What My Patients Taught Me, by Gregory E. Smith MD

  • Have I Done Enough?

    Have I Done Enough?

    I am now in the twilight of my psychiatric career. Yes, I can write that without wincing now, almost, well, maybe just a little. I have made decisions in the last twelve months that have changed my daily schedule and my work life and relationships profoundly. Everyone around me, including friends, family members, and even…

  • Unique

    Unique

    “My family calls me stupid,” my new patient said, her head lifting just enough that she could make eye contact with me. She paused, waiting to see if I would respond. I waited. “I know I’m not very smart. I know that. But I have feelings too, you know. I have feelings, just like everybody,…

  • Wrath

    Wrath

    She was a very tiny lady, eighty pounds soaking wet if that. Her fine gray hair was pulled back in a proper bun, her makeup soft and almost non-detectable from a distance. She wore her clothes, obviously expensive but weathered and frayed, in that haphazard way that the once wealthy do. Eighty years old, she…

  • Having Doubts?

    Having Doubts?

    Are you always 100% sure that everything you do, every decision you make, every risk you take (I sound like Sting, now, don’t I?”) is the right one? Do you consider yourself infallible? Do you make every move in a vacuum, never having to share your thoughts with a spouse, sibling, good friend or mentor?…

  • Being There

    Being There

    I listened to a podcast this past year from NPR called Consider This. The episode, Emotional Impact of the Israel-Gaza Conflict on Jewish and Palestinian Americans, aired on October 15, 2023. The host, Scott Detrow, interviewed two women about the situation in the Middle East and the associated loss and grief that were and are…

  • Get Out There!

    Get Out There!

    When I notice a message or admonition in at least three places, I pay attention. If there is a fourth place that comes to the fore, then I must share it with you, because it must be important, right? This particular nugget of wisdom was touted by two of my favorite writers, a character in…

  • Love Letters

    I have seen many patients over the years who are dealing with grief in many forms and ways. They approach it differently depending on their own personalities, established coping skills, social support and the nature of the loss. I have heard stories that were quite painful, shocking and some that hit home with my own…

  • Good Grief

    Good Grief

    I had been looking forward to and at the same time dreading this appointment. Her husband had been ill for many months, but that had not stopped the verbal abuse that superseded the physical blows that he could no longer hurt her with. She had over many previous visits told me stories, chronicled the behaviors…

  • Emotional Trauma

        Here are four scenarios for  you to ponder:   1) “OMG, my boyfriend just sent me a text message that he was breaking up with me. Can you believe that? I’m going to kill myself. That’s all I can do. I’m just going to kill myself. My life is over, do you hear…

  • Streetwise

    I am up early on this day that is to be another scorcher. They say it will not quite reach ninety today, which is good. A heat index of one hundred is not my friend. I don’t tolerate the biological steam, outside and in. I grow weak and faint sometimes. I get angry. My temper…