Everybody’s Talkin At Me

December 12, 2011, 7:32 pmDoctor Psychobabble16 comments

“Everybody’s talking at me
I don’t hear a word they’re saying
Only the echoes of my mind

People stopping staring
I can’t see their faces
Only the shadows of their eyes

I’m going where the sun keeps shining
Thru’ the pouring rain
Going where the weather suits my clothes
Backing off of the North East wind
Sailing on summer breeze
And skipping over the ocean like a stone”

- Lyrics to “Everybody’s Talkin” by Harry Nilsson

Door out of Order

Hello blog, I have missed you. I’ve been a busy bee lately.

I continue to enjoy my addiction psychiatry rotation. I continue to abhor the commute. I drive because it saves me tons of time, but I absolutely hate driving. I miss my walks. I miss my trash photography. I dread the stress involved with driving. I can’t help but think about how horrible for mental health driving is.

I went for a run around the park today after work. It uplifted me. I continue to run in shorts despite the frigid weather. Call me crazy, everyone else does. For some reason, people see me in my shorts and are compelled to “talk at me.” “Aren’t you cold?” they ask. Apparently they don’t realize that I’m not. The feeling of the cold air against my blood-infused legs inspires me and lifts me higher. It challenges me to go faster, run harder.

Lately, I have found myself missing “pure” psychiatric patients. Most of my patients don’t have an “Axis I” diagnosis, other than their substance abuse. And many of them have antisocial personality disorder. A challenging population to work with, indeed. More to come on that topic, soon. Promise.

For now, it’s leftover eating and study time!

Photo: “Door out of order.” Taken last week as I entered my subway station.

  • http://www.solitarydiner.blogspot.com Solitary Diner

    Interesting how everyone is different.  I actually love my daily drive into work, but that’s probably because I live in a city with minimal traffic where I can actually go somewhere quickly.  Good music also helps.

    On the subject of drug addiction, if you’re into reading work-related books, I am just finishing a great book called “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” by Gabor Mate.  I think it gives some very good insight into the minds of people with addictions and into the challenges inherent in helping them to recover.

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      That’s an excellent point. In fact I think I actually used to enjoy driving. But NYC has destroyed that for me. It’s just too intense dealing with all the traffic and people and bikes and madness! The worst is when it takes me 45+ mins to go one mile when I know I could have run that distance in 6 minutes or less! I’ll prefer traveling the old fashioned way any day. :)

  • http://www.solitarydiner.blogspot.com Solitary Diner

    Interesting how everyone is different.  I actually love my daily drive into work, but that’s probably because I live in a city with minimal traffic where I can actually go somewhere quickly.  Good music also helps.

    On the subject of drug addiction, if you’re into reading work-related books, I am just finishing a great book called “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” by Gabor Mate.  I think it gives some very good insight into the minds of people with addictions and into the challenges inherent in helping them to recover.

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      That’s an excellent point. In fact I think I actually used to enjoy driving. But NYC has destroyed that for me. It’s just too intense dealing with all the traffic and people and bikes and madness! The worst is when it takes me 45+ mins to go one mile when I know I could have run that distance in 6 minutes or less! I’ll prefer traveling the old fashioned way any day. :)

  • Lindeman

    Are the “pure” psychiatric patients with ones with actual brain diseases?  And if so, why does your program rotate you through a unit where there are clients without brain diseases?

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      The term “pure” is actually very misleading and not accurate, although we still use it for simplicity sometimes. Both “primary” psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as well as disorders of substance abuse are thought to be heavily genetic, “biological” and are considered to be disorders of the “brain.” It’s somewhat false and misleading to separate these disorders as we do, but it’s done because of historical and many other reasons…

  • Lindeman

    Are the “pure” psychiatric patients with ones with actual brain diseases?  And if so, why does your program rotate you through a unit where there are clients without brain diseases?

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      The term “pure” is actually very misleading and not accurate, although we still use it for simplicity sometimes. Both “primary” psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as well as disorders of substance abuse are thought to be heavily genetic, “biological” and are considered to be disorders of the “brain.” It’s somewhat false and misleading to separate these disorders as we do, but it’s done because of historical and many other reasons…

  • jofjord

    The last lyrics, “I won’t let you leave my love behind”. Thanks for trying to fix my earworm. I have had Harry Chapin’s “Taxi” stuck in my head for two days (it is a great song, though). He was a Brooklyn boy, y’know. Addictions are fascinating and most of us, I think, have brushes with it at the very least.

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      this is sooo true. and was interesting for me today. was in a 12-step kind of group today with some of my patients. everyone was “sharing” but i felt that i shouldn’t “share” too much, bc of the whole professionalism thing. but since it was a group and not 1 on 1, i was tempted to….

  • jofjord

    The last lyrics, “I won’t let you leave my love behind”. Thanks for trying to fix my earworm. I have had Harry Chapin’s “Taxi” stuck in my head for two days (it is a great song, though). He was a Brooklyn boy, y’know. Addictions are fascinating and most of us, I think, have brushes with it at the very least.

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      this is sooo true. and was interesting for me today. was in a 12-step kind of group today with some of my patients. everyone was “sharing” but i felt that i shouldn’t “share” too much, bc of the whole professionalism thing. but since it was a group and not 1 on 1, i was tempted to….

  • Cold

    I wonder why I thought this was an Elvis song.

    I would love to work with someone with DID.

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      I once did (pun intended) and it was incredibly, incredibly challenging!

  • Cold

    I wonder why I thought this was an Elvis song.

    I would love to work with someone with DID.

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      I once did (pun intended) and it was incredibly, incredibly challenging!