Austin Lam

Favourite excerpt - from Thomas Nagel's "The Absurd".

The potential molecular-level comorbidity between psychiatric disorders and pain is underlined by the fact that medications for anxiety and mood disorders (anticonvulsants, antidepressants) are also used to treat pain. ow.ly/yUsO50YviA2

“Having the scribe is helpful, because I’m able to focus on the patient the whole time instead of looking down at my keyboard,” she told Psychiatric News. “I feel more engaged.” ow.ly/rIj150YviGz

Very interesting reflections from a cross-cultural perspective on our recent paper on Delusions as Embodied Emotions in The Lancet Psychiatry thelancet.com/journals/lanps…

Enjoying the thoughtful discussions on my recent piece in @TheLancet Psychiatry. Building on @RRitunnano & colleagues' excellent study, I add a cultural-ecosocial perspective, tracing how local moral worlds shape the embodied experience of psychosis. thelancet.com/journals/lanps…

Repeat self-harm in prisons is associated with substantial health morbidities, costs, disruptions to care and rehabilitation, and suicide (in prison and on release). Just out - our qualitative study on using a structured framework (RAPSS) to assess risks of repeat self harm 👇

When forensic psychiatrists are called on to offer expertise that bears on a defendant’s sanity at the time of an alleged offense, tensions can arise between their evaluative and therapeutic roles. bit.ly/4tSAVJv

Dextromethorphan augmented #clozapine in new randomized trial of #schizophrenia with a large effect. With few options in clozapine-resistant cases, even a small trial is a worthy addition. More details: psych-partners.com/clozapine-dext… #psychiatry #pmhnp

What about the family in intrafamilial child sexual abuse? There is significantly more familial dysfunction in families with intrafamilial child sexual abuse than in other families sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Open Access "Psychiatry after Kraepelin" has been published today 🙏 for excellent contributions @AllenFrancesMD @FemiMind @JRBneuropsiq @awaisaftab @BeresfordPeter @mariusturda and 🙏 @rcpsych (HoPSIG, PhilSIG) and 🙏@subodhdave for advance review link.springer.com/book/10.1007/9…

When a life-threatening adverse event forces clozapine to stop, clinicians face one of psychiatry's hardest questions — and almost no randomized evidence to guide them. In this ASCP Corner piece Julieta Ramirez, MD, and Christoph Correll, MD, explore this topic. Clozapine remains the gold standard for patients with TRS. However, after life-threatening adverse events, like severe neutropenia, ileus, or myocarditis, clozapine rechallenge may be too risky. In this case, evidence-based options remain very limited. Evidence suggests that olanzapine may be a suitable alternative, followed by risperidone. However, given the complexities involved in treating TRS, it is crucial to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the patient before adjusting treatments. This includes confirming that the diagnosis of TRS is accurate and ruling out pseudoresistance due to nonadherence, comorbid substance misuse, or misdiagnosis. A personalized approach is essential for ensuring optimal patient outcomes in this context. Further research is needed to provide clearer guidelines, and novel pharmacologic and biological treatments are needed to provide viable alternatives for clozapine in the management of TRS. #TreatmentResistantSchizophrenia #Clozapine #Antipsychotics #Schizophrenia #Psychopharmacology #Psychiatry #ClinicalPsychiatry #MentalHealth #JCP #ASCP Full article link here -----> bit.ly/4bSontF The ASCP Corner, edited by Leslie L. Citrome, MD, MPH, is a collection of brief peer-reviewed, evidence-based articles, authored by American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology members, that examine the practice of psychopharmacology through the lens of clinical experience. The information contained herein only represents the opinion of the author(s). See more ASCP Corner Articles at bit.ly/4cMwCtb

Two new reviews reinforce previous conclusions about cannabinoids for mental health: "Given the scarcity of evidence, the routine use of cannabinoids for the treatment of mental disorders and SUDs is currently rarely justified." thelancet.com/journals/lanps… jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai…

Drug use among people in prison: A global review of epidemiology, harms and interventions onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ad…

Jürgen Habermas, whose work on communication, rationality and sociology made him one of the world’s most influential philosophers and a key intellectual figure in his native Germany, has died. He was 96. apnews.com/article/juerge…