Life Is Complicated

By ROB LAMBERTS, MD “I want to tell you my story now,” a patient recently told me, a woman who suffers from many physical and emotional ailments.  She had the diagnosis of PTSD on her problem list, along with hospitalizations for “stress,” but I never asked beyond that. “OK,” I answered, not knowing what to expect.  “Tell me your story.” She paused for about 30 seconds, but I knew not to interrupt the silence.  “I killed my husband,” she finally said. OK.  Unexpected. She went on to explain a horrible set of circumstances involving alcoholism and physical violence, that resulted in her shooting her husband in self-defense.  She spent the two following years on trial for murder, eventually being cleared on all accounts.  Despite this, the rifts in her family continue, and she (obviously) still relives this terrible moment. Deep breath.  How can I ever hold any emotional instability against this woman?  Who wouldn’t struggle?  It brings me back to my oft-repeated mantra: everyone has a backstory. Not all backstories are so dramatic.  One woman, who is very lovely and vibrant from first meeting, revealed that it had been ten years since she was intimate with her husband.  She does her best to hide the pain, but the toll of feeling unloved and rejected over ten years has taken a heavy toll.  In some ways, her skill at hiding the pain inside causes even more pain, as she faces the daily nee...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs