sign up for CME go: here

Member Login to do CME activity go: here

Instagram:dr.davidpuder

Twitter:@DavidPuder

Facebook: DrDavidPuder

Youtube channel

What is Psychodermatology?

At the most basic level, Psychodermatology encompasses the interaction between mind and skin. It is the marriage between the two disciplines of psychiatry and dermatology, uniting both an internal focus on the non-visible disease, as well as an external focus on the visible disease. This tight interconnection between mind and skin is maintained at the embryological level of the ectoderm throughout life.

According to this article, although the history of psychodermatology dates back to ancient times, the field has only recently gained popularity in the United States. More specifically, Hippocrates (460-377 BC) reported the relationship between stress and its effects on skin in his writings, citing cases of people who tore their hair out in response to emotional stress.

Link to full article/blog: notes

Resource Library: here

Link to sign up for CME go: here

Member Login to do CME activity go: here

Instagram:dr.davidpuder

Twitter:@DavidPuder

Facebook: DrDavidPuder

Youtube channel

What is an eating disorder?

One of the most important things about anorexia and bulimia is understanding that they are caused by a complex interplay of genetics, epigenetics, early development, and current stressors. They can lead to dangerous outcomes because of how the eating disorder changes both the body and the brain. Many therapists and nutritionists, as you’ll hear in my conversation with Sarah Bradley, don’t treat from multiple angles, and often lack empathy into this condition.

There are three main types of eating disorders we will cover here:

Anorexia is the practice of cutting calories to an extreme deficit or refusing to eat.

Bulimia involves purging, or vomiting, the food that has been eaten.

Orthorexia is a fixation and obsession on eating healthy food (like only eating green vegetables with lemon juice).

Statistics:

Anorexia traditionally lasts for an average of eight years.

Bulimia traditionally lasts for an average of five years.

Approximately 46% of anorexia patients fully recover, 33% improve, and 20% remain chronically ill.

Approximately 45% of those with bulimia make a full recovery, 27% improve, and 23% continue to suffer.

Link to full episode: notes

Resource Library: here

Link to sign up for CME go: here

Member Login to do CME activity go: here

Instagram:dr.davidpuder

Twitter:@DavidPuder

Facebook: DrDavidPuder

Youtube channel

Grief is the multifaceted response—emotional, behavioral, social—to a loss or major life adjustment (like a divorce, loss of a job, etc.). Bereavement is the process of grieving specific to the loss of affection or bond to a person or animal (Parkes & Prigerson, 2013; Shear, Ghesquiere & Glickman, 2013; Shear, 2015).

Some of the signs and symptoms of grief are:

-somatic symptoms (e.g. choking or tightness in the throat, abdominal pain or feeling of emptiness, chest pain)

-physiological changes (e.g. increased heart rate and blood pressure, increased cortisol levels)

-sleep disruption and changes in mood (e.g. dysphoria, anxiety, depression, anger)

(Buckley et al., 2012; Lindemann, 1944; O’Connor, Wellisch, Stanton, Olmstead & Irwin, 2012; Shear & Skritskaya, 2012; Shear, 2015; Zisook & Kendler, 2007)

Medical and psychiatric complications can also arise due to grief and include:

-An increased risk for myocardial infarction

-Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (Broken Heart Syndrome)

-The development of mood, anxiety and substance-use disorders (Cheng & Kounis, 2012; Keyes et al., 2014; Mostofsky et al., 2012; Shear, 2015).

Acute grief begins after a person has learned of the passing of a loved one (Shear, 2015). During acute grief, a person may experience immense sadness, yearning for the deceased, and persistent thoughts of the decreased (Maciejewski, Zhang, Block & Prigerson, 2007; Shear, 2015). Auditory and visual hallucinations are benign hallucinations commonly found in acute grief and involve the person seeing, talking to or hearing the voice of the deceased (Grimby, 1993).

Link to full episode: notes

Resource Library: here

Link to sign up for CME go: here

Member Login to do CME activity go: here

Instagram:dr.davidpuder

Twitter:@DavidPuder

Facebook: DrDavidPuder

Youtube channel

Maris Loeffler Instagram: @agatetherapy