The Shrink Network

Shrinkopedia isn't a standalone site. It's one part of The Shrink Network, a connected family of mental health resources founded or medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, a board-certified psychiatrist.

Each site in the network does a different job. Some provide care, some teach, some translate research, some are tools. Shrinkopedia is the encyclopedia, the knowledge hub. It explains symptoms, conditions, treatments, and terms in depth, and it links out to the site in the network that's the right fit for whatever you need next.

The properties are kept operationally separate, especially clinical care, which is distinct from education and wellness. This page describes each one.

ShrinkNetwork.com

The front door to the network. It explains what exists, why each property exists, and where you should go depending on what you're looking for. If Shrinkopedia is the encyclopedia, ShrinkNetwork.com is the map of the whole network.

shrinkMD

Clinical psychiatric care. shrinkMD is an independent multistate telepsychiatry practice that provides adult outpatient psychiatric care through secure virtual appointments: psychiatric evaluations, diagnosis, medication management, and follow-up care. It emphasizes continuity with the same clinician and evidence-based, responsible telemedicine. It is not a crisis or emergency service. shrinkMD is the network's clinical entity, and it's kept clearly separate from the educational and wellness sites.

shrinQ

A structured, self-guided educational program for adults dealing with overthinking, anxiety, rumination, and mental noise. shrinQ is an eleven-module system delivered as on-demand lessons, worksheets, and short daily practices, grouped into four phases: understanding the mind, breaking the loops, building durable habits, and burnout and recovery. It's worked through at your own pace. shrinQ is an educational program, not therapy, diagnosis, or treatment, and it is not a substitute for clinical care.

Unstuck

A private, self-guided wellness app for iPhone and Android, with a website at beunstuck.app. Unstuck is built for everyday moments of feeling overwhelmed, scattered, anxious, or unable to sleep. It's organized around six modes: Reset, Focus, Act, Sleep, Reflect, and Track. It's local-first, with no account and no cloud sync, and it has no streaks, no ads, and no data sale. Unstuck is a consumer wellness tool, not therapy, a clinical service, or a medical device.

AnxietyResource.org

A plain-language editorial publication about anxiety, written for the general public. It covers symptoms, panic, overthinking, work, relationships, and treatment, and it includes a glossary and a state-by-state directory of crisis lines and care options. It's ad-free and clinically reviewed, with Dr. Refai as medical editor. Where Shrinkopedia explains the topic, AnxietyResource focuses on the practical, lived experience of anxiety.

AnxietyResearch.org

A research translation site about anxiety. AnxietyResearch.org reads the primary sources, like peer-reviewed studies, clinical practice guidelines, and public datasets, and summarizes what they show in plain English. It publishes reports, evidence summaries, treatment research, research-literacy explainers, and statistics, and every page is explicit about what the evidence does and doesn't prove. It's the place in the network for the question "what does the evidence actually say?"

PsychiatryRx.org

A medication education site. PsychiatryRx.org publishes plain-language, psychiatrist-reviewed guides to psychiatric and sleep medications, sourced from FDA labeling, MedlinePlus, and clinical guidelines. It covers individual drugs, side-by-side comparisons, drug classes, and practical guides for starting or tapering a medication. It's ad-free, sells nothing, and is not a pharmacy or a place to obtain prescriptions. When a Shrinkopedia entry touches on medication, PsychiatryRx is where to read about it in depth.

Shrinktionary

A plain-language mental health dictionary. Where Shrinkopedia is built for complete understanding of a topic, Shrinktionary is built for immediate understanding of a word. It translates psychiatric terms, like rumination, derealization, or emotional blunting, into language an ordinary person can understand quickly. Shrinkopedia answers "help me understand this completely." Shrinktionary answers "what does this word mean?"

Books by Dr. Refai

Dr. Refai is the author of mental health books written for a general audience, published by shrinkMD Publishing. They include "Your Mind Is Full of Sh*t," a guide to understanding overthinking and anxiety, a companion workbook, and "The Havoc in Your Head," a book on anxiety, overthinking, and panic. The books translate psychiatric concepts into accessible language. Where they're relevant, Shrinkopedia entries point to them as further reading.

How it fits together

The network is built so the parts don't compete. A single topic, like rumination, is owned by one site for each kind of need. Shrinkopedia gives you the full picture, Shrinktionary gives you a quick definition, AnxietyResource gives you the practical side, AnxietyResearch gives you the evidence, and PsychiatryRx covers any medication angle.

Shrinkopedia sits in the middle of that as the index. When an entry here has taken a topic as far as an encyclopedia should, it points you to the part of the network that does the next job. Nothing in the network is a hard sell. The related sites show up as related resources, because being useful is the point.