Thread by @docbhooshan

#HomeVisit
#India
#MentalHealth

After a few months break, I did a home visit again.
This is my favourite part of work. Visiting a child in their home for assessment/consultation/intervention is one of the most rewarding part of my work as a child psychiatrist in India.
Read on..

Possibility of violence and self neglect are two commonest causes of home visit in my work.

I have been called to talk a child out of locked rooms, toilets, homes, etc. Sometimes I succeed.

What I see in clinic is a sanitized, made up version of family.

Even a planned home visit lets me into their real world and gives wealth of useful clinical information that can help the child and family.

Today's visit gave me a glimpse into a child's clothes cupboard and I discovered something that proved to be a valuable asset....
His collection of just 3 hot wheels cars.

Family members didn't know about it. So there was no chance of I knowing about it in a clinic visit.

An interesting discussion followed that led me into his world of talking cars, intense wars, surveillance for trade secrets and a bunch of people who were trying to break into his room for theft. His world of delusions and hallucinations.

This changed the diagnosis completely and treatment plan changed drastically.

I could start appropriate medicine without need of forced admission to a hospital.

Forced admission to a hospital can be traumatic for a child and it is best avoided if safely possible.

This home visit did it for him and me.

His favourite school teacher accompanied me into his home and introduced me to him. My home visit would not have been possible without help from his trusted teacher.

With all the challenges that India poses for mental health professionals, we also have our benevolent angels :)