News Mentions for the week of April 1, 2024

Why people say they aren’t taking sick days — and how their colleagues feel about it when they do. Mickey Trockel, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, provides comment.

A small clinical trial led by Stanford Medicine found that the metabolic effects of a ketogenic diet may help stabilize the brain. Shebani Sethi, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is interviewed about the trial results.

Burnout, while not an official medical diagnosis, is defined as chronic stress and exhaustion stemming from your work life. David Spiegel, the Jack, Lulu, and Sam Willson Professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, provides comment on the subject.

Clete Kushida, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, discusses the frequency of symptoms encountered in patients who are diagnosed with narcolepsy with colleagues in a recent panel.

The pandemic played a role in increased consumption, but alcohol use among people 65 and older was climbing even before 2020. Keith Humphreys, the Esther Ting Memorial professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is quoted on the subject.

Often misunderstood and undertreated, bipolar disorder has received close attention from Stanford Medicine clinicians and researchers for more than 30 years. Po Wang, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is interviewed on the topic, and Terence Ketter, Kristin Raj, Nolan Williams, and Karl Deisseroth are mentioned in this Scope Blog post.

Adding to the debate over how to handle the fentanyl crisis, San Francisco mayoral candidate Mark Farrell upped the ante on Thursday by calling for armed National Guard troops to be deployed in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods. Keith Humphreys, the Esther Ting Memorial professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is quoted.