PsychEducation is a guide to depression, bipolar, and brain health from Jim Phelps, MD and Chris Aiken, MD

Recent Posts

Antidepressants in Bipolar II: What the Experts Do
We update the research on antidepressants in bipolar disorder, and 18 experts weigh in on how they use these medications in bipolar II disorder in this podcast.
Mood, Metabolism, and Cognition: An Interview with Rodrigo Mansur
In this podcast we look at three ways that the body influences the brain – through neurohormones, inflammation, and metabolic health. Dr. Rodrigo Mansur delves into that last one in our expert interview, and we end with a new app – Thinc-IT – that measures cognition in patients.
Do Benzos Treat Depression?
Around 50 controlled trials have tested benzodiazepines in depression, and the results are surprising. In this episode we look at the controversies surrounding this research and what it means for practice.
COVID, Benzos, and Opioids
Overdose deaths have been rising during COVID, but simply stopping the drug causes problems of its own. In this podcast, Ashwin Patkar and Richard Weisler discuss how to reduce the risk of opioid deaths in psychiatric patients.
How to Stop Benzos and Stimulants
Swapnil Gupta, author of Deprescribing in Psychiatry, shares tips on how to help patients taper off benzodiazepines and psychostimulants in this podcast. She adds a special therapeutic ingredient, but it’s not a medication. Then we digress into one of the oldest medications known to humankind: Opium.
Hagop Akiskal and the Bipolar Spectrum
Hagop Akiskal was known for the bipolar spectrum, but that was just the latest in a 50 year career that constantly pushed psychiatry in new directions. As soon as his ideas entered the mainstream, he moved on to the next controversy, and on January 20th 2021 he moved on from this life. In this podcast, we look back on his legacy, beginning in the early 1970’s when Dr. Akiskal reshaped the way we think about depression, particularly the false dichotomy between stress-induced vs. biological depression.
What Works Best in Treatment Resistant Depression Part 1
Treatment resistant depression (TRD) is defined as failure of two antidepressants, but most research on TRD was done in patients who only failed one antidepressant.