By Jon Moskin
Growing up, Shadee Giurgius had two passions: psychiatry and archaeology. In particular, he was captivated by ancient Egypt. So when the time came for him to choose a path, he faced what could have been a difficult decision until his dad, a geriatric psychiatrist in Los Angeles, put things into perspective. “I think maybe you should focus on psychiatry,” he quipped. “Because they already found everything.”
“So, to this day,” Shadee joked, “whenever I hear that someone has found a new tomb, I get so upset.”
Nevertheless, ancient Egypt’s loss has been the Campus’s gain.
Dr. Giurgius carried his passion for geriatric psychiatry from his father’s community-based practice, where he volunteered as a teenager, to UCLA, where he studied psychobiology and gerontology, then to medical school in Iowa, and finally to the SFCJL after completing a fellowship at UCSF.
Though any short conversation with Dr. Giurgius will reveal his quick wit and sense of fun (more on that later), his dedication to the holistic care of older adults is no joke.
“My motto, which I got from my father, is: go beyond the standard of care.” It’s part of a treatment philosophy he calls longevity psychiatry, which incorporates family involvement, nutrition, exercise (he literally prescribes gym memberships), as well as medication. It’s a nurturing, holistic approach rooted in lessons learned in a family psychiatric practice that took the “family” part very seriously. It also recognizes the individuality of every patient.
“I always tell my patients that pills are made in a factory, and the factory doesn’t know you. You know you, and we know you, and your family knows you. So, we have to customize your medications as a booster to what you’re doing differently in your life. And just like protein powder, you don’t take it, sit on your couch, and expect muscles to grow. You need to be engaged.”
Current science reinforces his encouraging words. “Stimulation allows neurons to be more active and take up the neurotransmitters from these medications; otherwise, they go right through you,” Shadee explained. “So I teach: don’t be shocked if you’re sitting in bed saying, ‘I’m taking an antidepressant every day—why am I not happy?’ You have to use it as the backup, because you are the primary source of your outcomes, and you have to work hard at it.” It’s an honest, uplifting message that resonates particularly well with our Campus patients.
When he isn’t working, he’s focused on the future of the patients he cares for so deeply, tending to delve into the past. Maybe not quite as far back as ancient Egypt, but he has been known to travel to Los Angeles to pick up the occasional piece of old Hollywood memorabilia. And his passions don’t stop there. He recently finished writing a children’s book, tentatively titled When I Grow Up, I Want to Be Old: 100 Reasons Why Older People Are Special, which has already begun attracting interest.
And through it all, his attention never strays far from the family of patients he cherishes.