What 30 Years of Treating Depression Has Taught Me
I wrote my first prescription for depression in 1991, the year I finished medical school at Cairo University. I have been treating it ever since — through psychiatry residency and chief residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a fellowship at Duke, and more than two decades of practice, in hospital wards, consult rooms, nursing homes, […]
What Happens During a Psychiatric Evaluation? What to Expect at Thrive Brain & Mind
Your first appointment at Thrive Brain and Mind is Thursday at 10 a.m. You’ve planned the drive. You’ve picked what you’ll wear. And now it’s 11:40 on a Tuesday night and you’re searching “what happens at a psychiatric evaluation” — because the truth is, you have no idea what you’ve signed up for. Will there […]
Medication Management vs. Interventional Psychiatry: How We Decide What You Need
It’s late, and you have three tabs open — three psychiatry websites, all listing the same services. Medication management. TMS. Spravato. Ketamine. Every site sounds confident. And none of them answers the question you’re actually asking: how would you decide what I need? Fair question. Let me show you. Not the menu — the thinking. […]
TMS Therapy in Powell and Columbus, Ohio: What to Expect at Your First Appointment
Your first Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) appointment is Thursday. Which is why it’s 11:30 on Tuesday night and you’re searching “what does TMS feel like” with your stomach in a knot. Magnets. Your brain. It sounds like science fiction, and nobody you know has done it. Part of you is hopeful — two medications didn’t […]
Depression That Won’t Go Away: When to See a Psychiatrist vs. Your Primary Care Doctor
It’s 12:40 a.m., and you’re doing the thing again: typing “why is my depression not getting better” into a search bar and reading strangers’ answers in the dark. You did what you were supposed to do. You told your family doctor. You started the medication. It helped — some. But a year later, you’re still […]
How Long Does Spravato Take to Work? A Week-by-Week Timeline
You did the hard part. After years of medications that half-worked or didn’t work at all, you said yes to something different. The insurance approval came through. Your first Spravato session is on the calendar — or maybe it was last Tuesday. And now your brain is doing the thing every patient’s brain does: counting. […]
Signs Your Child or Teen May Need a Psychiatric Evaluation
The bedroom door is closed again. Your daughter used to fill the kitchen with stories after school. Now she goes straight upstairs. Grades that were solid are sliding. She quit the team she loved. Dinner is one-word answers: “Fine.” “Nothing.” “Whatever.” And at 11 p.m., you’re lying awake asking the question every parent of a […]
My Antidepressant Stopped Working — What Now?
You remember the week your antidepressant finally kicked in. Colors came back. You laughed at something small and realized you hadn’t laughed in months. For a year — maybe five — the medication held. Now, quietly, it isn’t holding anymore. The alarm goes off, and the old heaviness is back on your chest. You take […]
How to Get a Medical Marijuana Card in Ohio: What a Psychiatrist Wants You to Know
If you’ve been searching for answers, you’ve probably noticed something: almost everything written about medical marijuana cards in Ohio is written by dispensaries or online card mills. The information isn’t necessarily wrong. But it is incomplete — and it’s rarely written by someone whose job is your overall mental and physical health rather than a […]
ADHD vs. Anxiety: What’s the Difference — and How Do You Know Which One You Have?
If you’ve ever asked yourself: “Why can’t I focus?” “Why do I keep procrastinating?” “Why does my mind never stop running?” “Do I have ADHD or am I just anxious?” — you’re not alone. In fact, this has become one of the most common questions I hear in practice. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and anxiety disorders […]