“Can you chase those bloods?” “Yes, but what’s your management plan for this patient?” “Have you even looked at the VIA practice questions yet?” These questions alone are enough to raise the cortisol levels in any budding young medical student!
While some of these are asked tongue-in-cheek, one question still remains — why are we as medical students, and eventual working doctors, so prone to work-related stress and anxiety?
A drab winter’s day in London. Standard. Like any other day, the Victoria and Albert Museum swarmed with tourists, school children, academics, ready to experience a slice of British history. One could assume.
How to Speak
When I first noticed that my brain wasn’t working the way it used to, it wasn’t tragically melancholic like I expected. Addressing, admitting, and conveying my depressed thoughts was embarrassing, confusing, strange, and disorientating. More than anything though, it was just plain awkward explaining what was going on — but I knew it was time to let someone else share the burden, because I was scared of what would happen if I didn’t.
Since then, I’ve had plenty of strange, vulnerable, and poorly-segued conversations with my friends, family, and doctors, trying to explain the messy parts of my brain. Here’s what I have learnt.
The Auricle 