When psychiatric meds work well, it can be nothing short of miraculous. Yet so often, patients accumulate a long list of med failures, leading to a sense of deep frustration and even hopelessness.Here Dr. H explores five central reasons why psych meds fail:1. Misdiagnosis, largely due to  overlapping and confusing diagnostic categories and the general lack of a coherent nosology in psychiatry2. The role of trauma as the great imitator3. Sleep issues4. Hormonal status5. Confused and/or unreasonable expectationsBFTA/Dr. Hhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

Back from the Abyss

When meds don't work: Diagnostic confusion, trauma, sleep, hormones, and mistaken expectations

An amazing healing journey deserves a detailed post-game analysis and deconstruction.   Here Elizabeth,  a participant in the MAPS MDMA study, sits down with Craig and co-therapist Karen Cooper to look back at what were the crux moves and essential ingredients that shifted Elizabeth&apos;s PTSD into remission. BFTA/Dr. Hhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

The Secret Sauce

Craig sits down with LA-based Cuban American storyteller, author, BFTA super-advisor, and longtime dear friend Antonio Sacre to explore the art and power of storytelling, their personal abyss moments, friendship and vulnerability, and their shared affection for air conditioning.Antonio Sacrehttps://www.antoniosacre.comBFTAhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

Craig and Antonio talk shop

Life would be so much easier if we each came with an individual instruction manual, to both guide us and also warn us of how our inherited temperament and predilections might cause us great suffering. The first page of Emily&apos;s manual would have started with a capitalized bold face warning:"You are a highly sensitive soul, you will feel others&apos; hurt and anger and sadness as if it were your own....you will experience the world as if you had no protective skin, no shield....you will need to find people who see you and understand who you are, who can help nurture the beautiful flower that you can and will become." Emily eventually found her healthy place in the world, but in the process the darkness almost took her.BFTA/ Dr. Hhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

I felt the world too much

Just after starting his career, Dr. H met Matthew, a middle school student in the midst of a horrifying psychotic break.   Here Dr. H sits down with Meg and Phil, Matthew&apos;s parents, to explore their 15 year journey of grief, acceptance, recovery, and eventually becoming a source of support, connection, and wisdom for other families on this brutal and often deeply isolating journey.NAMI Family to Family classeshttps://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Mental-Health-Education/NAMI-Family-to-FamilyNAMI support groupshttps://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Support-GroupsBFTA/Dr. Hhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

Where did our son go?

12 step programs have helped millions of people, but they can&apos;t address everything. Randy got clean and sober and found a supportive community in AA....yet something was missing. He couldn&apos;t find peace, he couldn&apos;t connect in intimate relationships, he felt deeply broken and spiritually empty.  It turns out that when Randy&apos;s little brother drowned when Randy was just 4 years old, his family became a numbed archipelago of grief, leaving him to grow up without the mirroring and attachments that he desperately needed. Enter ayahuasca, followed by psilocybin....Randy was finally able to reach the parts of his unconscious where his childhood trauma was blocking his attachment and safety circuitry.BFTA/ Dr. Hhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

The Quickening

We&apos;re back!!Sometimes it&apos;s irresistible, necessary even, to lose ourselves into the greater collective, to become a honeybee buzzing with the ecstatic singular purpose of the hive.In this season 3 opener, Jamie tells Dr. H her story of trying to save herself by losing herself, then finally coming to face the fact that she had to plumb the depths of her trauma alone, culminating in a high dose DIY psilocybin session and the rediscovery of herself.BFTA/Dr. Hhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

Spiritual gaslighting

In this final episode of season 2,  Chris and Craig explore the highs and lows of the last year and plans for season 3.BFTAhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

Fishbowl #2-- Chris and Craig talk shop

Antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, stimulants.....READY SET GO!Med cheat sheetSSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)-- Prozac, Lexapro, Paxil, Celexa, Zoloft, Luvox, Trintellix, Viibryd-- They are generally NOT antidepressantsMainly helpful for OCD, body dysmorphia,  panic (if not from trauma), depression if postpartum or fueled by neuroticism or ruminative anxietySNRIs (serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors)-- Effexor/venlafaxine, Cymbalta/duloxetineMostly helpful for combined depression/anxiety, especially with insomniaWellbutrin/bupropion-- very stimulating (prison crack!), true antidepressant; can trigger/worsen anxietyMAO  (monoamine oxidase) inhibitors-- powerful antidepressants, lots of side effects and med interactionsLamictal/lamotrigine-- definitely ALL THAT and a bag of chips (see My Desert Island Meds in Season 1)Atypical antipsychotics-  Abilify/aripiprazole, Latuda/lurasidone, Seroquel/quetiapine, Saphris/asenapine, Vraylar/cariprazine, Risperdal/risperidone, Zyprexa/olanzapine, Geodon/ziprasidone, Invega/paliperidone Generally good mood stabilizers (in contrast to the putative "mood stabilizers" below); typically more helpful for severe depression and bipolar disorder than true psychosis (Zyprexa and Risperdal excepted)"Mood stabilizers"- (big misnomer, most effective for  mania/agitation, not depression)-- Depakote/valproic acid, Trileptal/oxcarbazepine, Tegretol/carbamazepineLithium- it&apos;s not clozapine, but gets the silver medal as a true mood stabilizer (see My Desert Island Meds in Season 1)Clozapine- the winner of the psychiatric med decathlon in most every event; needs weekly blood monitoring and has a few very serious potential side effectsBenzodiazepines- Xanax/alprazolam; Klonopin/clonazepam, Librium/chlordiazepoxide, Ativan/lorazepam, Valium/diazepamStimulants- Adderall/amphetamine; Vyvanse; Ritalin/Concerta/Focalin/methylphenidateAmphetamines are more euphoria-inducing, thus more abused and addictive and also tend to have more side effects; both amphetamines and methylphenidate are roughly equally effective for ADD/ADHDBFTAhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

