This is a book review on “Fieldnotes of a Psychiatrist”, written by Dr. Chong Siow Ann. He worked in a mental health hospital.

Patients face dying from terminal illnesses. Non-patients may only have brief moments to realise their life is going to be taken from them by calamity, or man made tragedy. In the face of death from either cause, do we go without a fight?

What if the dying do not know their light is withering? Should the healthy tell the dying? Would the dying want to know they are leaving us?

Dr. Chong asks provocative questions as he shares with readers his experiences. There is do definite resolution as he explains how he has regrets on not informing his father of his terminal illness. Even. At the elderly man’s deathbed, Dr. Chong didn’t talk to his father directly about impending death.

The common man and woman on the street think its evil to incarcerate a patient in a mental hospitals, which is actually a thin guise for an asylum. But the stark reality is that there is no other practical way of ensuring the safety of the patient and of the people around them, except by placing the patient under lock and watch. In fact, you can save the patient’s life.

Dr. Chong discusses many questions commonly encountered by patients and doctors. He writes from both perspectives – as a doctor, and as a patient.

It’s an interesting book. Get it here:

Disclosure:

If you buy a book from this link, I may receive a small commission.

James Tan wrote and illustrated a graphic novella on dying and palliative care. His booklet, drawn in comic strip panel style, leans heavily towards the choice to die with dignity.

His booklet highlights the story of a terminally ill, old male patient, who expressed his wish to die without invasive intervention to resuscitate him. The elderly man’s family was divided over letting him die gently, versus using. Intervention to prolong his disease laden life.

Mr. Tan interviewed four medical doctors before writing his draft for All Death Matters.

This booklet “All Death Matters” is not for sale. I received a free copy by contacting the distributor, Lien Foundation.

Reference:

Chong, S. A. (2018) Fieldnotes Of A Psychiatrist. Straits Times Press: Singapore.

Tan, J. (2020). All Death Matters. Lien Foundation: Singapore.

I was forced to send almost all, ie. around 99% of my personal belongings into storage, in a warehouse. I was renting a short term leased apartment and the company refused to allow me to bring my belongings. “Only carry luggage allowed”, they warned in an email.

I felt lost. My belongings do not make me whole. But I needed them to do my work. I was working. Freelance as an artist and required my art paraphernalia. From mid-April until early August 2021, I was dry. Devoid of inspiration, feeling strange and lost.

If you can only pack 10 items of personal belonging, what would you bring to your new home?

Mental addiction is an obsessive compulsive disorder. Counseling is insufficient to pull away from mental addiction. Active actions like a change of life style and development of new, healthy habits, are necessary.

The Balance Between Life and Death by Elizabeth Holland. (anxiety)

Lost in Life by Dave Blackwell. (deaf, depression)

The Ghost Beside Me by Lee Hall. (social anxiety)

Who Am I by James Kelly. (bipolar disorder, depression, schizoaffective disorder)

You Make Yourself Unhappy by James Kelly. (lifestyle)

You Cause Your Own Misery by James Kelly. (I’ve yet to finish reading this book and write its review. After which, I’ll paste the link here).

Sometimes, the disorder comes and leaves in cycles.

Common triggers that set off mental disorders:

1. Anxiety
2. Stress
3. Anger
4. Injustice (bullying)
5. Consuming medications that do not work with their physiology.
6. Side effects of medications.
7. Non-compliance to prescriptive medications.
8. Loud noises. Main problem is it brings on stress.
9. Disturbed sleep patterns. (Stress related)
10. Not knowing about one’s triggers.
11. Unwittingly setting off triggers and activating symptoms.

Knowing about triggers, you can avoid them, or leave them, before they stimulate your senses and set off a string of consequences.

Reference

Barbour Books. (2017). Daily Wisdom for Women Devotional Coloring Book. Color Yourself Inspired. Barbour Publishing Inc: USA.

Paid link for #ad with #CommissionsEarned –

Response: 6.

The patient laid on the floor and started crying.

Response: 3.

He thought he was untouchable, a kind of demi-god? He had a very important and good job. His student looked up to him for knowledge, guidance and mentorship. He could have picked someone from outside work. Yet he had to choose from within his circle of tutorage. He wanted a student who worshipped his position.

This is old. Once in a blue moon, bored university lecturers step out of their professional boundaries to violate their students. They know a certain act violates boundaries but yet they do it out of impulse. Or because they have an obsessive thought that says do that. People with varying mental illnesses experience psychosis, which makes them think they can do weird acts.

This is why people who commit crimes can be hauled into the psychiatric ward, to assess their mental states.

Here’s another story which is similar yet different.

A different teaching staff from a tertiary institution had a proposition for his new mentee. He asked her to hop on a plane to go see his former mentee to pass a message. A message of love to reconnect. They are both adult gays. The mentor’s ego and pride prevented him from communicating with his former mentee. Sad. The new mentee didn’t think it appropriate for her to hop on the plane to fly to a strange city to meet the ex-mentee. She thought the two men should talk to each other.

This post may be updated periodically as events transpire.

Further reading:

Spotting mental illness from facial features.

Decoding Funny Faces to Detect Mental Illness.