Island Med Student

Check out my post on Medscape about how my doggy doos are the cure for what ails ya.

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Even the most floridly psychotic patients have many important things to say. Sometimes, their words are profoundly wonderful.

Today reminded me of this fact.

To protect confidentially, I’ll change the words, but the gist is this.

Today, I sat in on a music therapy group.

After listening to the Bill Withers song, “Lovely Day,” a patient said, “that’s a biscuit song.” When asked why, the patient responded, “because it’s fluffy and has lots of layers.”

That remark is one of the millions of reasons why I really do love my job (that I pay to have).

The abbreviated lyrics are below:

When I wake up in the morning love
and the sun light hurts my eyes

And something without warning
love
bears heavy on my mind.
Then I look at you and the world’s alright with me

Just one look at you and I know it’s gonna be -

A lovely day - lovely day

When the day that lies ahead of me seems impossible to face

And someone else instead of me always seems to know the way
Then I look at you and the world’s alright with me

Just one look at you and I know it’s gonna be -

A lovely day - lovely day

When the day that lies ahead of me seems impossible to face

A lovely day - lovely day

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Oh my goodness, I have learned so much in my seven days of rotating at St. Elizabeths hospital. But, as I have mentioned already, I am suffering from amotivational syndrome right now, so I will give a very abbreviated list tonight, and try and post more often in the future.

Here is a short list of what I’ve learned so far:

1) TONS about pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia and mood disorders including indications, side effects, contraindications, etc.

2) Capgras syndrome is when you think your family has been replaced by imposters.

3) How to classify various disturbances in thought process such as circumstantiality, tangentiality, loose associations, and echolalia. I’ve seen patients with just about every one of the various disturbances.

4) How the laws of psychiatric commmittment work in DC.

5) Some nurses can be a little mean at first, but once you gain their respect, they are incredibly nice and helpful.

6) The DSM criteria for many different psychiatric disorders.

7) How Freud had his research in cocaine as a topical eye anesthetic stolen from him.

8 ) How to distinguish between the different subtypes of schizophrenia, and that paranoid schizophrenia doesn’t necessarily mean that a patient has paranoid delusions.

9) My experience as a psych tech is incredibly helpful to me on the wards.

10) The difference between bizarre and non-bizarre delusions. For example, thinking that you are being followed by the FBI is considered a non-bizarre delusion, whereas thinking that your heart was removed and replaced with Jesus Christ’s heart, giving you supernatural powers, is a bizarre delusion.

More goodies to come!

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Check out my post on Medscape about my renewed passion for psych.

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I finished the fourth day of my psych rotation today. I have so much to say, yet I am so pooped, that I don’t feel like writing. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me, but every day when I’ve come home this week, I feel like all the life has been sucked from my body. I don’t even have the energy to put my thoughts into coherent sentences.

I promise to post very soon about the hella fun time I’m having at St. E’s.

In the meantime, I’m pretty sure I have mono.

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Check out my post on Medscape about my hair solution. I know, I know, enough already!

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I’m terribly tired from the first day of my psych rotation today. I have so much to write about, but I’m going to wait until I have more energy. My interest in psych has again been ignited! Anyway, here is a quote to sum up my current thoughts:

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

-Dr. Seuss

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Yesterday I decided to transform my hair. If you’ve been reading along, you know that my first day of my psych rotation is tomorrow. Because I need to look “professional,” I decided to ditch the pink mohawk. However, I couldn’t lose my soul entirely, so I decided to cut my hair into a pseudo-mohawk, and dye it blonde in the middle and brown on the sides. I have no idea if this will be considered “normal,” but I think it’s at least calmer than a pink mohawk. When I asked Micah if he thought my new hair looked too “edgy” he replied, “Kendra, I’ve known you for so long that I don’t even know what edgy is anymore.”

Nuff said.

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Check out my post on Medscape about my pink hair and my upcoming pysch rotation. And please do leave comments on the Medscape page if you are so inclined.

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Check out my post on Medscape about what George Michael would call “FREEDOM!”.

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