(Almost) Everything about psych meds... in under 16 minutes

How do you show up for others when you are facing the loss of everything you have ever known and loved?Here Leah Barrett, a Colorado-based psychotherapist, opens her heart and shares her story of managing the careful dance of witnessing her clients&apos; pain and trauma while she faces her own unfolding medical nightmare.  Leah and Craig explore this immediacy and the implications for doing the sacred work of psychotherapy. Leah Barrett&apos;s podcast --Precarioushttps://www.leahbarrett.com/precarious-podcastBFTAhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

All we have is now

What&apos;s the special sauce of psychological and psychiatric treatment? How do we change, particularly in relationship with others?  Here Dr. Hillary McBride, a psychotherapist, researcher, author, and podcast host (Other People&apos;s Problems) opens up about the details of her years of psychiatric treatment, what worked (often surprising!), what did not, and how she had to leave home to find a home in herself. Dr. Hillary McBridehttps://hillarylmcbride.comHillary&apos;s new book-- The Wisdom of Your Bodyhttps://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Your-Body-Wholeness-Connection/dp/1587435527/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=hillary+mcbride&qid=1617029987&sr=8-2BFTAhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com

How healing happens with Dr. Hillary McBride

How can we stop the heartbreaking and horrific spiral of addiction? Dr. Jeremy Dubin, the Medical Director of Colorado&apos;s Front Range Clinic, sits down with Dr. H to discuss their top five things that actually work....and the five factors which most predict jails, institutions, and death.Dr. H and BFTAhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com

Addiction treatment-- What works, what definitely doesn't

BFTA takes a wild ride with Colorado based artist, writer, and video producer Ian Jaydid as he tells his double abyss story of lucid dreaming, out of body experiences, REM deprivation and transient psychosis....which then led to the blissful but ultimately destructive salve of opioids and a life changing encounter with the African psychedelic Iboga (ibogaine). Ian Jaydidhttps://ianjaydid.comIan&apos;s novel Tripping the Fieldhttps://www.amazon.com/Tripping-Field-Existential-Ungodly-Proportions/dp/0991193199Ian&apos;s first lucid dreaming experiencehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-WaA3SGl9M&t=26sDr. H/ BFTAhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

A superhero at night

In the context of an increasingly severe shortage of psychiatrists,  Dr. H discusses some uncomfortable truths about why finding a good outpatient psychiatrist is even more difficult than ever.Psychedelics and Psychiatry-- Dr. H on The Third Wave Podcasthttps://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-112-craig-heacock/BFTA and Dr. Hhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com

Why is it so hard to find a good psychiatrist?

The therapeutic relationship is built on trust, we come to therapy expecting that we are going to be heard and believed.Jeanine wasn't believed-- about her childhood sexual assaults, or the emerging psychotic symptoms, or her intractable suicidality....even after many near fatal attempts and over 40 inpatient stays.This episode looks at how and why we believe some people and discount others.  It turns out that the way people tell us their stories matters just as much as the actual words they choose. And, unfortunately, certain clinical presentations make patients/clients much less likely to be heard and believed. A heads up-- this episode includes descriptions of childhood sexual abuse, self-harm, and suicide attemptsDopamine, saliency, and the onset of paranoiahttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-020-00912-4Borderline personality diagnosis leads to demedicalization and poor treatmenthttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4870819/Inappropriate affecthttps://www.betterhelp.com/advice/personality-disorders/inappropriate-affect-symptoms-and-signs/Dr. H/BFTAhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com

No one believed me

How do we find a way out of the darkest depths of despair? Psychiatrist Dr. Craig Heacock hosts a deep dive into powerfully moving stories of hope and healing, as well as topical explorations of psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and psychedelics.

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Back from the Abyss

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