How to Be Patient artwork

Mental Health · Human Content

How to Be Patient

by Human Content

You may have noticed a new trend lately. Everyone is loud and proud about their mental health struggles (and thank goodness)! For practitioners, this movement is as exciting as it is frustrating. As each mental health taboo falls by the wayside as it enters the cultural zeitgeist, a new aspect of our specialty thus emerges. One we just don’t have enough hours in the day to keep track of, let alone engage with. From better understanding our patients’ (and our own) relationships with their conditions in a changing world, it’s more important than ever that we learn: HOW TO BE PATIENT! Each week, join Dr. Preston Roche (Psychiatry Resident & Digital Influencer) and Dr. Margaret Duncan (Psychiatrist & Content Creator) on their quest to better understand the patients we dedicate our lives to and the evolving paths they’re bound to travel beyond the clinic. By engaging with stories and perspectives that challenge our shared understanding of a condition, we hope you’ll similarly gain new perspectives as we look at our patients, and their mental health struggles, with further nuance and empathy. (And with Dr. & Lady Glaucomflecken producing, we've been mandated to include plenty of weird medical jokes too). Speaking of which, a key part of this is hearing YOUR stories! What’s changed your understanding of patient care? Do you have an experience that shines new light on something we’ve discussed on-air? Get in touch at: howtobepatientpod.com

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Is it those damn phones? Internet “Addiction” & Clinical Pearls

Today, Margaret and Preston return to the topic of internet and screen use, assisted by the framework by the AAP of the “Five C’s of Media Use”. They compare different ag

Nov 9
42 min

Optogenetics with Dr. Singh Alvarado

 In today’s episode Margaret and I are joined by Dr. Singh Alvarado a PhD neuroscientist to talk about the mysteries and beautiful applications of optogenetics. We discus

Nov 2
48 min

Thinking about Thinking (brief episode with Preston)

In this solo episode with Preston we (me) discuss the neuroscience concept of metacognition and how it may apply to some of our conceptualization of current psych illness

Oct 26
16 min

Excerpts from the American Journal of Insanity (July 1851)

In today's episode we take a look back towards the history of psychiatry and read from the publication “The American Journal of Insanity.” This is the journal that predat

Oct 19
49 min

Child Psychiatry Training Explained

In this episode, Margaret and Preston talk about Margaret’s experience halfway into child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship. Margaret discusses the general requirement

Oct 12
39 min

How does image guided TMS stack up against the current method?

In this episode we're doing another journal club, this time reviewing the first randomized clinical trial comparing image-guided TMS to the traditional method using scalp

Oct 5
47 min

The Theory of the Crunch: Holding Difficult Dynamics in Therapy

In today’s episode, Preston and Margaret discuss the psychotherapy paper The Theory of the Crunch, by Paul Libby, a psychoanalyst. In this episode and in the paper, the i

Sep 28
59 min

Psychiatric Effects of GLP-1s (What We Know So Far)

In this episode, Margaret and I take on the en vogue topic of GLP-1s. They have been utilized for T2DM for several years and just recently took center stage in the zeitge

Sep 21
58 min

Nuances in Prescribing Antidepressants

In this episode, Margaret and Preston present how two psychiatrists think about prescribing medications for depression. Using different common clinical scenarios, they di

Sep 14
58 min

Psychiatric Roots in Greek Mythology

The Greeks described two kinds of madness, and both are fun to talk about on our pod. Inspired by the recent hullabaloo around The Odyssey, we are going to be breaking do

Sep 7
1 h 06 min

Climate Change Impacts on Mental Health with Child Psychiatrist & Pediatrician Elizabeth Pinsky, MD

In today’s episode, Margaret and Preston are joined by pediatrician and child psychiatrist Elizabeth Pinsky, MD. Dr. Pinsky works as a pediatric consult-liaison psychiatr

Aug 31
54 min

Lessons from Improv Comedy

Laugh all you want (please laugh it’s supposed to be funny), Preston has been doing improv from the last year and he has some thoughts. Not just “yes ands” about how it m

Aug 24
1 h 09 min

Kung Fu Panda & Residency: Growth Mindset

Margaret is back and today our episode pulls themes from Carol Dweck’s work and book Growth Mindset, as well as a favorite sophisticated film: Kung Fu Panda. In this epis

Aug 17
55 min

THROWBACK: Alcohol: Examining Alcohol culture, history, and use disorder (Season 1 Episode 15)

In Episode 15, Preston and Margaret open a bottle—of questions, stories, and science—about alcohol use disorder. What do we get wrong about “moderate” drinking? Why is de

Aug 10
1 h 34 min

Sex Differences in Aging Cognition with Dr. Sullivan

In today’s episode we bring on Dr. Campbell Sullivan, PsyD to discuss the interesting field of neuropsychology, a complicated niche that focuses on eliciting deficits in

Aug 3
52 min

THROWBACK: The Lithium Episode (Season 2 Episode 14)

In this preston-led episode, we take a deep dive into the history of lithium and its use in psychiatry. But because Preston is very literal, we are starting at the very b

Jul 27
1 h 16 min

Missed Diagnoses in History Part II: Joan of Arc and King George the III

In this episode of historical psychiatric diagnoses we continue the “arc” (get it) with the story of a young girl with vivid hallucinations who galvanized the French army

Jul 20
36 min

THROWBACK: Heart of Psychiatry (Season 2 Episode 1)

We're pulling a throwback from season two for this one, and it's the episode I will go to the mat for as one of the most clinically useful hours of psychiatry content we'

Jul 13
1 h 24 min

ADHD may be more of a reward problem than an attention problem

Today we'll talk through this one study from 2010 out of the Oxford Department of Experimental Psychology, "Task-related default mode network modulation and inhibitory co

Jul 6
23 min

THROWBACK: Motivational Interviewing (Season 1 Episode 8)

We're going back to one of our oldies but besties. This is our motivational interviewing episode from season one, which Margaret and I both agree is probably the best epi

Jun 29
1 h 36 min

Chart positions

Where How to Be Patient ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Nov 11, 2026).

#189 NEW Mental Health US

More podcasts like How to Be Patient

Popular shows in Mental Health, for your next listen.

Browse charts by category

Daily updated Apple Podcasts rankings for the United States.

About How to Be Patient on Reason.fm

Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of How to Be Patient, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

Contact

Questions or issues? Reach us at hello@reason.fm

0:000:00