Renegade Psych

About Renegade Psych

In more than a decade of training and clinical practice as a psychiatrist, I've become increasingly disillusioned by the American healthcare system. It prioritizes profit over progress at the expense of OUR health. The average American spends almost twice as much on healthcare as the next highest spending country, yet our life expectancy drags four years behind other industrialized nations and ranks OUTSIDE the top 50 in the world. The system is a disaster, yet it's broadcast as 'the greatest healthcare system in the world.' Renegade Psych wants to return medicine's focus to PROGRESS OVER PROFIT, and limit the influence and power of the pharmaceutical industry and big business entities, whose primary motivations are financial in nature. This conversational podcast is released monthly via SERIES on particular topics. There are 8-12 SEGMENTS, or episodes, per topic. I interview internationally-recognized experts in their fields AND relatively unknown, up-and-coming healthcare providers. Hopefully, we can educate patients AND providers about our medical system (especially mental health), so they can make better and more informed healthcare decisions.

Publisher

Ethan P. Short, MD

Category

health & fitness · science

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

4 Oct 2023

Latest episode

22 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

189 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Oct 2026

   54 Why America Prescribes 90% of the World's Amphetamines

   Join me and Ellie Jay in this episode tackling the systemic over-diagnosis and over-medication in American psychiatry.  Starting with the argument that generalized anxiety disorder isn't a valid diagnosis at all — it's a symptom, not a disease, and pharmaceutical companies exploit that nonspecificity to sell drugs to large swaths of the population who technically meet the criteria. The host draws a sharp contrast with schizophrenia, which has a consistent course of illness, predictable symptom progression, genetic markers, and clear treatment response — the kind of diagnostic validity that GAD completely lacks. He then traces how the same playbook was applied to ADHD: Adderall was literally rebranded from Obetrol (a failed 1960s weight-loss amphetamine) under the marketing slogan "ADD for all," and today the US prescribes 90% of the world's amphetamines to 4.5% of its population. The conversation moves into the clinical dangers of jumping to medication too early. The host warns that prescribing an SSRI to a young person who actually has undiagnosed bipolar disorder can trigger a manic episode or suicide attempt — a risk supported by hundreds of legal cases against SSRI manufacturers. He advocates for mood stabilizers like lithium as a safer first-line approach, and highlights Finland's Open Dialogue program, which relies on social intervention over medication and achieves dramatically better outcomes than the US system. He also details the under-discussed consequences of SSRIs, including sexual orgasm dysfunction in 35% of short-term users (and 2/3 to 3/4 in long-term users) — a staggering figure when the patients are teenagers just beginning their sexual lives. The episode closes with a philosophical throughline about how the mind automatically locks onto anything that provides immediate relief — whether it's an amphetamine, a benzo, or a new relationship — and how that binary thinking blinds patients and prescribers alike to long-term consequences. The host argues for an "off-ramp" approach: when you prescribe a medication, you should simultaneously plan when and why you may need to stop it, educate patients that psychiatric drugs (for the most part) manage symptoms rather than cure disease, and resist the cultural promise of a quick fix. As he puts it in terms of indications for psychiatric medication, "this is not an antibiotic for an infection." Chapter Timestamps # Timestamp Chapter Title 1 3:20 Anxiety Is a Symptom, Not a Diagnosis 2 4:10 Why Schizophrenia Is Actually a Valid Diagnosis 3 6:10 How Pharma Sells Drugs for Nonspecific Symptoms 4 6:40 Can Early Treatment Prevent Full-Blown Disorders? 5 7:13 Finland's Open Dialogue: Fewer Meds, Better Outcomes 6 8:56 The SSRI Trap for Undiagnosed Bipolar Patients 7 12:00 Why Lithium Should Come First 8 12:54 The Adderall Origin Story: Diet Pill to Epidemic 9 15:23 Three Proofs the ADHD Boom Is a Marketing Phenomenon 10 18:30 How Pharma Targets Children 11 20:22 Why Japan Doesn't Have an ADHD Epidemic 12 21:08 Remove Before You Add: A Different Approach 13 25:28 When Meds Go Wrong and Patients Can't Get In 14 34:39 Why Clinical Trials Don't Match Real Practice 15 37:51 The Placebo Overdose That Nearly Killed a Man 16 38:50 The Legal Trail SSRIs Left Behind 17 43:21 SSRIs, Sex, and Teenagers 18 50:23 The Off-Ramp: Planning the Exit Before You Start 19 53:59 The Quick Fix Culture Is a Lie 20 55:30 "This Is Not an Antibiotic": Setting Realistic Expectations Pop on over to our YouTube channel and subscribe and join for membership if you're interested.  And, if you're passionate about what we do here at Renegade Psych, we're now on Patreon! Check us out on our socials #RenegadePsych and if you'd like to support our work, you can! Or not... I'll continue putting out content as long as my other jobs pay the bills.  Other things you can do: liking, commenting, and sharing our posts also go a long way! https://patreon.com/RenegadePsych. Thanks for listening to the audio podcast... You should check out our posted video podcast on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaZ1bds1MGMM4tSbY7ISqug) as there are graphics overlaying the video to make it all more interactive and educational.  For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @RenegadePsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at Renegadepsych@gmail.com and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/  to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website. Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate.  This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

