“Somebody, please, tell me why am I
dragging myself into my psychiatrist’s office every month and swallowing all
these pills when it’s not helping!!” Tragically, when
this plea finds no insight, treatment is either abandoned or the patients doctor hop.
Patients scour physician directories hoping to discover that one unicorn MD
with the magic elixir.
The abandoned truth is that even though
imperfect, psychiatry, with physician and patient persistence, can be
effective. Sticking it out can mean a breakthrough. The physician doesn’t even have to be a
unicorn to make a difference in a patient’s life. For people
like myself, treatment can be restorative and it is often our last best hope to
conquer complex and lethal illnesses. This may be unpopular to say, but
psychiatry just does not get enough credit for all the human triumphs, big and
small, it cultivates.
It’s easy to harshly
criticize the field’s painstakingly slow methods and very
public failures. However, in hospitals, medical arts buildings, and private
offices, quiet victories occur with stunning regularity. The delicate work of
Drs. and patients too often go unnoticed and uncelebrated.
It is appalling that there are so few
published personal accounts of these psychiatrist-patient expeditions. If a
struggling human being thinks that they travel alone, where does the
inspiration to swallow one more pill or share one more symptom come from? This book is remarkable, not just because it shines a light on the hope embedded in psychiatric treatment, but also because the odyssey it details is unique.
My story chronicles the birth,
nurturance, and maturation of my two decade long therapeutic bond with my
psychiatrist. This journey begins at the precipice of madness and continues
through to the resurrection and redemption of a brutalized psyche. Our
psychiatrist-patient relationship isn’t perfect but it is enduring and
transformative.
We’ve hung in there with each other against
some pretty overwhelming odds. Along the way, we’ve learned a few
things about converting treatment failure into triumph.
It has been by facing our faults and
celebrating my many conquests that we continue to sojourn together. To the
person struggling to stay in treatment, my odyssey is meant to be a glimpse
into the possible. My profound regret is that more of these healing journeys
are not shared.
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