February, 2017

Is a Teen Depressed, or Just Moody?

By drwong
February 20, 2017

The Checkup By PERRI KLASS, M.D. New York Times FEB. 13, 2017 The hardest questions pediatricians must routinely ask teenagers at checkups are those about depression and suicide. But they aren’t optional; we have to ask them, every time. From 2005 to 2014, the prevalence of depression — that is, the chance of having a...   read more


LSD to Cure Depression? Not So Fast

By drwong
February 20, 2017

Richard A. Friedman New York Times FEB. 13, 2017   Psychedelics, the fabled enlightenment drugs of the ’60s, are making a comeback — this time as medical treatment. A recent study claimed that psilocybin, a mushroom-derived hallucinogenic, relieves anxiety and depression in people with life-threatening cancer. Anecdotal reports have said similar things about so-called microdoses...   read more


Addiction Treatment Grew Under Health Law. Now What?

By drwong
February 12, 2017

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and ABBY GOODNOUGH New York Times Feb. 10, 2017   MANCHESTER, N.H. — Chad Diaz began using heroin when he was 12. Now 36 and newly covered by Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, he is on Suboxone, a substitute opioid that eases withdrawal symptoms and cravings, and he is slowly...   read more


Pregnant Women Turn to Marijuana, Perhaps Harming Infants

By drwong
February 12, 2017

By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS New York Times FEB. 2, 2017   During her pregnancy, she never drank alcohol or had a cigarette. But nearly every day, Stacey, then 24, smoked marijuana. With her fiancé’s blessing, she began taking a few puffs in her first trimester to quell morning sickness before going to work at a...   read more