Following my 'honesty is the best policy?' post I had an interesting comment which set me thinking. Now I know this is over-generalising a lot, but blogs on here relating to mental health in some way are often either:-
a) mental health workers talking mainly about work/patients/service users (delete as appropriate) but not about their lives outside work
or
b) people with mental health issues/illnesses some of whom do talk predominantly about mental health stuff, some who talk about all sorts of things in their life. (Although I imagine that many might say the two are not just overlapping but entirely intertwined?)
Now my thoughts are this. I don't see myself as a psychiatrist/doctor/mental health worker primarily, I see myself as an average person with a life and family who just happens to be a doctor/psychiatrist etc. I have good and bad days, feel excited or lonely etc. A comment to my post from in-the-margins was 'But I thought everyone that worked in mental health had their lives all sorted and were completely mentally healthy!' Now, I believe I am mentally pretty healthy but I certainly don't think my life sorted! In fact, not very sorted at all lots of the time....
Now interestingly, whilst other doctors in fields other than psychiatry post blogs that discuss social lives /girlfriends/personal issues as well as medicine, I've noticed the mental health workers don't tend to. Whilst I believe those boundaries should certainly be maintained professionally at work and in our therapeutic relationships with patients, does that have to hold true here?
Whilst I do see the value in just discussing work/mental health issues on here, personally I see this as an opportunity to discuss lots of issues both at work and in my 'other' life. What do people think about that? Maybe by talking about more than just our day job it might make me/us as a group more real....is that a bad thing?
Would appreciate any thoughts on this!
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8 comments:
The Jobbing Doctor posted about anonymity when blogging which Dr Grumble has also mused over.
I'm not neurotic about anonymity since I'm not in the habit of slanging folk off but more I'm fervently of the opinion that I don't write or say anything (in blogs, in real life, in chatter) about someone that I'd not say to their face.
I've not lied or had totally fictitious cases in posts but a degree of anonymity does mean that scenarios can be more clearly presented. Which is helpful.
But my personal circumstance would make me too identifiable. Also, why'd anyone be that interested in my home life? For these two reasons I made the decision before even starting my first post that the focus would be on my working world and the themes related to this, without personal posts that would be of no interest!
I would say write what you are comfortable with. I started my blog a few months ago, partly to see if i could do it, and partly as a bit of therapy. While I do write about depression, I also write about many other things, and at least one of my friends says that he can tell what frame of mind I am in as a result of reading my blog.
My blog list which started off with just a handful of blogs on it, grows daily (and you have been added today)as I find more bogs that I find interesting or that I think I will monitor for a short while to see how I enjoy them.
I suppose at the end of it all, what I really wanted my blog to do was to provide information, and educate people about things, and if at all possible be humorous. You have definitely succeeded with all these things already. Anybody who can relate a story such as that in your second post has a lot to offer us. I suppose the prescription is 'more of the same'.
Hmmm, maybe I'm not cut out for all this blogging. I don't know that I have any amazing insights into the NHS to share and better off leaving to those older and wiser than me......just wanted to share some funny insights into life - be they medical or not. Could restart as entirely fictional person - maybe could be a lawyer!!! Always fancied that!
Just as those of us with mental illnesses suffer from a bad press and a total lack or understanding from much of the rest of the general public, so I believe do psychiatrists. Perhaps that is something that you can do to inform the ignorant out there. Particularly things to do with your training, which is probably a completely closed book to many people.
Medical students give us all a great idea about what they get up to while setting out on the path to being a doctor. We have a crop of recently qualified doctors telling us about how life is for them now that they are 'grown-ups'. There are plenty of GPs standing up for GPs, we have an excellent blog about anaesthetics, and The Shrink does his thing in the way that only he can. However, I am sure that there would be many readers out there who would be more than interested to find out why someone chooses to be a psychiatrist, and what sort of things that they have to do to get to The Shrink's heady status.
I would be sorry to see you give up blogging so soon, because I really do think that you have something to offer.
Almost forgot, we'll want to hear about the Duracell Toddler, too.
'Amazing insights' are probably built up from large collections of everyday mundane observations... I can't think of a better foundation for a psychiatrist than to be "an average person with a life and family". I'm cursed by an unending line of high-flying academic-clinicians from the University of OldPoshshire. You don't need to be seen by the world's leading expert on PDD's in adults, when you just need a letter to take to the council housing dept.
Thanks guys - you've perked me up with your comments!
I hate the idea that I "am" a doctor...I'm plenty of things, but I work as a doctor. And if there is one thing I learned through medical school/training, it's that doctors can be the most fucked up of all.
Cool post.
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