Dr. O Provides Readers with a Fresh Approach to Solving Life’s Problems
One of Atlanta’s top psychiatrists, Dr. Dwight Owens has made a name for himself helping people solve relationship problems by providing the public with a free, open, online forum. Ask Dr O is a popular mental health blog that provides advice and tips from Dr. Owens himself.
Dr. Owens is an Atlanta, Georgia native who practices in the heart of the city. He completed his residency in psychiatry and earned his medical doctorate at the Health Science Center at Syracuse. In 1998 Dr. Owens attended Emory University’s Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship program to complete his formal medical training. Today Dr. Owens is the Medical Director of his own practice – Peachstate Psychiatric Services. His practice focuses on providing adolescents and adults with comprehensive psychiatric medical services. Dr. Owens has a special interest in working with at-risk African American males suffering from mental illness. He is the recipient of numerous awards and is an active member of several organizations including the AMA and the Black Psychiatrists of America among many others.
The Ask Dr O blog is a popular website that allows the general public an opportunity to directly ask the internet psychiatrist questions. The blog features a Question of the Day posting wherein Dr. Owens asks his readers their opinions on a topic that is relevant in today’s society. For example, in a recent Question of the Day entry posed to his readers, Dr. Owens asked people to leave their comments/opinions regarding whether or not inter-racial marriages/relationships are now accepted amongst most African-Americans. Dr. Owens states in the blog entry that he has been asked this question by several of his readers and wants to hear what others have to say before he provides his perspectives on the topic. This particular segment of the blog is a way for Dr. O to start a discussion between himself and his readers. When he has received numerous reader comments on the topic, he will step in and provide his view on the subject.
The free relationship advice provided by Dr Owens is honest and very straightforward. He does not ‘sugar-coat’ his answers and he gets the conversations started by introducing a new topic on a regular basis. He has brought up topics such as suicide prevention, depression, relationship infidelity, domestic abuse, postpartum depression, gay lifestyle issues and dozens of other topics that are very relevant today.
The fact that Dr. Owens keeps this mental health blog active and considering that it is followed by many people, is proof that the internet can be used by mental health professionals as a means by which people can receive relationship and mental health advice when they need it. There is no judgment passed on the blog. Dr. Owens simply answers the questions and involves himself in the active discussions, providing his advice and feedback based on the education and professional training he has received. This is a approach not used by many psychiatrists but Dr. Owens proves that being an internet psychiatrist is something that the general public accepts and approves of. Dr. O may be paving the way for a new trend in the psychiatric world and it will be interesting to see if it catches on.