Recent posts
Los Angeles Times By Frank Shyong June 25, 2021 Dear Mom and Dad, There’s a story that I need to tell, and I know that it’s one that my family should hear first. But every time I’ve tried to explain these last few years, I couldn’t. I wrote down the words and even rehearsed them,... read more
American Psychiatric Association Mon Jun 21, 2021 The U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and ruled against the state of Texas and other plaintiffs in its challenge to the ACA, saying the plaintiffs had no legal standing to bring the case.The ruling puts to rest the latest legal challenge to the ACA... read more
The Washington Post By Rob Waters June 20, 2021 Spencer Merritt thought he was going to die. He couldn’t breathe and voices in his head told him he had been poisoned and that his beloved dog, Lulu, who died a year earlier, had been, too. He thought the voices were talking to him through hidden microphones... read more
In Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal, some see a ‘wake-up call’ for sports that neglect mental health
The Washington Post By Liz Clarke June 1, 2021 Although she has withdrawn from the French Open, tennis star Naomi Osaka this week scored a victory that athletes and advocates say will have an enduring impact by putting athletes’ mental health in the global spotlight — and sending a warning shot to the sports industry... read more
American Psychiatric Association Thu May 20, 2021 Managed care organizations must use medical necessity criteria and assessment tools developed by nonprofit mental health and substance use disorder specialty organizations when making coverage-related determinations.That’s what APA and seven other medical organizations told the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a friend-of-the-court brief filed yesterday... read more
The Washington Post By Karla Adam May 14, 2021 LONDON — Prince Harry talked about inherited suffering and compared his former royal life to a mixture of being on "The Truman Show" and living "in a zoo," in his first interview since his bombshell broadcast with Oprah Winfrey in March. In a 90-minute recording with... read more
The New York Times By Lisa Damour April 28, 2021 Here’s what parents need to know. As a psychologist who cares for adolescents I am well aware of the prevalence of eating disorders among teenagers. Even still, I am stunned by how much worse the situation has become in the pandemic. According to the psychologist... read more
The New York Times By Pam Belluck April 20, 2021 The research, tracking thousands of people from age 50 on, suggests those who sleep six hours or less a night are more likely to develop dementia in their late 70s. Could getting too little sleep increase your chances of developing dementia? For years, researchers have... read more
Opinion: As a psychiatrist, I have seen how the current emergency response system fails my patients
The San Diego Union-Tribune By Eric Rafla-Yuan April 19, 2021 Rafla-Yuan, M.D., is a psychiatrist and legislative director of the San Diego Psychiatric Society. He lives in Point Loma. Fifty years ago, if you fell and broke your leg or had a heart attack, there likely weren’t ambulances around. Instead, someone called 911 and the... read more
California Medical Association April 13, 2021 Over the next five years, the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) Division of Plan Surveys will be conducting investigations of all full-service commercial health plans regulated by DMHC to assess barriers and challenges practitioners experience in providing behavioral health services. The investigations will also seek to identify... read more