Why Professional Sports Should be More Like Psychiatry

Okay, so we all have our strengths and our weaknesses.  I get calls from people all the time and they tell me their problems over the phone, but sometimes we don't end up scheduling or they don't end up coming, so at this point, the story isn't the story until the patient is in front of me.  But once there is a real live person in my office, often in pain, with a unique personal history, parts of which I hear over and over with time, the story gels.  I remember sons and daughters and mothers and fathers and spouses, and deaths and pets and who cheated and who left someone feeling so very badly.  Sometimes I have to hear it twice or I forget the precise details, or I cheat and look at my notes between sessions, but the big picture stuff: I get it and I remember it.  It comes naturally, there's not much trying.I live in a family where everyone is really excited about sports.  My kids played sports.  I went to their games.  I had no clue what was happening, kids who all looked alike in uniforms and helmets ran around the fields.  Sometimes someone hit a home run or scored a goal and that was exciting (if I was even paying attention) and sometimes I knew the other kids, so that helped a little, if I could tell which kid was which in rapid motion in all their gear.  Whole games went by where I watched my kid only to discover, oops, not my kid.Okay, so my family isn't just a little into this.  Season's tickets to the Ravens gam...
Source: Shrink Rap - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: blogs