Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Survey of Psychiatrists in Massachusetts and Michigan

We have all seen the television commercials imploring viewers to "ask your doctor" about Drug X, Y, or Z. The authors of a study in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology were interested in finding out how such advertising might affect the prescribing of psychotropic medicines. In this podcast, the authors discuss their research with Dr. Julia A. Koretski, Digital Editor for JCP. The authors of the study are Drs. Bennett Wechsler, Richard Balon, Richard Shader; and Anthony Rothschild. Dr. Balon is an Associate Editor of JCP and Dr. Rothschild is Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Shader is the Founding Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. The researchers surveyed psychiatrists to ask how challenging it was for them to convince patients that a medication was not needed, despite what the advertising might suggest. The results of their survey showed that psychiatrists who were newer to their profession (less than 10 years since they completed training) had a more challenging time than those who were more experienced in changing patients' minds. In this podcast, the authors discuss how their study came about and the thorny issues raised by the commercial promotion of psychiatric medications. The article titled "Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Survey of Psychiatrists in Massachusetts and Michigan" is published in the January-February 2024 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.