In this premiere episode of Breaking the Silence: Addressing Youth Suicide, part of the APA’s More Equity in Mental Health podcast series, host Dr. Helen Blaisdell Brennan speaks with Dr. Dale Walker, a Cherokee psychiatrist and Director of the One Sky Center. Together, they explore the deeply rooted factors contributing to elevated suicide rates among American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian youth—including historical trauma, limited access to care, and systemic inequities. Dr. Walker emphasizes the importance of cultural continuity, community connection, and empowering Indigenous youth by drawing on their traditions, languages, and ancestral strength. The conversation highlights promising prevention strategies, including school and family-based programs, and calls on psychiatrists to step beyond the clinic and work in partnership with tribal communities. With cultural humility, advocacy, and a commitment to holistic care, mental health professionals can help shape a future where Indigenous youth thrive.

In this episode, Dr. Adrian Preda speaks with Dr. S. Nassir Ghaemi about the limitations of the DSM framework in diagnosing mood disorders and explores the case for returning to more valid, clinically grounded approaches. They discuss the historical context of manic-depressive illness, the role of mixed states and mood temperaments, and how reframing diagnoses can lead to more effective treatment.

Read Dr. Ghaemi’s full report in Psychiatric News: Validity in Psychiatric Diagnosis: DSM and Mood Conditions

PsychNews Special Report is a production of Psychiatric News, a media platform dedicated to serving as the primary and most trusted source of information for APA members, other psychiatrists and physicians, health professionals, and the public about developments in the field of psychiatry and mental health that impact clinical care and professional practice. Learn more at psychiatryonline.org/journal/pn.

In this episode of Mental Health Pathfinders, APA President Dr. Teresa Miskimen Rivera discusses the outlook for her presidential year, and her focus on addressing the workforce crisis in psychiatry. She highlights the increasing demand for mental health services, the shortage of psychiatrists, and the administrative burdens faced by practitioners. Dr. Miskimen Rivera emphasizes the importance of advocacy, strategic planning, and member engagement to address these challenges and improve mental health outcomes across the nation.

In this episode of PsychNews Special Report, we explore the evolving landscape of clozapine therapy, reaffirming its role as the gold standard for treatment-resistant schizophrenia and examining its unique benefits in reducing suicidality. We examine key insights from the Psychiatric News article by Gemma Espejo, M.D., and Farah Khorassani, Pharm.D., which highlights challenges in clozapine utilization—including blood monitoring requirements and clinician hesitancy—alongside updates to monitoring protocols and side effect management.

The episode also touches on augmentation strategies, the potential of pharmacogenomics, and promising innovations in psychiatric treatment.

Read the full article in Psychiatric News here: https://www.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.05.5.10

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Find this episode and more on the APA Medical Mind Podcast Channel or wherever you get your podcasts.

PsychNews Special Report” is a production of Psychiatric News, a media platform dedicated to serving as the primary and most trusted source of information for APA members, other psychiatrists and physicians, health professionals, and the public about developments in the field of psychiatry and mental health that impact clinical care and professional practice. Learn more at psychiatryonline.org/journal/pn.

This limited podcast series is brought to you by APA's Women Psychiatrists Caucus and hosted by Anjali Gupta, MD, President of APA's Women Psychiatrists Caucus. Dr.Gupta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. She has led a number of wellness and equity initiatives at Georgetown and was selected to be a Gender+Justice Initiative Faculty Fellow for her research on The Experiences of Women in Medicine. She is active with APA's Committee on Women's Mental Health and is Chair of the AMWA Literary Committee. In this series, Dr. Gupta will interview women psychiatrists across the country who lead in a variety of ways. These conversations will uncover insights from guests' journeys in psychiatry on a range of topics, including work-life integration, mentorship, gender equity, and more.

In this episode, Dr. Gupta is joined by Rashi Aggarwal, MD. Dr. Rashi Aggarwal is the Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Northwell’s Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH). Before joining SIUH, Dr. Aggarwal was Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School where she served as Director of Residency Training and Vice-Chair of Education. She has held numerous leadership positions, including Deputy Editor for Academic Psychiatry, Chair of APA's Council on Medical Education and Lifelong Learning, and Secretary of AADPRT.

In this episode of Mental Health Pathfinders, psychiatrist Dr. Bernadette Grosjean shares her powerful journey of receiving an autism diagnosis later in life—an experience that reshaped her understanding of herself, her patients, and the field of psychiatry. Dr. Grosjean explores the stigma surrounding neurodivergence in medicine, the emotional impact of late diagnosis, and the unique strengths autistic clinicians bring to patient care. Her story is both deeply personal and broadly resonant, offering a compelling call to build a more inclusive, informed, and empathetic mental health workforce.

Listen and subscribe to Mental Health Pathfinders on APA’s Medical Mind podcast channel, available on all major platforms.

In this episode, Psychiatric News Editor-in-Chief Dr. Adrian Preda speaks with Dr. Anna Westermair, a psychiatrist and researcher whose work focuses on the emerging field of palliative psychiatry. Drawing on her recent Psychiatric News Special Report, Dr. Westermair offers a compelling case for considering quality of life—not just symptom remission—as a meaningful goal in treating individuals with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). Dr. Westermair emphasizes that palliative psychiatry is not about abandoning care—but about reframing goals to improve life meaningfully for patients often left behind by the traditional system.

Read the Full Report:
👉 Palliative Psychiatry: An Innovative Approach to Severe and Persistent Mental Illness

Listen and Subscribe:
Find this episode and more on the APA Medical Mind Podcast Channel or wherever you get your podcasts.

PsychNews Special Report” is a production of Psychiatric News, a media platform dedicated to serving as the primary and most trusted source of information for APA members, other psychiatrists and physicians, health professionals, and the public about developments in the field of psychiatry and mental health that impact clinical care and professional practice. Learn more at psychiatryonline.org/journal/pn.

This episode of Psych News Special Report delves into the complexities of prescribing psychotropic medications for medically ill patients. Dr. Adrian Preda and Dr. Jim Levinson discuss the challenges faced by psychiatrists, including pharmacokinetics, drug interactions, and the importance of collaboration with other healthcare providers. They emphasize the need for careful medication management, especially in patients with complex medical histories, and highlight the risks of not addressing psychiatric symptoms in these individuals.

“PsychNews Special Report” is a production of Psychiatric News, a media platform dedicated to serving as the primary and most trusted source of information for APA members, other psychiatrists and physicians, health professionals, and the public about developments in the field of psychiatry and mental health that impact clinical care and professional practice. Learn more at psychiatryonline.org/journal/pn.”