pt sexual advances

[MDgonnabe]

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i'm not hot or anything, but i've been getting a lot of these from the guys, even the nonpsychotic, nondelirius elderly ones... how the hell do i deal with this?

 

[Milo]

Don't deny it. You're hot.

 

[Anasazi23]

i'm not hot or anything,

Perhaps you have hotness dysmorphic disorder. A serious but treatable disease.
It is imperative that you post a pic in order to clarify the differential.
As a show of good faith, I'll post mine:

My pic.

 

[DrIng]

I'm attractive with being what I'd consider 'hot' and I also get a lot of advances. (people keep telling me I like like Nicole Kidman- I wish!) Partially it's that patients have (I think) lower thressholds, partially that they are often socially disinhibited and sometimes that they're just trying to shock.
How to handle it? generally it's best to make it clear that such behaviour is not acceptable and that there is appropriate behaviour when interacting with a doctor that doesn't include making passes at them. Of course if it's just a passing and socially appropriate comment about a nice jacket or some such maybe you can simply say thank you... Hope this helps..

 

[MDgonnabe]

Perhaps you have hotness dysmorphic disorder. A serious but treatable disease.
It is imperative that you post a pic in order to clarify the differential.
As a show of good faith, I'll post mine:

My pic.

will you marry me? 😍

 

[MDgonnabe]

I'm attractive with being what I'd consider 'hot' and I also get a lot of advances. (people keep telling me I like like Nicole Kidman- I wish!) Partially it's that patients have (I think) lower thressholds, partially that they are often socially disinhibited and sometimes that they're just trying to shock.
How to handle it? generally it's best to make it clear that such behaviour is not acceptable and that there is appropriate behaviour when interacting with a doctor that doesn't include making passes at them. Of course if it's just a passing and socially appropriate comment about a nice jacket or some such maybe you can simply say thank you... Hope this helps..

that's good advice, but it just makes things so awkward afterwards. i handle any kind of rejections poorly, and to have it be a rejection of a patient seems to screw up any sort of therapeutic relationship you may have had. kinda like "i want to help you but, um, sorry. you're below me." i dunno.

btw, nicole kidman is hot. i'm what the boys seem to call "cute," which make their sexual advances even more bizarre to me- unless they're pedophiles... 😱 oh man, i really really hope i don't have any pedophilic patients anytime soon.

 

[DrIng]

The thing is this isn't a rejection in the normal sense. You're not saying that they're not good enough for you or even that you don't find them attractive (in fact this all becomes harder were you to find them attractive.) The thing is to help your patients you have to have a certain kind of relationship not a romantic one. Maybe the way to think about it is that you care so much about your patients you don't want to jepardise their therapy in that way...

 

[OldPsychDoc]

The thing is this isn't a rejection in the normal sense. You're not saying that they're not good enough for you or even that you don't find them attractive (in fact this all becomes harder were you to find them attractive.) The thing is to help your patients you have to have a certain kind of relationship not a romantic one. Maybe the way to think about it is that you care so much about your patients you don't want to jepardise their therapy in that way...

Dude, this sounds SOOO much like "let's just be friends...
I like you but just not in that way"!

Anyway, it's an occupational hazard--even if you're not "hot". I'm probably more "paternal" in nature, but have had a few female patients act like they were interested in more than Prozac. (It's called transference, if you're a REALLY OLD PsychDoc.) Keep in mind that you're dealing with vulnerable people who probably don't have the greatest experiences in life, and to them finding an empathetic listener who projects a caring attitude about them feels (to them) like romantic love. Keep your boundaries clear, firm, and professional. This is why most psychiatrists are even less likely to allow a hug than your average primary care doc.

 

[MDgonnabe]

Dude, this sounds SOOO much like "let's just be friends...
I like you but just not in that way"!

Anyway, it's an occupational hazard--even if you're not "hot". I'm probably more "paternal" in nature, but have had a few female patients act like they were interested in more than Prozac. (It's called transference, if you're a REALLY OLD PsychDoc.) Keep in mind that you're dealing with vulnerable people who probably don't have the greatest experiences in life, and to them finding an empathetic listener who projects a caring attitude about them feels (to them) like romantic love. Keep your boundaries clear, firm, and professional. This is why most psychiatrists are even less likely to allow a hug than your average primary care doc.

i'm not a touchy-feely person by nature, anyway, so i can definitely do this... it's just sad, though. this one patient asked if he could buy me coffee at the pretend coffeeshop with his token money. then he waited around for me before he got discharged so he could tell me to "take care." he wasn't even my patient, actually, which made the whole situation even weirder. i think i'm in for some interesting times in this career.