Before you cook, oil the pan.

Before you plant that spring lawn, aeriate the soil.

And before you start a psych med, these are six things you need to have in place.

Welcome to the Carlatte Psychiatry Podcast, keeping psychiatry honest since 2003.

I'm Chris Aiken, the editor-in-chief of the Carlat Psychiatry Report.

And I'm Kelly Newsome, a psychiatric MP and a dedicated reader of every issue.

You are about to hear the first episode in a line of new series of PsychoFarm Secrets, where we're

going to share some expert tips on drug titration.

You're going to learn about psych meds that are better tolerated when they are titrated

faster, and even one that has to be started at a high dose and then taper down to a low dose.

And no, I'm not talking about buphernorphine.

Listen through to the end of each episode, where we're going to share a practice-changing

research update from our daily psych social media feed.

You can join that conversation on there.

Search for Chris Aiken MD on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Blue Sky.

But first, let's set down some basics about starting psych meds.

Before you reach for a prescription pad, I try to make sure these things are in order.

Get to know the patient's hopes and fears. This will help you choose the right medication and guide the way you talk about it.

Ask questions like,

which symptom would you most want to see improve if we had the right medication? What are some concerns you have about psychiatric medications? Are there any side effects that would be a

deal breaker for you that will need to avoid?

Number two, offer them a menu of two to three reasonable options.

...