First year of psychiatry residency teaches some valuable life lessons.
Here is a real life story about fighting delusions and living with them as it applies to today.
I worked in a municipal hospital during my urban internship stint. There was once a week Psychiatry OPD started by resident medical officer Dr Shirole and visiting consultant Dr Thombare (unfortunately, both have now passed away). I had already expressed my interest in Psychiatry
So I was allowed attend this OPD.
Dr Thombare wanted me to learn about symptoms of mind so he asked to talk a patient in detail. He allocated a middle aged man as my patient.
He was on treatment for years and was considered a "stable" patient.
One afternoon, I sat down to hear his life story. As it was common those days (1994), he had suffered a few years of symptoms before receiving treatment. He had an extensive belief system supported by his hallucinations.
He firmly believed that his wife, children, other family members, neighbours and colleagues all were part of a group that kept an eye on him, stole his money, prostituted his wife and did terrible things to his children.
He experienced that his thoughts were broadcasted on a special channel on cable TV accesible to only few selected people from that group.
I listened to him all afternoon with fascination. Struggling to tell myself that it was all in HIS head.
Later when I started my psychiatry residency in govt hospital in same city, I met same gentleman again as my patient.
Once, I don't know what I was thinking, I decided to spend one more evening talking to him.
I tried to "talk him out of his delusions" as intellectual exercise and failed spectacularly as it was bound to happen.
He had is own way of interpreting everything happening around him in a way that fit into his delusion.
Even things that I considered as clear evidence that should have shattered his beliefs, were neatly mis-interpreted by his mind as evidence towards his beliefs.
After struggling with it all for an entire evening, I had convinced myself about unchangeable nature of delusions.
Over next few years, he had 2 more episodes of his illness (Paranoid Schizophrenia) and I saw his delusional system evolve to include whatever was happening around
I witnessed firsthand how his mind continued to invent past that was supportive of his beliefs.
Between episodes, he was a regular family man with a job. Just like me.
For long time I believed that such experiences were common only with those brains that were occupied by psychosis.
And then internet happened, social media happened and post-truth happened.
And I started finding regular chaps like myself getting consumed by stories and narratives. Including every new experience into their belief systems and they even have their own TV channels catering to echo and magnification of their distorted beliefs.
Now we call that belief political ideology and it is a freedom protected by law.
They all hold regular jobs but live a life of suspicion and anger and fear. Dividing the world between us and them.
No amount of convincing will do. They seem lost.
No matter what they call their ideology, they seem to be more alike than different.
Ignoring reality and relations and real needs of present.
Only an asylum seem to be a sane place now.
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1. A doctor who is available nearby, in person and on phone, 24*7, has good acumen to solve most regular issues and contact with consultants to solve more complicated ones - golden age of family doctors
Important condition - this doctor should come really cheap.
2. This was good in metros till 20-30yr ago. Still works in areas that are semi urban or rural.
When you approach a doctor with some problem, you are vulnerable. You will readily accept "intervention/treatments".
Sometimes your doctor wil send you away without offering intervention/treatments. Because - 1. It is normal occurrence. No disease.
2. Your misconceptions need correction not your body. 3. It is a self limiting condition. 4. Intervention will make it worse. Better to wait and let it disappear. 5. Too early to identify precise problem. Not enough data. Better to wait for more data to emerge.
6. You get hassled by small issues, need to learn to live with some as long term health strategy.
And some more.
Such doctors are pure gold. Cherish them.
They are turning away a willing to investigate/get treatment patient because they are ethical.
As a trainee doctor working in government hospital, working with poorest in the country, I believed that education can solve most problems.
How wrong I was!
A thread on decision making.
As a trainee doctor I saw suffering of people that I attributed to lack of education. They were superstitious, had bizzare (IMO) ideas about illness and recovery, hardly ever followed medical advice esp about follow up of treatment.
I firmly believed that as more and more people get school education, this will go away. People will have access to good information and they will make better decisions resulting in better life.
Over last few months many mental health practitioners like me have received requests about grief counseling due to death in family (due to Covid 19)
A short thread on helping kids deal with early days of grief.
First of all - all bereaved persons do not require grief counselling.
Culture and traditions help us deal with loss of loved ones in most situations and then there are time and life , the great healers.
So please don't rush in with psychological help on day one.
When death is untimely i.e. a person who dies earlier than old age, it can get complicated.
Many factors add to trauma of grief in pandemic -
1. Trauma of finding treatment for Covid19 2. possibility of immediate family being sick or in isolation complicates things.