Author Archives: John C. Raiss

Wellbutrin (bupropion) works quite differently from SSRIs such as Lexapro (escitalopram), the subject of a previous blog post. How does it work? Per UpToDate[1], “like other antidepressants the mechanism of bupropion’s activity is not fully understood”. [2]   Clinically, it’s … Continue reading →

Hypomanic states are rarely observed by the psychiatric clinician. Bipolar  patients are much more commonly depressed  (according to Judd et al, bipolar II patients spent only 1.3% of the time in hypomania over 13 years of follow-up). http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/207252  accessed 1/14/17 … Continue reading →

The English have a somewhat more relaxed attitude towards drinking in pregnancy than we do in the States. From the RCOG: “It is recommended that you do not drink alcohol during the first three months of pregnancy. Drinking small amounts … Continue reading →

An important review article and meta-analysis, Early Treatment Responses of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and clomipramine in pediatric OCD was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (October, 2016, p 851-859). http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(16)31160-1/fulltext   The … Continue reading →

Too often, when I ask patients if they smoke cigarettes, I hear, “Oh, only 2 or 3 a day”, as if, not a problem, no big deal, like saying, “when I play Russian roulette, there’s only one bullet in the … Continue reading →

All animals sleep, even flies (research with the fruit fly Drosophila revealed the presence of clock genes).  All mammals have REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep. Human infants sleep 16 hours/day (if their parents are lucky); adults sleep 8 … Continue reading →

A patient emailed me recently: he was going to a few countries in Europe. Could he take his medications with him? He was on a schedule II stimulant. I think it’s a good idea, before visiting a new country, to … Continue reading →

This surprising  article will probably  change the way clinicians view and assess adult ADHD and the way DSM-6 conceptualizes it. DSM-5 considers ADHD a “neurodevelopmental disorder” (page 32) and states that “ADHD begins in childhood” (page 61). Diagnostic Criterion B … Continue reading →

In order to analyze Davis’ fresh approach to the translation, I would like to compare her work in a famous passage from the novel …. The passage ends with a beautiful and often quoted simile in which Flaubert compares human … Continue reading →

“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a … Continue reading →