The Case of the Shrinking Penis: Dr. Gary Small Talks About His New Book, The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head

A little while ago I caught up with Prof Gary Small of UCLA to get a story or two from his new book The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head: A Psychiatrist's Stories of His Most Bizarre Cases which he co-wrote with his wife Gigi Vorgan. He was kind enough to oblige with the following case -- watch it here:

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Comments

[JohnFromCensornati]

11:00 AM on 12/16/2010

The patient has Shrinking Penis Syndrome and his psychiatrist is named Dr Small? I have to wonder how this happened to someone diagnosed as a *paranoid* psychotic.

[Bardsbabe]

07:19 AM on 12/16/2010

Absolutely wonderful story. And people think you can't get overworked about these issues. Sad fact is, if you worry and obsess about anything, it can lead to problems and yes a good therapist can help with "bedroom" problems." An aside, aren't steroids supposed to shrink male sex organs,not bulk them up? They definitely can lead to psychosis as well.... scary.

[Dr. Ali Binazir]

04:29 PM on 12/16/2010

Thanks for the note, Bardsbabe! You're probably thinking about anabolic steroids (such as androgens), which is what laymen are referring to when they talk about steroids. And you are correct to think that androgens can cause testicular atrophy, although they wouldn't affect penis size in an adult, since that's not under hormonal control. When docs talk about 'steroids', they're almost always talking about corticosteroids, like cortisone or dexamethasone. They're potent drugs used for their anti-inflammatory effect, but they also have crazy side effects, some of which are psychiatric.