“Over a period of about two years, our city experienced a very large influx of seniors. One nearby town grew by over five thousand people. This, in turn, created a surge of patients coming to the hospital. As most were older, they often had multi…
Category: Psychiatry
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…
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…
Can we help residents feel happier about taking call for free?
“I stayed up all night, and for what, $10 a consult?” A clearly exhausted and exasperated colleague and friend said to me one morning after his very busy call shift. As a chief resident, one of my roles is to manage the call duty schedule. As such, I f…
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. …
Child abuse in the time of COVID
“I used to only have to deal with him touching me after school — now it’s all the time.” “She’s doing drugs more because she lost her job last week; she started hitting me again.” As a pediatrician-in-training, IR…
The unremitting adventure of COVID recovery
COVID-19 is taking a toll on my mental well-being in a way I had not expected. I have a rather high distress tolerance. I am a pediatric emergency psychiatrist. Now I am a wounded healer battling anxiety and fears from the constant unknown taking place…
Flattening the curve of COVID’s emotional impact
For weeks, our health care workforce has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic staring straight at mortality – their patients and their own. They have been single-mindedly focused on the task at hand, doing what needs to be done while …
Is everyone anxious? The mental toll of the pandemic.
The chart for the first patient of the morning states, “elevated blood pressure for two weeks.” As I enter the room, I see a frail, elderly woman perched gingerly in the chair. She has on large sunglasses and a fabric mask. She looks apprehensive, so I…
How the COVID-19 pandemic is traumatizing health care professionals
Many of us (especially psychiatrists and physician coaches) have been warning the medical profession at large for weeks now that we are headed for unprecedented numbers of physicians, nurses, other health care workers, and first responders suffering fr…
