And now--a holiday message from OPD

[OldPsychDoc]

There's plenty of negativity out there today--whether you're talking in our EDs, our communities, the economy, whatever. OPD's been having a hard time himself getting into Christmas this year, so I can relate. Looking forward to some fortified eggnog and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" tonight--hopefully that will help.

But anyway, I wanted to share a couple of stories from the last few days on our unit to maybe break through the fog of gloom, and also to recognize some anonymous warriors in the battle against mental illness:

--The social worker who dug through a pile of musty clothing to find a hat for my worried 42 y/o homeless alcoholic patient. "If I just had a hat, I think I'd feel safe about going to this shelter."

--The volunteer who has visited a demented 79 y/o schizophrenic every week for 12 years in his nursing home, and came to the hospital to make sure he was OK.

--The local church who every year calls for a roster of our patients by size and gender, buys comfy fleece clothing and blankets, and visits our units with gifts for every patient.

--The ED nurse who used google to find a patient's "lost" family out of state, and helped her to reunite with them for Christmas after five years.

Happy Midwinter Solstice Holiday of your choice to all!

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[Moki]

Thank you for the reminder. May you have a wonderful holiday.

 

[2tall]

Merry Christmas to you, too!

 

[masterofmonkeys]

Merry christmas

 

[Chimed]

Merry Christmas!!!

For all you Peanuts fan, here is a funny video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd-dN-6GcNc&eurl=http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/

 

[surftheiop]

There's plenty of negativity out there today--whether you're talking in our EDs, our communities, the economy, whatever. OPD's been having a hard time himself getting into Christmas this year, so I can relate. Looking forward to some fortified eggnog and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" tonight--hopefully that will help.

But anyway, I wanted to share a couple of stories from the last few days on our unit to maybe break through the fog of gloom, and also to recognize some anonymous warriors in the battle against mental illness:

--The social worker who dug through a pile of musty clothing to find a hat for my worried 42 y/o homeless alcoholic patient. "If I just had a hat, I think I'd feel safe about going to this shelter."

--The volunteer who has visited a demented 79 y/o schizophrenic every week for 12 years in his nursing home, and came to the hospital to make sure he was OK.

--The local church who every year calls for a roster of our patients by size and gender, buys comfy fleece clothing and blankets, and visits our units with gifts for every patient.

--The ED nurse who used google to find a patient's "lost" family out of state, and helped her to reunite with them for Christmas after five years.

Happy Midwinter Solstice Holiday of your choice to all!

Happy Holidays to you too!

Ever since I found this forum about a month ago I've been lurking in most the threads and I always enjoy your posts.

Threads ive been reading have definately been making me think that I would make a better psychiatrist (or MD in general) than engineer so now im just hoping the engineering major doesnt pound down my GPA too much .

Anyhow I got "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" and some sort of pretty cool color illustrated basic anatomy book for christmas this year so i think my parents might be onboard with the posibility of med school

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Thanks OPD. I definitely needed the reminder.

 

[HCE]

There's plenty of negativity out there today--whether you're talking in our EDs, our communities, the economy, whatever. OPD's been having a hard time himself getting into Christmas this year, so I can relate. Looking forward to some fortified eggnog and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" tonight--hopefully that will help.

But anyway, I wanted to share a couple of stories from the last few days on our unit to maybe break through the fog of gloom, and also to recognize some anonymous warriors in the battle against mental illness:

--The social worker who dug through a pile of musty clothing to find a hat for my worried 42 y/o homeless alcoholic patient. "If I just had a hat, I think I'd feel safe about going to this shelter."

--The volunteer who has visited a demented 79 y/o schizophrenic every week for 12 years in his nursing home, and came to the hospital to make sure he was OK.

--The local church who every year calls for a roster of our patients by size and gender, buys comfy fleece clothing and blankets, and visits our units with gifts for every patient.

--The ED nurse who used google to find a patient's "lost" family out of state, and helped her to reunite with them for Christmas after five years.

Happy Midwinter Solstice Holiday of your choice to all!

If you don't mind me saying so, OldpsychDoc....you rock!

 

[OldPsychDoc]

If you don't mind me saying so, OldpsychDoc....you rock!

Nah--the people in that post rock--I just get to stand back and watch.
Plus, I get PAID for this....

 

[HCE]

Nah--the people in that post rock--I just get to stand back and watch.
Plus, I get PAID for this....

I agree that the people in that post rock...but, unless I misunderstand this website, you don't get paid to give good advice on here, nor do you get paid to remind those in the profession or aspiring to the profession why they may have entered the profession.

