4 Years of HEADoc

 

August 8, 2008 will mark the 4th anniversary of Thoughts From The HEADoc-Quest 4 Sanity. . .

How cool is that? The HEADoc has thought of this journal often as a cry from the wilderness. Such a metaphor tends to speak for itself in that it was known from the start that not every potential reader would hear the messages while still others would hear what they chose to hear. Some would interpret courage and insight yet others would see foolishness or insignificance. Still The HEADoc tried to keep it real and write about subjects rarely mentioned from such a perspective as his own. The Quest was never about the personal sanity of any individual person but mostly about situations in life that can sometimes challenge that personal sanity of essentially anyone. The THOUGHTS have not been specific for Psychiatry but have been generated by one who practices Psychiatry. An effort has been  made to document original thoughts, freely associated, and of interest most of the time. On a rare occasion an entry has been synonymous with pornography as far as what has been shared with readers. In a pornographic film the actors tend to relish in exhibiting a behavior that should be private. The actors know that those seeking what they have to offer will identify. The idea here is not to suggest perverted writing but to suggest that The HEADoc did not alter the writing for the sake of political correctness or attempting to please readers or to make himself look good. Non fiction to The HEADoc is more valuable than fiction.

Readers who are of an ultra conservative right wing world view will never see eye to eye with The HEADoc on much and usually wouldn't read more than one post anyway unless wishing to pursue an argument, which has actually happened before. The HEADoc, believe it or not, is not a bleeding heart liberal as one might be inclined to believe but would identify himself with The Rationalist's party, if such a party existed. The Rationalist's party would take the good ideas from the existng political parties and discard the rest of the B.S. The Rationalist would be seen as a communist by the Right and as too hard to pin down by the Left. A Rationalist would be small on talk and big on action. A Rationalist would not need to lie to the public or mislead the public because he or she would identify with the public. When a policy failed, The Rationalist would be required by conscience to admit that and immediately investigate and begin a rational reform of that policy based on fact and logic. The Rationalist Candidate would win every election because of full undisclosed accountability to the public. The Rationalist Candidate would conform only to common sense and show limited loyalty to political correctness. He or she would not fear stating such beliefs as: Oswald didn't act alone nor did James Earl Ray or Sirhan, that more could be done to stop the flow of illegal drugs across the U.S. borders, that Bush didn't really win in 2000, investigate 9/11 to find out what really happened, the Iraq War was unecessary, there is no gas shortage (yet), Obama really is the better candidate.

Enough of the nonsense. The HEADoc has worked through his grief fairly well and does not wish to be perceived as a victim. He has thought long and hard about the situation with the Medical Board and has tried to see the situation from their pespective. He has accepted the possibility that perhaps they could be right (according to the statutes) and on a technical basis at least, The HEADoc should probably just accept that. In the arena of treating chronic pain patients, the time to throw in the towel is nigh. The HEADoc has begun to see that most of the true pain patients greatly fear having to find another doctor to effectively treat their pain and fear losing the security they have found with knowing someone cares enough to make sure they have what they need. Some of The HEADoc's patients have done exceptionally well with treatment after years of seeking relief. The HEADoc believes this mostly due to the fact their emotional needs were validated and addressed in addition to the physical  state of disease initiating their pain. The most important lesson learned from treating chronic pain conditions has been how the road to true and lasting analgesia is centered in changing how the brain perceives the pain signal. Ridding the body completely of pain is an unrealistic goal for any treatment. Teaching the brain to experience pleasure again is key in the chronic pain patient with depression and anxiety based on the premise that the brain is not constructed to perceive pain and pleasure simultaneously and must choose which to experience at any given time. When chronic and persistent pain becomes the sole focus of ones life the regions of the nervous system that conduct primarily good thoughts and feelings, in a sense, can cease to function adequately. The pain conducting areas of the nervous system then operate unchallenged, thus a vicious cycle of pain, depression, and anxiety persists.

At this time, The HEADoc recognizes that the well being of the patient is what is most important. The Board states the safety and well being of the public as its primary responsibility. The Board's basic stance, in this particular case, is that it is better for many people to live in more pain than they have to than to risk  one more addict getting their hands on a drug they shouldn't have. The HEADoc intends to continue providing quality psychiatric care to the chronic pain patients within the practice while facilitating referrals to a provider willing to treat their pain conditions. This will be an extremely difficult process for some patients and will produce emotional distress.  Many patients have made it clear that the value of the mental health care received has been equal to or greater than the value of treatment of their pain condition and they have no intention of terminating their psychiatric care because of being required to find chronic pain treatment elsewhere. The HEADoc will do his best to help such patients deal with the fear associated with the change. Their treatment has been considered sucessful and if successful in finding effective continuation of treatment for their chronic pain condition the best may be yet to come for them.

psychiatry

Comments

[john coleman]

While it is of importance to monitor the medical field, some of the monitoring leads to great tribulation for those who are trying to get services that the state of N C has neglected. As most who will read this realize that the mental health problems are from the desired level that one would wish for. In fact NC rates in the lower percentile when it come to rating their mental health efforts. This problem didn't get that way because of Doc's who are trying to help people with mental illness to cope. It got that way because a bunch of politicans don't know what they are doing and probably if the truth was know, they don't really care unless they have a loved one who suffers from this real desease. We'll just hope that the state makes more of the right moves, heaven knows they have made enough of the wrong ones and created a monster without even trying!!!!

[headoc]

Thanks for your comment. I recently learned that we rank below South Carolina. There are very few things that South Carolina out ranks NC in.