Doctor Psychobabble

“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”

- Oscar Wilde

I’m proud and happy to say that I officially made it through two months on a busy med-psych unit. I will forever treasure the days spent on that unit. I can’t express enough how amazing my time was there, and how many truly amazing patients I had the privilege to care for.

Today, I started a new one month rotation in forensic psychiatry. The bulk of my days will be spent participating (I can’t do them on my own, due to legal reasons) in psychiatric forensic evaluations of prisoners. The majority of the evaluations are to determine if someone is fit to stand trial or if they could be considered “not guilty by reason of insanity” (NGRI) or “guilty but insane/mentally ill.” More on that to come.

Today I participated in four different evaluations. Every single one of them was interesting. I really want to share the details of one, in particular, but of course I cannot due to the quite sensitive nature of the case. What I can say is that we determined that the defendant was clearly not “sane” at the time of the commission of the crime due to an actual medical, but not psychiatric, reason. It was absolutely fascinating.

I can tell that I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this rotation. And the hours ain’t too shabby, either.

After working all day in the court system, I had a psychotherapy session with a patient I’m seeing once a week. Soooo many things I want to share about that, but can’t. Perhaps I will HIPAA-ize some of it and share it on here.

But for now, it’s time to eat after a long day.

Enjoy the photos with this post. The first one was taken on my walk to the hospital last week. The second one is a portrait of me made by a manic patient of mine. She told me that she loved me that day and wrote me a rap poem. The very next day she threatened to kill me. Love my job.

Part of My “Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

I am writing you today to tell you about an upcoming event that I am participating in that is both very important and very exciting to me. NAMIWalks, the signature walkathon event of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is being held in New York, NY at South Street Seaport on May 12, 2012.

I would like to ask you to come and walk with me or to donate to support my participation in this great event. Visit my personal walker page to sign up: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks12/NYC/kendra. It features a link to my team’s page where you can see who else is walking with me. There is also a link so you can donate directly to me online. Donating online is fast and secure, and I’ll get immediate notification via e-mail of your donation.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the largest education, support and advocacy organization that serves the needs of all whose lives are touched by these illnesses. This includes persons with mental illness, their families, friends, employers, the law enforcement community and policy makers. The NAMI organization is composed of approximately 1100 local affiliates, 50 state offices and a national office.

The goals of the NAMIWalks program are: to fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness, to build awareness of the fact that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved, and to raise funds for NAMI so that they can continue their mission.

NAMI is a 501(c)3 charity and any donation you make to support my participation in this event is tax deductible. NAMI has been rated by Worth magazine as among the top 100 charities “most likely to save the world” and has been given an “A” rating by The American Institute of Philanthropy for efficient and effective use of charitable dollars.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,
Kendra Campbell, M.D.

Below are some photos from last year’s walk and our Metabolic Screening Booth.

“I wanna hold the hand inside you
I wanna take the breath that’s true
I look to you and I see nothing
I look to you to see the truth
You live your life, you go in shadows
You’ll come apart and you’ll go black
Some kind of night into your darkness
Colors your eyes with what’s not there”

- Lyrics to “Fade Into You,” by Mazzy Star

This song came on shuffle play on my iPhone today on my walk to work. It inspired me.

I am short on words lately due to being busy with work and life.

But I can say that I am loving my rotation this month on the inpatient psychiatric ward. I have the most amazing patients. I see and hear and do things every day, which for most people would be just amazingly shocking. And I get to help people sometimes. A wonderful combination.

I will share a few HIPAA-ized quotes that I’ve heard from patients, recently:

“I am a cannibal. I eat babies. I chew people’s heads off and eat their livers.”

“I can see through walls. I’m looking through you right now.”

“I am expired. I am death.”

“I couldn’t sleep last night because my roommate was rubbing her feces all over herself.”

“You are not my doctor. You are the devil.”

“I just shot lasers out of my eyes and through my window.”

“I have flown over more rivers with my wings than Jesus has children.”

That is all. Nitey!

