July 7, 2020

Dr. Rosenberg to write new blog for Psychology Today

David Rosenberg, M.D., chair of the Wayne State University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, will soon be writing a new blog for Psychology Today.

The blog, “Changing Times, Changing Mental Health: A Discussion on Navigating an Evolving Culture,” Dr. Rosenberg said, “will focus on changing times, changing mental health and how this will be evolving in the ‘new normal.’”

“I will be addressing a lot of topics, including skyrocketing rates of depression and anxiety in college students, internet/technology concerns in the era of the new normal, how mental health and the way it is practiced will change, whether psychologists should be able to prescribe psychiatric medications, coaches becoming more involved in mental health, whether the ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’ remains relevant, and if there is a need for in-person mental health other than for the most severe cases.”

Dr. Rosenberg, the Miriam L. Hamburger Endowed Chair of Child Psychiatry, said he was approached to write the blog by the editors of Psychology Today after they read his recent column on how the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to adopt many practices that formerly might have been associated only with those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. That column, published by CNN and a number of other media outlets, will be his first entry for the blog.

He said he hopes to increase the awareness of, and decrease the stigma associated with, mental illness.

“Knowledge heals and defeats ignorance and stigma,” Dr. Rosenberg said. “I hope to start a dialogue, and make it easier to access information and look at new approaches. The sad reality is that the need for mental health services is increasing dramatically, but access remains challenging. Leveraging new approaches can help.”

The blog will explore hot topics and debatable, potentially controversial  issues and protocols facing the mental health field, patients, clients and their families.

Additional topics may also include:

The skyrocketing rate of depression and anxiety in college students (increasing during the pandemic).

Should parents start their children on psychiatric medications with their pediatricians?

The decision to return to school in the fall – do the benefits outweigh the risks?

Internet addiction versus adaptive, resilient use in the new normal.

Will patient/client/family coaching replace many mental health care professionals in the era of the new normal?

Will in-person assessment and therapy largely become a thing of the past, replaced by remote platforms and videoconferencing for all but the most severe mental illnesses?

What is OCD and internet addiction in the era of the new normal of COVID-19?

Is the search for objective markers of psychiatric illness justified and/or likely to succeed?

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