Natalie Timoshin

After listening to the previous 3 podcasts, you may be wondering how to begin a therapeutically valuable conversation with your patient, which will provide the critical details that you need in the short time that you have. In his final podcast, Dr Lieberman offers a list of questions that you can use to break the ice and kick start a dialog with a patient whom you suspect has a mental health disorder.

In this podcast, Dr Lieberman discusses the associated features of three specific mental disorders: anxiety, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. He offers practical techniques that can be used in diagnosing each of these disorders and provides suggestions for treatment.

At one time or another, every primary care physician will likely see a patient who is a hypochondriac, a chronic complainer, or a substance abuser. Rather than seeing these patients as difficult and avoiding them as much as possible, the physician can reframe the problem as an opportunity for growth and development. Dr Lieberman suggests that keeping the sessions brief but allowing more frequent visits and addressing medical and psychosocial concerns will make your relationship with your patient more positive. Managing hypochondriacal patients, chronic complainers, and substance abusers will be much easier after listening to Dr Lieberman’s suggestions.

Primary care physicians are often the first to see patients with mental health problems and they provide 70% of metal health care to patients. They also write a majority of the prescriptions for antidepressant and antianxiety medications in the United States. This is understandable in light of the fact that physical and mental ailments are often comorbid. But, there may be more to treating a patient who presents with depression than prescribing a pill.