Photo: Taken during brunch in the Lower East Side in Manhattan last weekend.

“Scar tissue that I wish you saw.
Sarcastic Mr. Know-It-All.
Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you cause with the birds I’ll share.”

- Lyrics to “Scar Tissue” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Went for an awesome 10+ mile run today over the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. It was magnificent. I started a new rotation on the inpatient psychiatric unit on Friday. More on that to come….

Photo: Taken on my walk to the hospital a few days ago.

Part of My “Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

Thanks to Shrink Rap for posting this. What an amazing project. I would love to be involved in this type of project!

“Crazy and Proud is the inside story of an invisible place, an inner-city shelter for transient, mentally-ill women. I am a white, middle-class man who was hired as a recreation worker to teach photography to this hidden population. Every day for a year, I took three subway transfers between my apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and what some would consider the belly of the beast of hopelessness.”

Crazy and Proud from Devin Pickering on Vimeo.

Please check out my latest post on “The Ink Blot” at Medscape/WebMD to read about my strange perspective on the Occupy protests.

Click Here to View the Original Post on Medscape

“Sheets of empty canvas
Untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me

Oh the pictures have
All been washed in black
Tattooed everything”

- Lyrics from Pearl Jam, “Black”

I tried to watch the Super Bowl tonight. I couldn’t care less about it, but wanted to be a true American and try and love it, so I went to a bar that was playing it (I don’t have a television). I thought I would at least enjoy the commercials. But they only solidified my expectations: crap wrapped in marketing poo poo! And served with a side of brainwashing.

Sorry to all you Super Bowl lovers…I’m sure I’ll get some hate mail from this post. But I’d rather listen to Pearl Jam and dance with my doggy on a Sunday night! (Go Giants!)

“Erik is not truly dead. He lives on within the souls of those who choose to listen to the music of the night.”

― Gaston Leroux, “The Phantom of the Opera”

Please enjoy the photos below, all taken on Tuesday night this week after the Phantom show on Broadway. A huge thanks and photo credit to my BFF Chris!

“I just realized that I’m cognitively promiscuous.”

- Dr. Psychobabble

Life has been busy but incredibly awesome as of late. Yesterday, I went to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway with my fellow “psychos.” I realized that I’m not a huge fan of the Phantom, per se, but I am a huge fan of Broadway shows, especially when the tickets are complimentary.

Today was the first day of a new rotation for me. I am still rotating in consultation liaison psychiatry, but I’m at a different hospital, so it’s added a new perspective and spice. I was then on call at another hospital and just arrived home a few minutes ago.

I had a ridiculously silly consult tonight, and would kill to provide the details, but the damn HIPAA prevents me from doing so. What I can say is that it involved a Ouija board and a misunderstanding. I have the funnest job in the entire universe. Seriously. And you could never make up the things I see. They are simply larger than life.

Time to order some sushi and chow down. I realized today that I am not alone in my sushi addiction, and that makes me happy. It’s good to not be alone.

Here is a random list of stuff “learned” today:

1. Trash makes me happy.

2. Cognitive promiscuity makes me happy.

3. I have the best job there is.

4. Just because a hospitalist thinks a patient has decision making capacity doesn’t make it so.

5. I’m not half bad at reading brain MRIs.

6. When the nurses don’t know me at a hospital, they are at first confused as to why some crazy looking chick is walking around asking questions and talking to patients, but they then become excited to know that I’m a doctor and psychiatrist-in-training.

7. I “get” non-verbal communication on a profoundly deep level.

8. Having an easily accessible fridge at work is a good thing.

9. Haldol is a darn amazing medication.

10. Mostly, people just want someone to talk to.

11. I don’t even want to attempt to imagine life without dogs.

Photo: Taken in Times Square last night after enjoying the Phantom.

“I’m one of those regular weird people.”

- Janis Joplin

Great day of lectures today. Went for a run in the cold rain. I truly love living on top of a subway station. I’m just one of those regular weird people.

Photo: Subway platform taken from my kitchen window.