The death of Australian actor Heath Ledger last January 22 at age 28 was judged the top entertainment story of 2008 by U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors polled by the Associated Press
This scares me. Since when was a person's death a source of entertainment? I expected more from the The IMDB than to publish this.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
When I tell people that I am studying to be a psychiatrist, they always say "Oh!" with a raised eyebrow and a sort of high tone towards the end of that exclamation, whereas if I were to say that I am a surgical resident,their response would be more "Oh!" with a punch and enthusiasm at the end of that remark.
Another thing I tend to notice in the response of my esteemed colleagues in a general hospital set up is that "Could you counsel this patient? He's just been admitted for consumption of Organophosphorous Compound poisoning." While I realize and appreciate the role I will play in helping counsel people, I must emphatically point out that Psychiatry is not about only counseling, or listening to people's problems. It's about sifting and sorting out details that others would readily write off as too trivial, and using those details to come to a conclusion about the person's diagnosis, and hence come up with a rational treatment option for them.
Many people tend to scoff at such a task, and I myself have found it a tad tedious and "What's the use of finding all this out?", but it is only after seeing the way the faculty here at NIMHANS use those very same details to reach a tentative diagnosis that I find out the value of it.
Psychiatry has been given a fairly bad press by everybody. People tend to think of it as too trivial a specialty for it to be taken seriously. But I believe that this specialty helps me improve the quality of people's lives more than any other medical branch.
I am saying this not to boast my choice or sound holier-than-thou, but I would like this to be a way of telling people that there is nothing wrong in psychiatry or in seeing a psychiatrist, because there is nothing wrong with mental illness. It's not about going "mental" and being admitted in a "mental hospital". It's about an illness, just like Diabetes or Asthma, that has only recently gained recognition in Medicine.
Most of the problem arose from the lack of a proper pharmacological arsenal to counter Schizophrenia and Psychosis. Traditionally, people with psychosis were treated with cold water baths,or were put in an insulin induced coma!
Compare that with anti psychotics that are now available, and for the most part, efficient. They are, however, not fool proof ,and there have been times when they have failed. Now, instead of saying that "That's mental illness for you!" I would like to put it like this : That there is much about the biological basis of mental illness that is yet to be discovered, and this only opens more avenues for research and growth.
It should be worth pointing out that many times treatment is life-long, for the psychoses and the Schizophrenics. But which medical disease, save from infectious disease(excluding AIDS and Hepatitis B and C) promises a brief treatment followed by absolute cure? Nil.
By administering psychiatric treatment, we can give families a chance to be normal again ,we can give a man or woman the chance to go back to work and make a living for him or herself. What's wrong about that?
Depression is a chronic disorder that does not, as is commonly thought, always arise from traumatic life events or a troubled childhood. It is caused due to a deficiency of Serotonin in the body. Serotonin is a key neurochemical in the brain that helps modulate mood. A lack of it causes people to be depressed. So, it need not only be that a guy with some family issues and stress at work ends up "Depressed". It can also mean that a person who is working normally, with a loving family and a strong friends circle ends up depressed.
Features of this disorder include fatigue, waking up in the morning 2 hours before the normal wake up time (for eg: waking up at 3 or 4 am instead of 6 am), feelings of sadness that are continuous, persistent, and which does not abate with activities that are usually pleasurable, such as watching a good movie, or going out for a walk. Feelings of worthlessness, feeling hopeless, that one is better off dead than alive,and suicidal thoughts and plans.
The major risk of Depression is suicide, and if you see the families of people who have taken their lives, you will know how traumatic an event that is for them. Very often, they feel that it was their fault ,that they could have done something to help. The fact of it is that the depressive will be so wound up in his world that there is precious little that one can do in terms of an intervention. But it is always helpful to keep track of your loved ones for any of the symptoms listed above.
Again, this is not to sound haughty and this is not meant to be a scientific lecture. This is meant to spread the word around that mental illness is prevalent, and that it is treatable, and that it is still stigmatized to this day. It is my hope that this stigma reduces in the days to come.
Another thing I tend to notice in the response of my esteemed colleagues in a general hospital set up is that "Could you counsel this patient? He's just been admitted for consumption of Organophosphorous Compound poisoning." While I realize and appreciate the role I will play in helping counsel people, I must emphatically point out that Psychiatry is not about only counseling, or listening to people's problems. It's about sifting and sorting out details that others would readily write off as too trivial, and using those details to come to a conclusion about the person's diagnosis, and hence come up with a rational treatment option for them.
Many people tend to scoff at such a task, and I myself have found it a tad tedious and "What's the use of finding all this out?", but it is only after seeing the way the faculty here at NIMHANS use those very same details to reach a tentative diagnosis that I find out the value of it.
Psychiatry has been given a fairly bad press by everybody. People tend to think of it as too trivial a specialty for it to be taken seriously. But I believe that this specialty helps me improve the quality of people's lives more than any other medical branch.
