Psych News Special Report: Addressing Cognitive Error in Psychiatric Practice

On this episode of PsychNews Special Report, host Dr. Sulman Aziz Mirza sits down with psychiatrist and author Dr. Paul Putman to explore how cognitive errors show up in everyday clinical work. They talk through fast versus slow thinking, why our brains default to shortcuts, and how time pressure, isolation, and copy forward documentation can quietly amplify mistakes. Dr. Putman makes the case for practical guardrails like semi structured interview templates, deliberate differential diagnoses, and a habit of revising your model when treatments stall. The conversation also challenges the label of treatment resistance, highlights the value of second opinions and true peer consultation, and closes with strategies for protecting clinician wellbeing.

Read this special report here: https://www.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2026.01.1.7

PsychNews Special Report is a production of Psychiatric News, a media platform dedicated to serving as the primary and most trusted source of information for APA members, other psychiatrists and physicians, health professionals, and the public about developments in the field of psychiatry and mental health that impact clinical care and professional practice. Learn more at psychiatryonline.org/journal/pn