Socratic Psychiatrist

Hello, thank you for reading.

I started Socratic Psychiatrist as a repository for my writings, and to find interesting people to talk to about interesting things.

I’ll be writing about philosophy, psychiatry, and who knows what else. I have no mission statement for this Substack, and part of the excitement is seeing where this project takes me. My interests are eclectic.

About Me

I am a psychiatrist practicing in the midwest United States. I mainly treat patients who are psychiatrically hospitalized.

Disclaimer: I express my own opinions in my own writing. Nothing I write here represents or speaks for any individuals or institutions with which I am affiliated professionally.

Subscribing

My posts are public and I plan to keep it that way for the time being. If you are here for the articles, then a free subscription is right for you. My original goal was to put out a few posts per month, which was a bit optimistic. I’m still figuring out a balance between Substack and every other part of my life, so hopefully I find a stable equilibrium eventually.

I have created paid subscriptions for those who are particularly interested in these topics and want to explore them with me in greater depth. Currently, an annual subscription comes with:

• A monthly (or so) Zoom Q&A on reader-submitted topics.

• Is there something you’d like to hear a psychiatrist weigh in on? Let me know and I’ll write about it for you.

Comments

This is a work in progress, and feedback is always welcome. Feel free to comment with any suggestions or questions for the Substack.

If you know the Way broadly, you will see it in all things.1

What is opposed brings together; and the most beautiful harmony is composed of things at variance; and all things come about by strife.2

Eat a third and drink a third and leave the remaining third of your stomach empty. Then, when you get angry, there will be sufficient room for your rage.3

The day is short, the work is much, the workers are lazy, the reward is great, and the Master is pressing.4

If, as is our custom, the teachers undertake to regulate many minds of such different capacities and forms with the same lesson and a similar measure of guidance, it is no wonder if in a whole race of children they find barely two or three who reap any proper fruit from their teaching.5

…j’ai dit souvent que tout le malheur des hommes vient d’une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos dans une chambre.6

Because each and every minute is made up of seconds and of even briefer fragments of time, and every tiny fragment ought not to be allowed to pass in vain. I must feel certain that not only at the moment of my death shall I be able to account for the time I have lived; I ought to be ready at every moment of my life to confront myself and say—This is what I’ve done.7