Doctor Psychobabble

Please check out my latest post on “The Ink Blot” at Medscape/WebMD to read about taking your work home with you.

Click Here to View the Original Post on Medscape

I continue to enjoy my rotation in addiction psychiatry. I’m busy tonight preparing for a journal club presentation tomorrow and making food for our non-denominational holiday party.

So, in lieu of exciting stories, I will leave you with some great quotes from my patients. There have been so many more awesome ones, but I usually forget to write them down. Enjoy!

“So I gave up and sang the addict’s anthem – F*** it!”

“My drug addiction was at it’s worst when I decided that I wanted to be like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.”

“Why am I here? Well doc, I was knock knock knockin on heaven’s door.”

“How could anything be wrong? I was living the crack addict’s dream!”

Photo: My mom’s doggy Sebastian. “All the other doggies called him names!”

Please check out my latest post on “The Ink Blot” at Medscape/WebMD to read my thoughts on the answer to this question.

Click Here to View the Original Post on Medscape

“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

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.

“Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.”

- Carl Jung

For the month of December, I am rotating at a VA hospital and learning addiction psychiatry. So far, it is incredibly awesome and I promise to share some great insights soon.

The only problem is that it’s much easier/faster to drive to the hospital instead of walking or subwaying. Or at least I thought. And then today I hit some traffic on the way home and had a realization that I will never be happy inside of a car. I need to walk. I need to breathe the air. And I need to take photos. So, tomorrow I will try out a new route that may involve 6+ miles of walking each day. But at least I’ll have my sanity. Or so I think.

Photo: Me inside my wardrobe during my move. Spooky!