Life, Liberty, and the Security of Persons: A candid dialogue about Involuntary Hospitalizations
The author of this article writes about her support of the current British Columbia Mental Health Act that allows involuntary psychiatric treatment for people experiencing mental health issues and are unable to care for themselves.
An open love letter to healthcare professionals
I express profound gratitude for 62 years of remarkable support from multi-disciplinary teams, urging healthcare workers to communicate clearly, involve patients in their care, learn from all experiences, and continue offering compassionate care that has been a vital source of hope and healing for me.
Mick jagger gimme shelter: my recovery was just a flash away
Fifteen years ago on his Bigger Bang tour Mick Jagger found me between a rock and a hard place, in a crossfire hurricane. Preloaded, titrating, kissing perfect strangers. Ooh, a storm is threatening my very life today. If I don’t get some shelter Ooh Yeah, I’m going to fade away During Jumpin’ Jack Flash I stood on a chair beside the catwalk. As Mick approached I pulled my low cut silk sweater down, tearing it to expose my breasts. We locked eyes. He raised his tight t-shirt dazzling us with an age defying six pack. That was it. The pinnacle of my illustrious life … More
Soul Keeping in Dementia
What I find intriguing is how the soul-identity of a person living with dementia is incrementally, imperceptibly transferred for safe keeping with loved ones. Personhood is conferred less and less by actual cognitive prowess and character and more and more through social bonds. This type of transcendence is completed when we pass on and leave behind memories, habits, recipes, fishing secrets, jokes and so many other ways of being. Like the imprinted seal on a ceasefire document, meaning continues in perpetuity beyond the physicality of paper, ink and wax. Dementia Friendly Chatter While it is impossible to be heard by everyone in … More
beating burnout through self-nourishment
Burnout. Compassion fatigue. Chronic work stress. Vicarious trauma. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Demoralization. Moral distress. Moral injury. Moral compromise. These are all less stigmatizing terms than Adjustment Disorder with depression and/or anxiety. BURNOUT: 1) Exhaustion 2) Mental/emotional detachment from our jobs which have become less rewarding 3) Poorer work performance; “This isn’t me”. 4) Cynical, irritable & judgmental trending 5) Erosion of the soul in those of us with ideals and conviction 6) Low personal autonomy/agency with high job stress 7) *Not necessarily individual failure so much as social & occupational injustice begging political solutions MORAL DISTRESS arises when … More
dementia: The human being; the particulars
What is dementia? What are the causes? Alzheimer’s is one of many types of brain diseases which have in common progressive difficulties in brain functioning: memory, judgment, planning. While we can describe dementia under the microscope, how it actually occurs is largely unknown. Scientists study how accelerated aging in dementia is associated with substances (such as amyloid plaques and Tau protein tangles) accumulating within the brain over time. This is not unlike grit building up in engine oil. Healthy brain cells are like live wires that connect to each other indirectly across a gap. Chemical messengers become depleted in dementia making … More
reflections from the underground, part 2
Addiction; Predator and Prey When an eagle seizes a salmon too heavy to carry yet its talons cannot release it, they both plummet. The predator becomes prey of the sea. My dearest friend lost her 39 year old son in this epidemic of poisonings with the contaminant Fentanyl. He was addicted to heroin; with compulsions, lack of control, negative consequences, tolerance leading to higher dosing and avoidance of brutal withdrawal symptoms. He often made use of rehab, recovering for years at a time; Narcotics Anonymous, clean needles and longer acting narcotics. Tragically he was not using pure medical heroin, or his own supply at … More
how professional boundaries keep everone safe
Your professor pays you many compliments, offers a research position and invites you to stay with them after hours to work… Your counselor is overly complimentary about your attractiveness and offers to help you work on your marriage without the presence of your partner while complaining about their own marriage. Your boss/preceptor invites you to pet sit in their home, then to co-present a paper at an out of town conference, dinner followed by hotel room…. A favourite patient who is about to be discharged asks to be “friends” on Facebook. A patient gives you a generous “free sample” of … More
Reflections from the underground, part 1
Bipolar Alcoholism I once self-medicated with alcohol but now have 13 years of sobriety. I’m a 57 yr old mother of 3 with 2 grandsons. Thirty-eight years have been spent as the wife of a saint. I’m a daughter, sister, friend, teacher, mentor, and colleague. Many people have been affected by my soul sickness. Besides social ineptitude, I have suffered from denial which presented a barrier for many years to accessing care, sobriety, and finding interpersonal healing. In the last 18 years, I’ve been on 10 medications, now fine-tuned to 3. Honing my insight, I’m at my healthiest yet with … More
