I don’t presume to know the individual experiences and feelings of providers and frontline workers right now during this crisis, but, as someone who has specialized in psychological trauma and traumatic grief for many years, here are some thought…
Category: Conditions
Rural psychiatric care in the time of COVID-19
In writing this, I feel a bit strange to contribute my thoughts on a pandemic I’ve had mostly a peripheral experience with dealing first hand. In my brief month on the medicine ward, I did interact with a patient who then was tested positive for SARS-C…
In the Zoom era, an unprecedented view into the lives of our colleagues and children’s classmates
Whatever method you have been using for video conferences these days, we have had an unprecedented look into the lives of our colleagues, children’s schoolmates, teachers, professors, and even famous folks. While this pandemic has allowed the opportuni…
What’s worse than a doctor getting cancer behind prison walls? Try COVID.
He could hear the football game playing on a radio outside his room, so he knew someone was there, and he knew he was dying. He screamed and screamed as the paralysis from what he was sure was sepsis took over more and more of his body. No one answere…
The social worker and a patient’s homicidal thoughts
“Howard wants to go to the hospital. He knows he isn’t doing that great. He says he is having homicidal thoughts.” This from my supervisor, Linda. Homicidal thoughts on the part of any client get our attention, especially so with Howa…
We will soon see a mental health pandemic that will cause unnecessary deaths
Consents have become a prominent part of health care. We sign consents for visits, procedures, medication, privacy, release of information, care of minors … the list goes on and on. We must acknowledge and respect the patient’s autonomy in their care. …
A gut punch against COVID-19?
“You are what you eat.” Jean Anthelme Brillant-Savarin, a French lawyer, epicurean, and father of the low carbohydrate diet, penned these words in the 18th century. As we struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic, we search for personal ways to influence …
The new words from the coronavirus pandemic
With any new illness comes metaphor. It is humanity’s attempt to incorporate the mystery of disease into our own stories. We like to personify illness, give it human characteristics as a way of visualizing it. We name its actions to help lessen its unp…
Ventilator rationing is guided by rules that could worsen health inequities
Imagine there are two individuals who have been admitted to a hospital due to COVID-19, and both desperately need ventilators. One is a 60-year-old with a heart condition, and another is a 63-year-old with chronic kidney disease. Because of resource co…
Focusing on the frontlines of COVID leaves behind those with disabilities and chronic illness
COVID has focused attention on the frontlines. However, this focus ignores those with chronic health needs and disabilities. People with these conditions are left unable to continue their care or to seek care for new exacerbations. People are avoiding …
