Mohan Nair, MD

04/30/2026

I, Mohan Nair, MD have spent several decades studying sexual deviance and violent sexual offending - writing , presenting and testifying in Court on this matter.

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I, Mohan Nair, MD spent several decades studying sexual deviance and violent sexual offending - writing , presenting and testifying in Court on this matter.

04/21/2026

In the early hours of March 11, 2012, under the cover of darkness in rural Afghanistan, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales walked off base and into history. By sunrise, 16 Afghan civilians were dead. Among them were women and children.

What followed was swift and definitive: Bales was charged, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The narrative seemed clear—a soldier turned mass murderer.
But is that the full story? Or is it the version we are most comfortable accepting?

🔗 Read More & Subscribe: https://open.substack.com/pub/drnair/p/robert-bales-mass-murderer-war-criminal?r=11fx3g&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Click to read Mohan Nair, MD on Substack. Launched 14 days ago.

04/16/2026

In 2001, 57-year-old Robert Hanssen, former FBI counterintelligence agent, pleaded guilty to espionage and was eventually sentenced to life in prison. He had a long history of spying for the Soviet Union and later the Russian government. His spying activities are considered amongst the most damaging sustained by the United States in modern history.

🔗 Read More & Subscribe: https://open.substack.com/pub/drnair/p/the-forensic-neuropsychiatric-developmental?r=11fx3g&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

04/16/2026

Understanding how structural brain abnormalities influence behavior remains one of the most complex and important areas of neuropsychiatric research. A well-known forensic case from the early 1990s provides a striking example of how brain pathology may contribute to profound behavioral change. Through modern lesion-network analysis, researchers have been able to revisit this case and examine the neurological mechanisms that may have contributed to the behavior involved.

This case study explores the relationship between a large frontotemporal arachnoid cyst and impulsive violent behavior in the case of Herbert Weinstein.

🔗 https://open.substack.com/pub/drnair/p/when-brain-structure-influences-behavior?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Neuropsychiatry expert: primary areas of forensic expertise are traumatic brain injury, psychological trauma and pain disorders in both adults and children. Available for expert witness services relating to TBI, PTSD and Chronic Pain.

04/10/2026

In this post, we delve into an illuminating article published in the Psychiatric Times titled Ketamine and Psychedelics: The Journey from Magical Mystery to Informed Consent co-written by myself, Mohan Nair, M.D. This article explores the evolution of these therapies and the critical concept of informed consent.

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In this post, we delve into an illuminating article published in the Psychiatric Times titled Ketamine and Psychedelics: The Journey from Magical Mystery to Informed Consent co-written by myself, Mohan Nair, M.D.

04/08/2026

The use of psychedelics in psychiatry and pain medicine holds promise and raises difficult questions. My recent presentation reviewed the ethical, moral, and malpractice-related issues in this space, along with the systemic challenges that determine who receives care and who does not.

🔗 https://open.substack.com/pub/drnair/p/exploring-the-ethical-and-moral-issues?r=11fx3g&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

03/30/2026

"Why Some Grief Never Fades" is a really wonderful article in National Geographic if you want to understand how terrible emotional losses can impact an individual over a lifetime, sometimes in a way that never stops.

🔗 https://apple.news/AQDaKphrmSgKalEOVt5Vt7g

03/12/2026

Neuropsychiatry / behavioral neurology is the study of emotional and behavioral disorders in which disturbed brain functions are either scientifically established or strongly suggested. Prior to the 80s, the term neuropsychiatry was limited to conditions with identified etiologies, i.e., the depression or mania following a stroke, delirium/dementia associated with hepatic encephalopathy, or the paranoid/religious psychosis of a temporal lobe epileptic?

However, with the rapid advances in the neurosciences, the more serious psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette’s, ADHD, bipolar disorder, and autism are undeniably recognized as brain disorders. Considerable skepticism is raised in the courts when brain disorders are used to explain away horrific acts or serious antisocial behaviors. Mental health professionals may identify brain damage as a causal mechanism in wrongful behavior without an adequate scientific basis. This may be the result of honest differences in opinion, advocacy, or in some instances (unfortunately) the willingness to provide a desired opinion for the referring party.

👉 Read more on this week's blog: https://mohannairmd.com/what-is-forensic-neuropsychiatry/

03/12/2026

This story is not an isolated tragedy. It forces a difficult but necessary question: Are mental health professionals complicit in the mass incarceration of the mentally ill?

Today, individuals with serious mental illness are ten times more likely to be incarcerated than hospitalized. Between 16% and 24% of incarcerated individuals live with a serious mental illness. One-third receive no treatment at all, often cycling between homelessness and incarceration.

Programs like CARE Court are well-intentioned. But when eligibility criteria are narrow and intervention comes too late, families are left navigating systems that shift responsibility from healthcare to the legal system.

When treatment is inaccessible, the default becomes containment.

If we are serious about reform, we must expand access to care, rethink intervention thresholds, and restore accountability within the mental health profession itself.

Before lives are lost. Before incarceration becomes the substitute for treatment.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://apple.news/AxBDRj6UaQEuIuhbvYfNJOg

As she walked through the glass double doors of the San Francisco Superior Court building on Polk Street, Ann Keith clutched a letter she hoped would save her son.

03/11/2026

I had the opportunity to present this poster at the American Neuropsychiatric Association (ANPA) Annual Meeting yesterday. Our case study explores the lesion/network analysis of an impulsive homicide associated with a large frontotemporal arachnoid cyst, examining the neurological factors involved in the case of Herbert Weinstein.

Poster Presentation: Lesion/Network Analysis of an Impulsive Homicide Associated with a Large Frontotemporal Arachnoid Cyst

Authors:
-Mohan Nair, MD
-Devraj Kumar
-Aadya Deshpande

Understanding how structural brain abnormalities influence behavior remains an important area of neuropsychiatric research and clinical discussion.

03/04/2026

New Perspectives on End-of-Life Care 🔗 A recent article from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/health/article/psychedelic-drugs-terminal-cancer-palliative-care

Emerging research is showing that certain psychedelic medicines like psilocybin, may offer real emotional and psychological relief for people facing terminal illness. Rather than treating the disease itself, these therapies have helped reduce anxiety, depression, and existential distress in patients with advanced cancer, allowing many to reconnect with loved ones and find a deeper sense of meaning in their final months.

This is not about curing cancer, it’s about supporting the whole person, addressing the emotional pain that traditional medicine often can’t reach. As researchers continue to explore and challenge regulatory barriers, this work may open new pathways in palliative care and improve quality of life for those approaching the end of their journey.

Certain psychoactive substances can improve the mental health of terminally ill cancer patients—but few patients can currently access them.

02/20/2026

The future of psychedelics sits at a crossroads.

On one side: a growing community seeking access to therapies that have already shown benefit.

On the other: an emerging industry focused on developing costly alternatives to existing compounds.

The question remains: who ultimately shapes access, and at what cost?