Margaret was 71, a retired librarian in Tucson, Arizona, who had been on lithium for forty-three years for bipolar I disorder. Her psychiatrist had retired the previous winter, and her primary care physician inherited the prescription without much review. In late August, during a heatwave, her cardiologist added lisinopril for blood pressure and a low-dose … Read more
Caleb sat on the edge of the bed in a treatment centre in Phoenix, Arizona, on the morning of his second day off oxycodone, sweating through a t-shirt he had already changed twice. He was thirty-four. He had been taking forty milligrams of oxycodone three times a day for the better part of seven years, … Read more
Caleb sat on the edge of the bed in a treatment centre in Phoenix, Arizona, on the morning of his second day off oxycodone, sweating through a t-shirt he had already changed twice. He was thirty-four. He had been taking forty milligrams of oxycodone three times a day for the better part of seven years, … Read more
Maya Reynolds, fourteen, sat in the children’s emergency department in Newark on a Tuesday night, holding her mother’s hand and waiting. Maya had told her school counselor that morning that she had been thinking about her stepfather’s pistol for the last week, that she had Googled how to load it, and that she had stood … Read more
Maya Reynolds, fourteen, sat in the children’s emergency department in Newark on a Tuesday night, holding her mother’s hand and waiting. Maya had told her school counselor that morning that she had been thinking about her stepfather’s pistol for the last week, that she had Googled how to load it, and that she had stood … Read more
Marcus from Tucson had tried three antidepressants over four years. His new psychiatrist did something the others had not. She wrote a real exercise depression prescription on a pad with her DEA number at the top: “Moderate-vigorous exercise, 150 minutes weekly, four sessions, beginning week one.” She also referred him to a behavioral health exercise … Read more
Marcus from Tucson had tried three antidepressants over four years. His new psychiatrist did something the others had not. She wrote a real exercise depression prescription on a pad with her DEA number at the top: “Moderate-vigorous exercise, 150 minutes weekly, four sessions, beginning week one.” She also referred him to a behavioral health exercise … Read more
Hannah was 16, admitted to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital after months of restrictive eating that ended with a heart rate of 38 and a potassium of 2.7. Her parents, who had been begging her to eat for nearly a year, finally exhaled when she sat at the meal tray on day two and finished her oatmeal. … Read more
Hannah was 16, admitted to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital after months of restrictive eating that ended with a heart rate of 38 and a potassium of 2.7. Her parents, who had been begging her to eat for nearly a year, finally exhaled when she sat at the meal tray on day two and finished her oatmeal. … Read more
Jenna was thirty-four, an attorney in Austin, when she finally got the diagnosis that explained two decades of half-finished projects, lost keys, and panicked all-nighters. The psychiatrist prescribed a stimulant, which helped, and then said something Jenna did not expect. He said the medication was the floor, not the ceiling. He said she would still … Read more