PsyDactic

Dr. O'Leary discusses his critical perspective on Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and argues that ODD is not a primary diagnosis but rather a risk syndrome, a set of symptoms (defiance, irritability, and vindictiveness) resulting from various underlying conditions like ADHD, anxiety, or trauma. He explains that conceptualizing ODD as a stand-alone disorder often leads to the risky treatment pathway of off-label antipsychot...

Neuroplasticity is a real thing that is shrouded in mythology and used by companies to market products, but what do we actually know about neuroplasticity?

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References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com.  All opinions expressed in this podcast a...

Dr. Grant Brenner joins Dr. O'Leary to explore the fascinating intersection of human psychology, physics, psychotherapy and artificial intelligence.  We discuss Active Inference and The Free Energy Principle along side how babies develop a sense of self and so much more.

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References and readings (when available) are posted a...

Is it possible to house multiple alternate selves within the same brain?  Dr. O'Leary argues that it is not only possible, but under certain conditions it is likely to happen.  Dissociative Identity Disorder is discussed not as a "shattering of the self,"  but instead as a failure to integrate the self during development.  Dr. O'Leary explores different biologically and computationally plausible models to explai...

Dr. O'Leary explores the neuroscience of dissociation, defining it as a degenerate concept that refers to a wide range of functional disconnections within the brain rather than a single clinical entity. The discussion moves from the standard medical definitions—such as depersonalization, derealization, and amnesia—toward a broader view of dissociation as a neurobiological defense mechanism that uses sensory attenuation ...

In December 2025, the FDA authorized  the Flow F100, an innovative at-home wearable headset that utilizes transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to treat major depressive disorder. Unlike traditional pharmaceuticals that act systemically, this device targets the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with localized electricity to modulate neuronal excitability and address the asymmetry hypothesis of depression. While the Empow...

PsyDactic welcomes The Game Theorist's Guide to Parenting co-author, Kevin Zollman who discusses game theory as the science of strategic thinking. We explore how mathematical models like the Prisoner’s Dilemma and mechanism design can be used to manage family dynamics by creating win-win solutions rather than competitive, zero-sum outcomes. The conversation highlights practical techniques such as "I cut, you pick" for fairnes...

Dr. O'Leary proposes Childhood Deficit Disorder as a way to conceptualize the rise in mental health issues among modern youth, exploring how systemic changes in culture and environment contribute. He contrasts the "free-range" parenting style prior to the 1980s, which fostered autonomy and resilience, with the modern trend of intensive, managerial parenting driven by economic anxiety and a "culture of fear" fueled by media. Dr. O'L...

Dr. O'Leary explores the history of clozapine, highlighting its initial revolutionary impact as the first atypical antipsychotic, followed by a ban on its use, followed by its re-emergences as a strictly monitored medication, and then culminating in new recommendations that greatly encourage its use. The discussion details the severe side effects that led to its initial discontinuation,  and then emphasizes other critical but ...

This episode includes a fascinating interview with a researcher in ultrasound, Dr. Michael Canney who is an acoustics researcher the chief scientific officer at a French company named Carthera (https://carthera.eu/) and they make ultrasound devices that can disrupt the blood-brain barrier in order to let medicines into the brain that otherwise could only get through in very small amounts.

We talk more broadly about the explo...

This PsyDactic podcast episode, hosted by Dr. O'Leary, delves into the complex and often controversial topic of diagnosing Pediatric Bipolar Disorder and its differentiation from other conditions, particularly Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD). Dr. O'Leary, a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow, explores the DSM-5-TR diagnostic framework, the history of Pediatric Bipolar diagnosis, the debate surrounding irritability...

Gambling disorder may be the most under-diagnosed disorder in the DSM.  This is an exhaustive treatment of the neurobiological, psychological, and societal aspects of gambling addiction, featuring discussions on the brain's reward system, cognitive distortions, and the impact of advertising and the design of gambling products.

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Functional Neurological Disorder was previously called Conversion Disorder or psychogenic neurological symptoms and is a condition in which a patient develops any number of neurological symptoms (such as loss of ability to move or seizure like episodes or inability to feel parts of their body or phantom pain) that cannot be explained by a clear lesion in the nervous system.  It was called conversion disorder because it was pre...

Dr. O'Leary introduces PsyDactic - Child and Adolescent Board Study edition by sharing the first of two episodes on behaviorism, that field of psychology that took the radical stance of completely ignoring the fact that we have a mind.

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References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, loc...

-- Dr. O'Leary explores how an artificial intelligence tool summarizes recent data on the use of nicotinic receptor modulators for the treatment of anxiety and PTSD.  Please send any comments to feedback@psydactic.com.

Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to feedback@psydactic.com.

References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psyd...

"People are 14 times more likely to die during a hospital stay than outside of hospital for inpatient psychiatry."  In the last episode, I shared an episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, which is a podcast created by Dr. Mark Mullen to help medical students and junior residents hone their psychiatric skills.  Mark interviews some of the most competent and amazing psychiatrists our country has to offer.  I am excited that ...

In the last episode, Dr. O'Leary interviewed the creator and host of the Psychiatry Bootcamp Podcast, Dr. Mark Mullen, who is currently a psychiatry clerkship director at St. Louis University School of Medicine.  He created this podcast after discovering a dearth of resources available for medical students and junior psychiatry residents to prepare them for their transition to practice. 

He graciously allowed PsyDactic to ...

Dr. O'Leary is excited to introduce you to  Psychiatry Boot Camp (PBC), a podcast created by Dr. Mark Mullen during his psychiatry residency to help prepare medical students for psychiatry residency. It covers fundamental topics in psychiatry and inspires young psychiatrists to think critically about their approach to the field. The curriculum is based on published literature on psychiatry crash courses and boot camps, and fea...

--In today's episode, Dr. O'Leary explores agonists, inverse agonists, partial agonists, and antagonists. These terms describe how molecules bind to receptors and either increase, decrease, or prevent changes in receptor signaling. Agonists increase receptor activity, with full agonists like dopamine and serotonin raising activity to its maximum. Partial agonists can increase activity in the absence of full agonists but decrease it...