Video: Love me Tender

I was doing rounds at the Psych Ward one night during duty, and one of the nurses asked me a question.

"Doc, would you tell your significant other if you had a psychiatric condition?"

Me: (after thinking for a bit) Yes, I would, but it isn't going to be easy...

Him: If i get a mental illness, I'll probably just tell my wife or girlfriend to just leave me...to think of herself first and just get on with her life. Taking care of someone with a mental illness is very difficult, and I wouldn't want that for her. I'd be good as dead.

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We've had that conversation some weeks ago, and that's what always comes to mind whenever I hear Norah Jones' version of "Love Me Tender"...

Sometimes, during quiet moments, this gets me to thinking. Getting sick with a mental illness can be so crippling, a huge loss in terms of control of oneself and how one feels, sees, or even lives. All the things sensate and beautiful that we as normal people  enjoy can become either a frightening reality for them, or a painful burden to carry, for most of them, the rest of their lives.

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One time, during a consult, one of my patients told me, "Doctor, I want to know what it is to love...to have my own family. Please help me..."

(I'm a sucker for stories, but this was an honest plea. I pray I can always do something good for someone who needs my help from here on end.)

Love,

S.