Primary care providers are often the first to recognize and treat mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Despite the growing number of pharmaceutical agents that can be prescribed, there has been a dramatic increase in mental health disorders. What is happening in our society that is leading to this increase?

Our guest on this episode is a pioneer in mental health research, Dr. Charles “Chuck” Raison.

Dr. Raison is a psychiatrist, the Mary Sue and Mike Shannon Distinguished Chair for Healthy Minds, Children & Families in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin, and the director of clinical and translational research for the Usona Institute. He is internationally recognized for his studies on novel mechanisms in and treatment of major depression as well as for his work examining the effects of compassion training. Dr. Raison is also studying psychedelic medicines as potential treatments for major depression.

In this episode, Drs Weil, Maizes, and Raison look at the future of mental health treatment. They discuss the problems with common anti-depressant medications and the link between chronic inflammation and mood disorders. Finally, they explore three new promising therapies: precision medicine, psychedelics, and compassion practices.