Category: Let's talk
On Radio 4 yesterday I heard a learned psychiatrist say that he advised doctors and nurses who had schizophrenia, not to disclose this information when applying for a job. Having studied this illness at length,I was stunned as schizophrenics are not always stable, and they cannot be relied upon to take their medication regularly. Would you want to be at the mercy of someone with this illness, who may be suffering delusions ect, when deciding on your course of treatment
oh no, it will be so scarry. i think that they should tell the truth about what they are suffering.
I don't get on a car with a person who's drunk nor would I ever put my life in the hands of a mental case. It makes me wonder though just how many psychiatrists are treating sick people.
though it does sound kinda discriminatory, I do agree totally, and questions would need to be asked about whether a schitzefrenic should be a doctor/nurse, really. I mean, face it, us blind people know we can't be one; maybe it should be the same with mental illnesses.
Wow, that's a hard call. There are countless examples of people with the same or similar disabilites treating people. The one that comes to mind is adictions counselors. Man of the most effective ones I've known were recovering adicts themselves. In the states, we can't ask questions of perspective employees about their disability unless they bring it up. Part of me is thinking that a schizophrenic doctor might be better at spotting the signs quicker of someone who isn't medicating properly. On the other hand, the idea of someone who isn't rational prescribing meds scares the hell out of me.
Lou
I personally, do not like the idea of a schizophrenic doctor, of any sort, treating an illness, because of the simple fact of the instability facctor. Who's to say that, if the person in question has not taken there meds, something just won't set them off, or they hear the voices in their head telling them to kill the patient, that they won't just start going psycho or something.
True, the doctor who has a mental illness may be able to spot the signs and symptoms of a mental condition easier and more effectively, but they could start going crazy while treating their patient, and then make things ten times worse. I don't know about you, but I find that a little disturbing.
There may be acceptions to this rule of course, but I still do not feel comfortable with the whole concept.
The Sassiest of Kitties
I agree with all the views expressed here. I hate to think of a mentally ill surgeon, operating on unsuspecting trusting patients, at will..the medication for schizophrenia is no guarantee of stable predictable rational behaviour.