Mini-Reviews: Medical Non-Fiction

I like to read medical non-fiction. Not textbooks, but the kind of book a layperson with an interest can read, and someone in a medical profession may also enjoy, and learn from. There are three important things I look for in these books: Contributes to the non-medical reader’s understanding/interest of their health and/or bodies in

Stop telling your depressed friend to go for a run

First, you must get out of bed. Then, you must get dressed. You must put on shoes. You must (preferably) eat something. You must unlock the door. You must step into the sun. You may have to greet the neighbour. You must put one foot in front of the other. Then you must do it faster, and remember to breathe. 

Read This Book: An Unquiet Mind

Redfield-Jamison writes with such intricate self-awareness. It is as though she delicately unfolds her mind, displays its secrets, and then looks toward the reader, prompting, “Now, you.”

Can I Be A Depressed Doctor?

Ever since I wrote about how going for therapy was my biggest gift to myself*, I’ve met with a few medical students to talk about the topic of mental health. Many of them were worried about their ability to make it through med school with their illness. Many were worried about the viability of a

Mental Health Begins With Medical Students

I really believe that a medical student who is comfortable with therapy, becomes a physician who is comfortable with therapy; one who is comfortable with addressing the mental health of their colleagues, and one who can identify when their own mental health is spiralling out of control – and then do something about it.

Dear Medical Student: Med School Is Not Worth Your Self-Harm

Dear Medical Student: medical school is worth a lot of things. I can tell you that because I went from hating medical school to loving being a doctor (well, on most days).

But it’s not worth that.

A Lighter Take on Mental Health | Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

If you’re a regular here, you know how much I care about mental health, not just in the medical sense (although I do LOVE psychiatry!) but also in terms of the way it is presented in popular culture. Including books. Books count as popular culture, right?! I must admit that before Finding Audrey I had

Dear Doctor, From A Med Student

Dear Doctor I’m writing to ask you please to not do that thing. You know what I’m talking about. It’s a Saturday morning, or the middle of the night on an overnight call, or whatever: it is a time of day that nobody wants to be working. And we are working. Maybe we are working

A Tale of Two Sisters (and Grief and Mental Health)

Two little sisters had an extended stay in the small rural hospital. They were the stars of the Paeds ward. The little one was absolutely shining and brightened up the whole ward. I spent ward rounds with her in my arms, on my hips, and eventually falling asleep on my back. She was loved. The older

Psychiatry: The Best 7 Weeks of Med School

I’m a little sad. Today we finished our final psychiatry rotation. We had four weeks theory in third year and four weeks practical in fifth, but this year’s rotation was much more amazing.