2. 

   20 Oct 2026

   53 How Lithium Repairs the Brain + What Psychiatry Still Doesn't Know with Jim Phelps, MD, Psychiatrist

   Dr. Jim Phelps — psychiatrist, educator, and founder of Psychoeducation.org — joins Dr. Ethan Short for a wide-ranging conversation about lithium, one of psychiatry's most powerful yet underutilized tools. They explore Dr. Phelps' unlikely path to becoming a lithium advocate (he didn't use it once during residency), the striking clinical evidence for lithium's anti-suicide effect at doses as low as 150mg, and why a substance that costs pennies a day may outperform a $125,000/year Alzheimer's drug. The discussion also tackles the uncomfortable reality of research funding bias, the difference between lithium carbonate and orotate, and what to do when the evidence — and your own enthusiasm — might be leading you astray. Beyond lithium, the conversation digs into the fundamental question of what bipolar disorder actually is. Dr. Phelps reframes bipolarity not as a binary diagnosis but as a "paint pigment" that colors mood disorders across a spectrum, tracing its roots through genetics, inflammation, metabolism, circadian rhythm, and reward sensitivity. He and Ethan also share candid clinical stories — from a patient who stopped thinking about suicide within days of starting lithium, to a puzzling case where switching from carbonate to orotate caused a dramatic regression in rigidity and inflexibility. The episode closes with a question Dr. Phelps finds humbling: of all there is to know in psychiatry, how much do we actually understand? His answer — and his critique of how the DSM chops up what may be a single phenomenon into comorbidities — is a fitting end to a conversation defined by intellectual honesty, curiosity, and a willingness to challenge dogma when the evidence points elsewhere. Timestamps 0:00 — Intro & disclaimer 1:12 — Who is Dr. Jim Phelps? Challenging psychiatric dogma 3:06 — From never using lithium in residency to becoming its advocate 5:56 — Short-term relief vs. long-term sustainability: lithium as prophylactic 8:02 — Lithium's anti-suicide effect: the clinical evidence 10:43 — The risk-benefit framework: when low risk means you don't need an RCT 13:25 — The 2025 Harvard paper: lithium deficiency and Alzheimer's 16:05 — Press warnings against lithium ("don't eat vegetables") 18:21 — Personal experience: lithium orotate and the anti-herpes effect 20:04 — Lithium orotate vs. Lecanemab: $125K/year vs. pennies a day 23:44 — Bias in research: who funds the science? 27:25 — Placebo, belief, and the Kobe Bryant analogy 30:57 — Clinical puzzle: carbonate vs. orotate in autism/OCD patients 34:57 — The mystery of how lithium enters the brain 37:52 — Lithium orotate: thyroid, renal safety, and common sense psychiatry 42:32 — What is bipolar disorder? The "big five" causes 46:37 — Reverse engineering lithium: GSK-3 beta and neuroprotection 48:59 — Epigenetics, Cheetos, and the butterfly memory experiment 51:35 — Beliefs changed over 20 years: what survives the test of time 56:10 — "What percent do we know?" & closing thoughts Pop on over to our YouTube channel and subscribe and join for membership if you're interested.  And, if you're passionate about what we do here at Renegade Psych, we're now on Patreon! Check us out on our socials #RenegadePsych and if you'd like to support our work, you can! Or not... I'll continue putting out content as long as my other jobs pay the bills.  Other things you can do: liking, commenting, and sharing our posts also go a long way! https://patreon.com/RenegadePsych. Thanks for listening to the audio podcast... You should check out our posted video podcast on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaZ1bds1MGMM4tSbY7ISqug) as there are graphics overlaying the video to make it all more interactive and educational.  For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @RenegadePsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at Renegadepsych@gmail.com and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/  to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website. Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate.  This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

3. 