I am saying this not to boast my choice or sound holier-than-thou, but I would like this to be a way of telling people that there is nothing wrong in psychiatry or in seeing a psychiatrist, because there is nothing wrong with mental illness. It's not about going "mental" and being admitted in a "mental hospital". It's about an illness, just like Diabetes or Asthma, that has only recently gained recognition in Medicine.
Most of the problem arose from the lack of a proper pharmacological arsenal to counter Schizophrenia and Psychosis. Traditionally, people with psychosis were treated with cold water baths,or were put in an insulin induced coma!
Compare that with anti psychotics that are now available, and for the most part, efficient. They are, however, not fool proof ,and there have been times when they have failed. Now, instead of saying that "That's mental illness for you!" I would like to put it like this : That there is much about the biological basis of mental illness that is yet to be discovered, and this only opens more avenues for research and growth.
It should be worth pointing out that many times treatment is life-long, for the psychoses and the Schizophrenics. But which medical disease, save from infectious disease(excluding AIDS and Hepatitis B and C) promises a brief treatment followed by absolute cure? Nil.
By administering psychiatric treatment, we can give families a chance to be normal again ,we can give a man or woman the chance to go back to work and make a living for him or herself. What's wrong about that?
Depression is a chronic disorder that does not, as is commonly thought, always arise from traumatic life events or a troubled childhood. It is caused due to a deficiency of Serotonin in the body. Serotonin is a key neurochemical in the brain that helps modulate mood. A lack of it causes people to be depressed. So, it need not only be that a guy with some family issues and stress at work ends up "Depressed". It can also mean that a person who is working normally, with a loving family and a strong friends circle ends up depressed.
Features of this disorder include fatigue, waking up in the morning 2 hours before the normal wake up time (for eg: waking up at 3 or 4 am instead of 6 am), feelings of sadness that are continuous, persistent, and which does not abate with activities that are usually pleasurable, such as watching a good movie, or going out for a walk. Feelings of worthlessness, feeling hopeless, that one is better off dead than alive,and suicidal thoughts and plans.
The major risk of Depression is suicide, and if you see the families of people who have taken their lives, you will know how traumatic an event that is for them. Very often, they feel that it was their fault ,that they could have done something to help. The fact of it is that the depressive will be so wound up in his world that there is precious little that one can do in terms of an intervention. But it is always helpful to keep track of your loved ones for any of the symptoms listed above.
Again, this is not to sound haughty and this is not meant to be a scientific lecture. This is meant to spread the word around that mental illness is prevalent, and that it is treatable, and that it is still stigmatized to this day. It is my hope that this stigma reduces in the days to come.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The world is, officially as of now,the most dangerous place to live in.
The attack in Mumbai has shown us many things-that life tends to be a bit senseless once in a while, that good people die for no reason, that governments will NOT do what they say they would do, that our police force and security have much to work on, and that even terrorists will stoop to such depths so as to hold a hospital hostage, where people are treated and their health improved regardless of what religion they belong to.
It showed us that some families in neighbouring countries are so hard up that anyone willing to raise and take responsibility for one of their kids are welcomed with open arms, and that even though their kids are raised well and taught to speak english and dress in jeans and a t-shirt, the fact that they are in that situation is because their families do not have the money to provide for them, hence foster care is most welcome.
Whether the provider is one who plans to train the young ward to kill people and hold up guns is immaterial. I suppose that, as an afterthought, the young one might actually realize, while he is in the thick of all that gunfire, that he might not get out of this particular chore alive.
It's a vicious cycle. Poverty-Terrorism-Death/Incarceration/Escape. Only Education will help at this point. People who can think for themselves and not being scared to do so, people thinking for themselves, confident in the knowledge that the wrong answer will not see their cerebrospinal fluid bathing the walls. People who can be detached from a particular situation and see the merits and demerits as they are and not as how others say they are.
The attack in Mumbai has shown us many things-that life tends to be a bit senseless once in a while, that good people die for no reason, that governments will NOT do what they say they would do, that our police force and security have much to work on, and that even terrorists will stoop to such depths so as to hold a hospital hostage, where people are treated and their health improved regardless of what religion they belong to.
It showed us that some families in neighbouring countries are so hard up that anyone willing to raise and take responsibility for one of their kids are welcomed with open arms, and that even though their kids are raised well and taught to speak english and dress in jeans and a t-shirt, the fact that they are in that situation is because their families do not have the money to provide for them, hence foster care is most welcome.
Whether the provider is one who plans to train the young ward to kill people and hold up guns is immaterial. I suppose that, as an afterthought, the young one might actually realize, while he is in the thick of all that gunfire, that he might not get out of this particular chore alive.
It's a vicious cycle. Poverty-Terrorism-Death/Incarceration/Escape. Only Education will help at this point. People who can think for themselves and not being scared to do so, people thinking for themselves, confident in the knowledge that the wrong answer will not see their cerebrospinal fluid bathing the walls. People who can be detached from a particular situation and see the merits and demerits as they are and not as how others say they are.
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