One in five Americans will receive a psychiatric diagnosis this year. Why isn't mental health care a bigger priority? “’Normal’ people don’t need mental health care.” That’s what we, as a culture, tell ourselves. Mental health care, after all, is for “those people." The homeless guy we drive past on our daily commute, for example, might be someone who needs mental health care--or someone with an addiction, or maybe a dangerous criminal we hear about on the news. When we h

If you're avoiding mental health treatment for fear of losing your job, take heart. You may have more options than you think. Vanessa drifted into my office and folded herself onto the couch. Her tired eyes were fixed firmly on the carpet. "They're going to fire me. I can't sleep. I can't keep up," she muttered. Vanessa said she'd experienced mood issues for years, but had always felt good about her work as a nurse, so she'd never sought treatment. In recent months, her depr

In this, my first contribution to the BioPsychoSocial field journal, I will introduce myself and my journey as a business administrator in the oft-confusing and frequently not-so-business-like field of outpatient psychiatry. The introduction will take the form of a list of seven facts. I have an MBA. I’ll write more about that later. You may think you already know what having an MBA means, but you may be surprised about how I’m using mine. True fact: most outpatient psy