Mile 9714: Get Psyched!

Above: Meadowbrook Park in Urbana, IL gives visitors a glimpse of the original praries that covered Illinois.

NEVER EVER ASSOCIATE PSYCH WARDS
WITH STRAITJACKETS.

This week, I've started a new round and a new rotation at Jackson Park Hospital in Chicago for Psychiatry. My friends love to tell me stories about things that have happened on the wards when they did their psych rotations. Their stories weren't exactly the most amusing... one got coffee thrown in her face while another put up pictures on Facebook of arm bruises from of a friendly tap from a patient that was all but well... friendly.

Oddly enough, using psych terminology, I think I have a psych ward phobia to get over.

I'm personally determined to use systemic desensitization to getting over it. My first day on the rotation was on Monday, and I'll admit that the adventure was filled with just about every anxiety-producing moment I wanted to just avoid. I kept my eye on the doorway while interviewing patients, I made sure that the door was locked behind me to the nursing station, and I even watched my back to make sure that nobody tried to make a move on me. However, the only way I'll learn and the only way that I face what might happen head on.

After taking on weekend call today, I'm starting to see how Psychiatry, like Peds, takes the concept of medicine and adds its own interesting twist. There's an increased reliance on other people's histories (police, family, nurses), some treatments involve a huge amount of trust in psychology, and blood tests and lab values don't carry as much importance as they do in medicine in pulling a diagnosis (but still can be helpful). And it is for this, just like my previous adventures, I am looking forward to my adventure in psychiatry. There's a reason why psychiatrists enjoy what they do, and I've read about them. However, the only way I'll completely learn and understand is if I see these reasons for myself.

And, that's exactly why I'm keeping my eyes open.