The Psych Ward

Time has been flying by since I started my clinical rotations. I have been so busy and moving around way too much. I am currently on my 4th month of living away from home. Since Halloween is tomorrow, I thought it was appropriate to talk about my last rotation, psychiatry. I started out in the psych ER, in downtown Fort Forth. Keep in mind that there is a wide spectrum of the severity of mental illness and I was dealing with the most severe cases. I don't care how much time you spend studying, how many textbooks you read or how many lectures you attend, you will not be fully prepared for what you will face in the psych ER. One of my first interviews went like this...

Me: "Do you ever hear any voices that other people don't hear?"
Pt: "Yes"
Me: "Do you hear them right now?"
Pt: "Yes"
Me: "What are the voices saying?"
Pt: "They are telling me to kill you."

Studying medicine can make you afraid of many different diseases. But some severe mental illnesses can mean loosing everything you thought you were, your personality, the core of what makes you, you. Loosing your ability to have close relationships and maintain a job. Loosing all sense of what is real and what is a hallucination or delusion. Now that is truly terrifying and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

The hallway in the hospital to the psych ward.