The work you do is important & it does make a difference (for anyone who needs to hear it)

[Ceke2002]

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I know you guys have a lot of frustrations to deal with in terms of your work, patient groups, dealing with various 'health systems', and I see posts talking about burn out, and so on. So I thought I'd share a few feel good, positive stories of successful outcomes thanks to the work that is done by Psychiatrists. Just for anyone who might need that small reminder of the value of your chosen field. 🙂

No names, obviously, but these are all people I have known personally through various peer (as in support for sufferers, I am not a healthcare professional of any description) support networks (comparing where they were ten years ago, to where they are today).

Person 1

10 years ago: Bulimic, MDD, Panic Disorder. Repeated hospitalisations, highly treatment resistant.

Today: Recovered from Bulimia, symptoms of all other conditions well managed. Married, 2 children, runs competitive marathons for charity on weekends, works as an associate attorney for a law firm.

Person 2

10 years ago: Severe, chronic Anorexia Nervosa, MDD with a history of repeated suicide attempts & self harm. Several involuntary hospital admissions under the mental health act.

Today: Recovered from Anorexia, MDD symptoms well managed, no further episodes of suicidality or self harm. Married, 2 children, works as a nursing specialist in community mental health.

Person 3

10 years ago: Bulimic/BED, Mood Disorder, BPD with history of serious self harm & risk taking. Repeated hospitalisations & failed treatment attempts.

Today: Recovered from both Bulimia & BED, Mood Disorder & BPD symptoms well managed, no further history of self harm or risk taking behaviour. Engaged to be married, works as a counsellor with at risk youth for an early intervention program.

Person 4

10 years ago: Severe, chronic Anorexia Nervosa, MDD. Repeated hospitalisations, highly treatment resistant.

Today: Recovered from Anorexia, MDD symptoms managed well, worked for a while as a journalist/copywriter, before completing a medical degree. Currently completing post graduate honours in Psychiatry, volunteers as a mental health advocate.

Person 5

10 years ago: Bulimic, MDD, History of repeated suicide attempts & self harm. Repeated hospitalisations & other failed treatment attempts.

Today: Recovered from Bulimia, MDD symptoms well managed, no further episodes of suicidality or self harm. Engaged to be married, works as a Doctor.

 

[robellis]

Wow you work with a lot of eating disorder patients, great work!

 

[box8psych]

Thanks for sharing! Always nice to see the other side of the coin. I'd love to hear some more about the work you did with these patients. Eating d/o +/- other MH dx can be an extremely challenging population, are you at an IOP/PHP? Is this med management with an intensive therapy program?

 

[Stagg737]

Psych can be a very emotionally taxing with a lot of stress and burnout. I have had the fortune of occasionally "fixing" a patient with the right meds, but it's always very encouraging to hear that some of these patients maintain that stability years down the road after they get lost to follow-up. It's nice knowing that for some, our care was legitimately helpful and not just a patch until the next crisis.

 

[Ceke2002]

Wow you work with a lot of eating disorder patients, great work!

I'm not actually in healthcare. I was a member of a number of peer to peer support groups as a person with a diagnosis of AN myself. I am currently doing some voluntary support work in an online environment, but nothing official and nothing that grants me the title of 'works in healthcare'. But thank you for the nice comment, it is appreciated, I just wanted to clarify things though.

 

[Ceke2002]

Thanks for sharing! Always nice to see the other side of the coin. I'd love to hear some more about the work you did with these patients. Eating d/o +/- other MH dx can be an extremely challenging population, are you at an IOP/PHP? Is this med management with an intensive therapy program?

Again, sorry I didn't make it clear initially, but not actually a healthcare worker. I am a former patient, who was looking to enter medicine when I first started posting on here, but who now does some voluntary peer support work.

I can tell you what was helpful for me, and what I've heard from others that helped them as well.

1) Finding/having a good therapeutic alliance.
2) As much as we dread/hate to admit it, for those of us who are very underweight/emaciated nutrition and weight restoration I think is vital. Encouragement, motivation, empathy & a good therapeutic alliance is really helpful with this.
3) We're not always complaining &/or stalling with the food/weight side of things just for the sake of being difficult. Even without full on refeeding syndrome gaining weight & improving nutritional status can be quite physically uncomfortable (stomach pain, bloating, sweats, feeling really jittery, etc). Challenge us to keep moving forward, but try to do so in a manner that shows understanding and encouragement.
4) There are many theories as to why eating disorders develop, but try not to fit each and everyone us into a nice, neat little theory box. Listen to us and help us to come to our own understanding of the deeper issues that might be at work.
5) For those of us who are/were labelled as 'chronic' and/or 'treatment resistant', please don't treat us like we have that label permanently tattooed across our forwards & therefore we can just give up before we even get going. There's a difference between being realistic, but still encouraging about our overall prognosis, and giving off the vibe that we're already being mentally thrown into the 'obviously a hopeless case' bin.
6) In terms of working with chronic eating disorder cases, I would say a definite no unless you have the training, ability and interest to do so.