Psychiatry is making me think

I wrote a blog while I was in the Peace Corps in Ghana and when I returned I felt like I didn't have anything to write about anymore. Well, that is simply not true. I think what really happened was, I had a lot more time to think and reflect in Ghana and America is fast paced, non-stop. The years have been flying by. I returned from Ghana 5 years ago (I have been back to visit just last year)! I moved to Chicago, co-started an all women's recreational soccer league (check them out-  www.womenssportschicago.com), worked my way through the Pathology world until I was teaching Histotechnology at North Western Memorial Hospital. Married the amazing man I met in the Peace Corps and now, now I am a 3rd year medical student. Time flies is an understatement. It's time I start reflecting again. Formally. Online. I can't say where this blog is going to go but it's definitely going to be about Medicine.

I'm currently on my Psychiatry rotation. Three weeks in. This is my 3rd rotation. So far all rotations make you think, but Psychiatry is different. There are not concrete answers for everything. Even the treatment is a little bit of trying this and then that and seeing what happens. I love Psychiatry so far. Surprise to me and my mother, who I think wants me to be a cardiologist ;o)! Mental illness is not talked about enough. It's not supported and understood in our society. Our government is cutting funding for it and truth, cutting funding does not make the problem go away. It's easy to ignore mental illness if you don't know anyone affected. But, let me tell you, its as serious as any other medical problem. I'm annoyed of fellow medical students calling it an "easy rotation" or "not real medicine". It derails peoples lives and those of their loved ones. It should be talked about, studied and supported.

Last week was Mental Health Awareness week and so many good, thoughtful articles were posted. One I found very interesting was about social support of people with mental illness. Isolating psychiatric patients is necessary in some scenarios but for a lot of people it's about support. Part of our history taking is social history. This is incredibly important in Psychiatry. Case managers are an integral part of our team in the hospital for exactly this reason. Social and emotional support is essential for our mental health and well-being. Our society is very focused on the individual. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, do it on your own, never ask for help! That is a lot of pressure. Nothing in my life I have accomplished truly alone. I rely on my support system, my friends and family and I can't imagine not having them. Even medical school is very isolating. You study for hours on end, often alone. It is competitive which further isolates students. Attendings can be condescending and the pressure is kind of non-stop. Medical schools continue to work on this and promoting the well-being of it's students but it is a hard history to change.

Even if I don't end up going into Psychiatry I am thankful for this opportunity and rotation. It should be in the back of every clinicians mind. Every persons mind. It is not to be looked down on or stigmatized as "crazy". So many patients have expressed to me, "I'm not crazy!" And they are not. They are not well, just like someone with any other illness. They need help. And they deserve the chance to get better, to be listened to and supported. This is often the reason it is so difficult for people with mental illness to accept and recognize their condition. No one wants to get sick and no one really wants that sickness to be in their mind.

I'm working everyday on changing the way I think about mental illness. I'm working on understanding it by listening to patients and putting myself in their place (and countless hours of research and studying of course). I hope every student doing a Psychiatry rotation takes it seriously. Not for the grade but for the experience to grow and learn.

"The mind has a mind of it's own"