The Importance of Depression Screening
Get information about the importance of screening for depression and talking to your primary care provider (PCP) if you think you might be suffering from depression.
About David Mischoulon, MD, PhD
David Mischoulon is the Director of the Depression Clinical and Research Program (DCRP) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Joyce R. Tedlow Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mischoulon graduated from the combined MD-PhD program at Boston University School of Medicine in 1994, and interned in medicine at Carney Hospital from 1994-1995. From 1995-1998 he completed his residency in adult psychiatry at MGH, and served as Chief Resident in Psychopharmacology. Dr. Mischoulon's research focuses on various areas of depression, including complementary and alternative medicine. He is also an accredited medical acupuncturist and has studied acupuncture as a treatment for depression. He has received two NARSAD Young Investigator awards, and a K-23 mentored award from NCCAM/NCCIH to study omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of depression. He has also received R01 and UG3 grants from the NIH and NCCIH to continue his work on omega-3 fatty acids for depression. Dr. Mischoulon has mentored many research fellows and junior faculty, including investigators from Europe, Asia, and Australia, who have gone on to obtain independent funding as principal investigators. Dr. Mischoulon has authored or co-authored more than 165 original articles, and over 115 reviews, book chapters, letters, and other clinical communications. He has co-edited a textbook on natural medications for psychiatric disorders, and more recently an MGH handbook of new treatments for depression. He has been an invited speaker nationally and internationally, and has won several awards, including Distinguished Fellow of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society and the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Mischoulon teaches and supervises residents and medical students, and lectures in various MGH Psychiatry Academy continuing medical education courses. He also provides patient care and consultation regarding management of treatment-resistant depression and use of complementary therapies for psychiatric disorders.
Clinical Interests:
- Acupuncture
- Complementary and alternative medicine
- Mood disorders
- Psychopharmacology
Treats:
- Adult
Languages:
- French, Spanish
Locations
Mass General Psychiatry: Depression Clinical & Research Program
One Bowdoin Square
6th Floor
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-8895
Medical Education
- PhD, Boston University
- MD, Boston University
- Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital
American Board Certifications
- Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Coventry
- Evernorth Behavioral Health
- Humana
- MassHealth
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid NH
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Multiplan
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- Unicare
- United Behavioral Health
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
Since March 2017, I have served as the Director of the MGH Depression Clinical and Research Program, where I mentor our program’s approximately 15 faculty psychiatrists and psychologists. My research interests focus on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in psychiatry. I have been successful in obtaining funding to support my research since the completion of my residency in 1998. From 1998-2002, I was funded by two consecutive Young Investigator award from the National Association for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD); the first project examined folate metabolism abnormalities in depression, and the second project examined the omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as a potential antidepressant. In 2001, I received a K-23 award from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to study another omega-3, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), for treating depression. This work led to my receiving a collaborative R01 grant (MGH and Emory University) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2006, for a clinical trial comparing EPA vs. DHA for depression. In 2015, I obtained a UG3 grant, again in collaboration with Emory University, to continue my work on omega-3s as a treatment for overweight individuals with depression and elevated inflammation, a potential step toward a niche for CAM as a form of personalized medicine. My research publications also include reports of studies of treatment of depression in patients with alcohol use disorders, atypical antipsychotics as adjunctive therapies for depression, and treatment of depression in minorities.