Patients often ask me if my work sometimes gets too much. If hearing about the miseries of mankind becomes a tiresome task. Most of the time I can honestly say no, I love my job. A major reason why I can love my job is that of good training. From the moment you enter a psychiatric residency the teaching and learning of boundaries is a priority. So in the room, in your hour, I try to be 100% present with you. But I am very aware that it is your life and your journey. When I am with another…
Social media, and how to relate to it, is still a relatively new phenomenon. We are still trying to figure it out. But it is influencing mental health. Several studies have shown a clear correlation between depression and excessive social media use. I have a young woman in my practice who has very intense friendships with two other women. While relationships of this nature are common for the age group, what adds a complicating dimension is WhatsApp. These young women are in contact all the time; they live in each other’s pockets. In the past, a bit of distance could be naturally…
“Does Fortnite cause ADHD?” was one of the questions a parent in my practice recently asked me. She was wrestling with whether to put her son on Concerta for ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). He is a very bright boy and has always done well academically. His first year of high school has been challenging, with a drop in marks and an increase in anxiety and moodiness. His teacher had mentioned ADD, saying that there was a huge discrepancy between his IQ and his marks and that he seemed to “zone out” in class. These are typical symptoms of ADD. ADD,…
I put this question to a group of 12 year old boys and to a group of parents. As to be anticipated, the points of view of the two groups were passionately opposed. The boys felt that gaming was a valid hobby and that the top gamers are akin to top sportsman. (Indeed, it is proposed as a 2024 Summer Olympics gaming event). They said that gaming was a sociable stress reliever, that it kept their reflexes fast and their thinking faster. I must confess, I posed the question to a particularly nice and well-adapted group of boys. They were…
