One of the gratifying things about psychiatry is seeing dramatic positive changes in patients’ mood overnight after staying in the hospital (of course this is not the case for all the patients we work with). Two of the patients we saw yesterday who were in a pretty bad state mentally and emotionally yesterday were today doing much much better. They were smiling, talking about how much better they feel, the plans that they came up with. One of them yesterday was super resistant to any type of therapy and medication and today he was all about it. He said the experience he has had at this hospital has been very different to others he’s been to and now he’s talking about all these plans he has and this new outlook on life. He was even open to starting a new medication.
At the same time I’m kinda scared for patients like this because I feel like meds and therapy can only take us so far. We can’t necessarily change the situation or the environment these patients go back to when they leave; circumstances which may have contributed to them getting there in the first place.
nANIMOv 