Psychiatry & Therapy in Durham, NC
Wellness First Psychiatric Associates
A fee-for-service psychiatry and therapy practice serving Durham families and professionals, providing care with an experienced psychiatrist, nurse practitioners, and therapists.
Psychiatry that hasn't lost the human touch
Here we present an expanding collection of articles on mental health featured in the media. Treatment Without Drugs highlights counseling and other non-pharmacologic approaches. NovelRx reflects recent advances in psychiatric treatment. Being Human gathers articles that explore healthy lifestyles and behaviors that promote psychological well-being
N.B. some of the links are behind paywalls, apologies :-
The Latest
Knowledgeable patients often make for the best care. The key is to use that knowledge to engage collaboratively—holding your clinician to a high standard without losing sight of the value of experience. With AI, it’s easier than ever to be an informed member of the team, but it’s still wise to be cautious about becoming your own doctor.
April 3, 2026
Synthetic psychoactive drugs are now common on the illegal market—“Spice” being one well-known example. This article highlights the ongoing cat-and-mouse dynamic between clandestine labs and public health authorities. Some of these compounds are extraordinarily potent and unpredictable; a newer class of opioids, the nitazenes, can be many times stronger than fentanyl. The takeaway is simple: purchasing drugs online is a kind of Russian Roulette with not uncommon deadly consequences.
March 31, 2026
Psychiatric Rx without Drugs
Before schizophrenia becomes a major impairment in one late teens and early adulthood there are subtle signs that the disorder is developing. Because psychotic events are destructive to the brain, i.e. schizophrenia is neurodegenerative, early identification and treatment can be life changing.
March 4, 2026
Human to AI interactions are quite common. Above is a link to an excellent podcast with a sophisticated discussion on the nuances of such relationships. We too have been thinking about AI in mental health and have a blog post considering the potential of a Chat Bot serving as therapist.
February 16, 2026
Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy is an enhanced form of TMS, a non pharmacologic therapy. The latter is part of a trend in modern psychiatry where treatments are beginning to take advantage of an awareness of the importance of brain circuits and connectivity rather than simply neurotransmitters and brain regions. TMS offers promise for many conditions, depression, anxiety, even substance abuse.
February 15, 2026
Psychedelics and Novel Treatments
Methylone is a currently an illegal drug with properties similar to MDMA. Transcend Therapeutics, a New York based company, has completed a safety trial in which 60 percent of subjects reached achieved remission with a relatively benign side effect profile. Further trials preparing for FDA approval are soon to come.
March 20, 2026
Being Human
This CNN podcast from Sanjay Gupta’s, ‘Changing Life,’ series illustrates the great strides that are being made in pain medicine research, research that is leading to significant payoffs for patients. It is well worth the 30 minutes of your time. Intermittent ads can be stepped across with the by advancing the progress bar.
March 3, 2026
There has long been concern that Marijuana may provoke mental illness but studies have been questioned because of the ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma: is it the case that those with mental problems gravitate toward MJ, or does the latter provoke problems? This large scale study confronts that confounding issue.
February 22, 2026