The Shrink Network

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

Each property in the network has one job. Some provide care. Some teach. Some translate research. Some are tools you use in a moment. Shrinkopedia is the encyclopedia, the reference layer, where symptoms, conditions, treatments, and terms are explained in depth. Where an entry has gone as far as an encyclopedia should, it points to the property in the network that does the next job.

The properties are kept operationally separate, especially clinical care, which is distinct from education and wellness. Below is every property in the network, grouped by what it does.

Understand

Editorial and reference properties. Read to build understanding of a topic, a word, a research question, or a specific medication.

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.

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?"

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.

DepressionResource.org

A plain-language editorial publication about depression. Symptoms, types, treatment options, crisis support, and recovery, explained without jargon and grounded in current evidence. Reviewed by Dr. Refai. Where Shrinkopedia gives you the diagnostic and treatment reference, DepressionResource gives you the reading a person actually needs when they're in it or supporting someone who is.

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 isn't a pharmacy or a place to obtain prescriptions. When a Shrinkopedia entry touches on medication, PsychiatryRx is where to read about it in depth.

ShrinkDaily

Daily mental health education. ShrinkDaily turns mental health education into a daily habit: one short, plain-language concept, reflection, or practical idea at a time, built as a long-term library you can return to every day. Where Shrinkopedia explains a topic in depth, ShrinkDaily keeps the learning going in a daily rhythm, one evidence-based concept each morning, and links deeper into the network when a topic needs more context. It's educational, not diagnosis, treatment, or therapy.

Apply

Practical tools you use in a moment or run in the background of your day.

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's not a substitute for clinical care.

Unstuck

A private, local-first iPhone journal and reset app 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.

QuitScrolling

A phone-boundaries app for setting intentional friction around the apps that eat your attention. QuitScrolling helps you spend more time living and less time scrolling, using private, local-first controls that don't shame or gamify you. Sits alongside Unstuck in the tools layer of the network for anyone whose mental health work has to include their phone.

Care

The clinical part of the network. Distinct from every property above, by design.

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's 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.

Ready for care rather than more reading? Start care at shrinkMD. Dr. Refai's clinician profile is at shrinkmd.com/shariq-refai.

Profession

For the people who work in psychiatry, and for anyone curious about what the job actually is.

shrinkiatry

A publication about the profession of psychiatry itself: its culture, business, ethics, training, technology, and the behind-the-scenes realities. Written for clinicians, trainees, and anyone who wants to understand what psychiatry is as a working field, not just as a collection of diagnoses. Where the other sites teach you about the mind, shrinkiatry teaches you about the practice.

A few shrinkiatry pages that come up often for Shrinkopedia readers: why getting a psychiatric appointment is hard, the limits of confidentiality, how involuntary commitment works, and the difference between psychiatrist, psychologist, and therapist.

Author

Where Dr. Refai writes as himself, plus the books he's authored for a general audience.

shariqrefai.com

The founder's personal site. Board-certified psychiatrist, shrinkMD founder, author. Long-form writing on anxiety, overthinking, and modern psychiatry, plus the biographical and credentialing information that supports the medical review across the entire network.

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 property for each kind of need. Shrinkopedia gives you the full picture. Shrinktionary gives you a quick definition. AnxietyResource and DepressionResource give you the practical side. AnxietyResearch gives you the evidence. PsychiatryRx covers any medication angle. ShrinkDaily keeps you learning day by day. shrinQ, Unstuck, and QuitScrolling are the tools when you need to act. shrinkMD is where you go for actual care. shrinkiatry is the profession's story. shariqrefai.com is where Dr. Refai writes as himself.

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. Read how the network is connected to see the underlying structure.