Mental Illness

I work at a psychiatric facility. I love it. I love the patients who are here. I give and get lots of love and hugs. Mental illness can happen to anyone. ANYONE. A good number of our patients have degrees from Doctrate on down. Alzheimer's does not discriminate, nor does manic depression, bipolor disorder, or schizophrenia. What can you do when someone you love is mentally ill and will not get help? Nothing. Wait. Hope. Pray. Now of course, I am speaking of someone who is NOT a minor. If you have a minor child who you suspect is suffering from mental illness, GET HELP NOW,(cutting, cycling manic behavior with severe fatigue, auditory or visual hallucinations, chronic(continuous) sad mood). I suspect that someone I love is mentally ill. At 22 years old he has the worst case of anhedonia(the inability to feel pleasure in anything, including the things that used to give you pleasure such as food, sex, shopping, hobbies)I have ever seen. He cycles up and down. I asked him last week if he would please get evaluated and diagnosed. "No drugs" says he. I get that. I also see that he has absolutely no joy in his life.I am trying to get a chance to ask him if he is having any hallucinations, auditory or visual. He is honest and would tell me the truth. There has just not been a private moment to talk. He is not a danger to himself or others, for now. So, our hands are tied, for now. I hope it doesn't get tragic before we can get him to seek help. I also hope that mental illness will someday not carry the stigma it does now so that those who suffer (and I DO mean suffer) from it can openly seek help.

Medical Professional

Kim at Emergiblog has linked me as a "Medical Professional". (oops, it was, in fact, "Medical person of interest" which is just as good). It actually brought tears to my eyes when she did that. I have done my job (and loved it) for three and a half years now. When I worked at home I didn't feel all that professional because most days I never made it out of my pajamas and ate my meals at the computer. Oh yes, I worked from rise till bed,my precious husband bringing me food, especially during this time of year when everyone had met their deductibles and were flocking in to get whatever stuff done that they wanted to go on their insurance before January. I felt like a shlep. Then I came to work for "The State". I thought it would be a glamorous job working for a big hospital. However, I found that most of the people here think that transcription is just "typing". I have actually been referred to that way. "Oh that's kim, she's the typist." I am pretty sure I have commented on this before. When I "just type" I have to know what the term/disease/medication is, how to spell it, what it means, what amount of medication is within certain parameters (i.e. had a doc prescribe 1000 mg of Risperdal q d last month, I HAVE to know that Risperdal is given in dosages of 1-4 mg per pill. To be given most likely once or twice a day.) This is my job. I know meds that I type, I know diseases, I know that there is no such thing as Regular N insulin. I know these things so that when doctors are tired and have to dictate 20 to 30 notes on the patients they see and make a mistake that they do not hear, I am there, I gotchur back doc. My docs know this, but my bosses do not, so I make a below poverty wage working for the state. I AM a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL, and I love what I do. Just wish the place I work for would recognize it.