Greetings again wonderful peeps! A happy new year to all those reading. I was blessed to get to see some of you on Zoe and Ben’s Whirlwind West Winter 2009 tour. We whizzed through New Mexico and Colorado, visiting with the people whose stories we’ve been waiting for, whose smiles made the whole year easier, and meeting key persons in one another’s lives. Truth be told, we saw very little of each other, as our attention was outward. The trip would not have been possible were it not for the hospitality of so many wonderful folks, who lent comfortable beds, provided rides, cars, cooked delicious meals, and even let a pair of shoes. Thanks again to my folks, Harwood, Erin, James, Da’ Gahdnahs, (not) Sister, and the DA. If we missed ya, we’ll see you soon!

Back in Richmond, I’ve had some time to realize that I have, much to my surprise and unintentionally, made New Year’s resolutions! Honestly, they more like guh-no-way-I’m-gonna-do-that-this-year solutions, but they’re nevertheless still holding (2 weeks into 2010; not bad, eh?) To make it brief, they all involve avoiding behaviors that do NOT promote a stress-free existence.

We’ll see how it goes when the school of nursing cranks the oven up… But for now the oven is only on preheat…we’re preparing for an interesting semester of Adults, more pathophysiology and pharmacology, and one particular subject I am not necessarily dreading, but already dubious of…psychiatric nursing. Psychiatry, in my eyes, is perhaps the most broken, or underdeveloped branch of “medicine.” To call it “mental health” is a misnomer; there is close to no focus on the actual health of a person’s psyche, and exponentially more emphasis placed on their pathology: the box they can fit into. Most of the psyche medications are the most mysterious of our pharmacology: we don’t know how they work…but sometimes…they do. Not to knock psychiatry in totality. Many people have benefitted from medication, from simple talk therapy, and in effect, arrived at an end to their treatment. But psychiatry has a bad reputation of not following through, of solving problems with bigger doses, more talk, and less compassionate company.

To recall back to Patch Adams, what we really need to be treating is the toxic pathology of loneliness. Isolation against one’s will is contraindicated for life: we have ample data from research that proves that lonely people die sooner of both acute and chronic conditions than those with (not even close supports networks) solely someone to talk to. My hope is that nursing, focused on the human response, will be able to provide some groundwork for more than just pushing meds and restraining patients.

But I suspect it will take an open mind…and perhaps less suspicion. :) So this is my self-determined goal this semester: an experiment in keeping people company: true company, to remain as present to them as I possibly can and see what happens. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

Paz,

B

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