   28 Aug 2026

   52 Lindsay Clancy

   ACT Therapist Dr. Jessica Borushok: Stop Fighting Anxiety—Change Your Relationship to It: In this episode of Renegade Psych, psychiatrist Ethan and co-host Ellie Jay examine the Lindsay Clancy case, in which a Massachusetts mother experiencing severe postpartum mental health struggles tragically killed her children. They discuss how Clancy's symptoms evolved over months following the birth of her third child, beginning with anxiety and insomnia and escalating into intrusive thoughts, sleep deprivation, and psychosis. Ethan walks through her extensive medication history — multiple SSRIs, benzodiazepines, and antipsychotics prescribed by a rotating cast of providers, including nurse practitioners — arguing that possible bipolar-spectrum misdiagnosis and SSRI-induced manic reactions may have worsened her condition rather than helping. The conversation highlights the difficulty people have conceptualizing psychosis, noting that the conscious mind can be effectively "shut down" during florid episodes, making it nearly impossible for those who haven't witnessed it to understand how someone could act so far outside their character. The discussion then broadens into systemic critiques of American healthcare: 15-minute appointment slots that leave no time to build trust or gather collateral information and the deep disconnect between specialties like psychiatry, OBGYN, and endocrinology. Ethan makes a compelling case that estrogen's dramatic post-pregnancy drop likely plays a significant role in postpartum psychosis, citing studies showing estradiol treatment resolving psychotic symptoms in women with critically low levels — yet this approach remains underexplored due to the inability to patent natural hormones and the financial disincentives that follow. They close by calling for a healthcare system that prioritizes patient care over profit, with better integration between specialties and more time invested in understanding each patient's full clinical picture. Timestamp Topic 1:58 Introduction — Ethan welcomes Ellie Jay to discuss the Lindsay Clancy case 3:58 Understanding psychosis — How could someone become so impaired they act against their own character? 5:46 The spectrum of psychotic states — Losing awareness and the "glazed look" of florid mania 12:10 Postpartum psychosis statistics — 1 in 25 untreated women with postpartum psychosis will kill their child 12:28 Why society can't face psychosis — The fear that this could happen to anyone, and the urge to "other" those affected 24:06 Lindsay Clancy's timeline — Birth of her third child and the onset of symptoms 29:46 The tragedy — January 24th: Clancy kills her children and attempts suicide 34:18 Nurse practitioners in psychiatry — Training gaps, time constraints, and culture of fear in prescribing 38:50 Hormones and psychosis — The overlooked role of estrogen fluctuations in postpartum mental health 39:10 Estrogen as a mood stabilizer — The dramatic post-pregnancy estrogen crash and its psychiatric implications 43:32 Research on estradiol treatment — 1999 and 2000 studies showing estrogen resolving postpartum psychotic symptoms 46:46 Systemic disconnection — How specialty silos in US healthcare leave critical gaps in patient care 50:02 Closing remarks — Call to action and contact information Pop on over to our YouTube channel and subscribe and join for membership if you're interested.  And, if you're passionate about what we do here at Renegade Psych, we're now on Patreon! Check us out on our socials #RenegadePsych and if you'd like to support our work, you can! Or not... I'll continue putting out content as long as my other jobs pay the bills.  Other things you can do: liking, commenting, and sharing our posts also go a long way! https://patreon.com/RenegadePsych. Thanks for listening to the audio podcast... You should check out our posted video podcast on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaZ1bds1MGMM4tSbY7ISqug) as there are graphics overlaying the video to make it all more interactive and educational.  For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @RenegadePsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at Renegadepsych@gmail.com and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/  to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website. Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate.  This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Who has been a guest on Renegade Psych

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Jill Carnahan MD
• Chris Aiken MD
• Chris Aiken
• Adam Urato
• Eric Topol

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

12,167

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.6 / 5

19 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

24 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 73 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

86

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

71