And by singling out OPD, I don't at all mean to exclude other attendings who post invaluable information here, like DocSampson, Michaelrack, Whopper, etc. ..you all are a credit to the profession...hit me high...

 

[Solideliquid]

Happy Holidays!

 

[fMRI]

Seasonal bump.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Hmm. Thanks for considering this worthy of a bump.

My thoughts this morning were tending toward two patients we "lost" this year. Both "frequent flyers", and it often felt like their admissions were just prolonging the inevitable. So my holiday thoughts are to all of you friends and families out there, just to let you know you're not alone in the dark.

Blessings to you all.

 

[whopper]

I really don't like to be in the situation where I recommend a patient be involuntarily committed when they are almost, but not quite there in terms of being stabilized.

It's especially bothersome if they will miss out on spending X-mas with friends and family.

I just went through 9 patients today, 7 of which I recommended to stay in. After court, one of the patients I recommended to stay in wished me a Merry X-mas as she walked out of court while sobbing.

A man, did that hit me in the gutt.

She's one of those people that will probably be stabilized in just 2-3 days. Since I'm not the treating doctor, I could only hope the doctor does that.

Well there's some good out of this. I spent the last several years never having any reaction to the holidays at all. It was a defense mechanism because being for example on call while it's a holiday used to make me feel down. I made myself neutral to protect my ego. At least I'm starting to have positive feelings again for the holidays.

 

[TenaciousGirl]

There's plenty of negativity out there today--whether you're talking in our EDs, our communities, the economy, whatever. OPD's been having a hard time himself getting into Christmas this year, so I can relate. Looking forward to some fortified eggnog and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" tonight--hopefully that will help.

But anyway, I wanted to share a couple of stories from the last few days on our unit to maybe break through the fog of gloom, and also to recognize some anonymous warriors in the battle against mental illness:

--The social worker who dug through a pile of musty clothing to find a hat for my worried 42 y/o homeless alcoholic patient. "If I just had a hat, I think I'd feel safe about going to this shelter."

--The volunteer who has visited a demented 79 y/o schizophrenic every week for 12 years in his nursing home, and came to the hospital to make sure he was OK.

--The local church who every year calls for a roster of our patients by size and gender, buys comfy fleece clothing and blankets, and visits our units with gifts for every patient.

--The ED nurse who used google to find a patient's "lost" family out of state, and helped her to reunite with them for Christmas after five years.

Happy Midwinter Solstice Holiday of your choice to all!

I love that you tell stories that remind us of the positive things in life!

Merry Christmas

 

[strangeglove]

That's a nice reminder as I head off to work in the emergency room tonight. Happy Holidays, all.

 

[CaptainBluebear]

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. Thanks for all that you share during the year.

I don't feel I can contribute much (still a medical student for another 11 months and not in the USA), but it helps being able to read about what you do and go through as psychiatrists. It is appreciated.

 

[thamsenman]

There's plenty of negativity out there today--whether you're talking in our EDs, our communities, the economy, whatever. OPD's been having a hard time himself getting into Christmas this year, so I can relate. Looking forward to some fortified eggnog and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" tonight--hopefully that will help.

But anyway, I wanted to share a couple of stories from the last few days on our unit to maybe break through the fog of gloom, and also to recognize some anonymous warriors in the battle against mental illness:

--The social worker who dug through a pile of musty clothing to find a hat for my worried 42 y/o homeless alcoholic patient. "If I just had a hat, I think I'd feel safe about going to this shelter."

--The volunteer who has visited a demented 79 y/o schizophrenic every week for 12 years in his nursing home, and came to the hospital to make sure he was OK.

--The local church who every year calls for a roster of our patients by size and gender, buys comfy fleece clothing and blankets, and visits our units with gifts for every patient.

--The ED nurse who used google to find a patient's "lost" family out of state, and helped her to reunite with them for Christmas after five years.

Happy Midwinter Solstice Holiday of your choice to all!

Yes, Happy Kwanza to you too

 

[fMRI]

Seasonal bump, again.
Please make sure your wards are run like this one!
Seasonal greetings

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I got a "i hope you have a Merry f******* Christmas" as I left the room of someone who we all intended to have out, but for a number of good reasons we didn't discharge. We need the few really good moments to make up for all of the bad ones.

 

[loveoforganic]

Haven't gotten the chance to visit the hospital this break, but here's hoping all the kids who have leave have someone to spend the time with. Merry Christmas.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Again--thanks for considering this repost-worthy.
Been feeling a bit burned out this month...
Merry Christmas.