ANTIDEPRESSANTS: Patients Report 20 Times More Side Effects Than Doctors Report

The investigators followed 300 patients who were in
ongoing outpatient treatment for depression over six weeks. The authors compared
what the patient reported on a standardized scale of 31 different side effects
(Toronto Side Effects Scale; TSES) with the information recorded by the treating
psychiatrist on each patient’s chart. The main finding: A stunning disconnect
between psychiatrists and their patients. The average number of side effects

reported by the patients on the TSES was 20 times (!) higher than the number
recorded by the psychiatris. When the investigators concentrated on those side
effects that were most troubling to the patient, patients still reported
2 to 3 times more side effects than were recorded by the treating
psychiatrist.

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ANTIDEPRESSANT: Woman Attempts Suicide After Therapist Had Affair with Her: CT

GUILFORD ­ After allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a depressed and suicidal patient for more than a year, a New Haven-based therapist was arrested this week on a sexual assault charge, police said Wednesday.

Alan M. Shulik, a 58-year-old town resident, turned himself in to police Monday, and is accused of second-degree sexual assault, Chief Thomas Terribile said. The victim reported the incident Aug. 31.

Shulik met the victim when she and her husband went to Shulik for marriage counseling in Shulik’s New Haven office, Bishop Street Counseling. The Cheshire couple attended four to five sessions together, and Shulik requested the husband and wife come separately to appointments, according to Shulik’s arrest warrant.

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