studying psy with all the criteria listed for DSM IV or ICD 10 is frustrating. so many things under one topic. i guess if someone is going to do mental status examination on me, it will be as bad as someone who is having dementia. huhuu.
as i was driving, it occurred to me, all the names for the diseases are named by none other than us, human. either name after the doctor who discovered the pattern of it, or name after the first patient in which the symptoms are found.
so funny. we find a pattern of disease, gather the pattern, compare it, and come out with weird names for each of them. eg.. schizophrenia. wonder how they came out with the name. lol.
the patients in the psy ward here is different from other wards. i mean, yes, of course the disease they have is different from those in medical wards. what i meant was that, here, most of the patients think they are alright. and true enough, most of them are perfectly healthy, physically.
unlike the patients in other wards who suffered from all the physical symptoms who wants to get well.here, they think they are well. and they really don't understand why they are kept here in the ward. if you see the condition in the ward, no one who is sane would want to stay there for a night.
but seeing them made me realise that anything can happen to anyone. these patients made me laugh, some of them made me tear. i felt my deep empathy towards one of the patients whom i met few weeks ago. she graduated from a prestigious uni in Sg , currently in her second sem for masters. all of the sudden, she just changed, presented with all the symptoms of schizophrenia. her mom showed me her family portrait during her graduation, it was a happy family. she looked so happy, so cheerful. now, the only word that i can use to describe is miserable. she felt miserable, didnt understand why she was kept in the ward.
suddenly, i am scared. what if this happen to me? i know this may sound childish or whatever you call it, but i am really scared.
sadly, the stigma is still present.
2 comments:
im curious, ab what she's done that showed the symptoms of schizophrenia? did that hurt anyone? is her situation similar to the mathematician in A Beautiful Mind?
thanks for sharing. i love listening to ur experience thats so close to our life :)
she showed few symptoms of schizo, eg she has delusions. she thinks she owns the whole negeri sembilan, etc. she is a bit of aggressive, thus sent by police to the ward, and started on medications.
oh, i didnt watch beautiful mind. heard its good. shall watch it one day.
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