From a very early age, I recall being fascinated by the field and study of psychiatry. Through life experiences, which I will briefly describe, I saw that lives can be devastated by mental illness, and I developed a passion for learning more about it, and making it my life’s work.
When I was 15 years old, my sister experienced a sudden-onset depression, which led to psychotic episodes, bulimia, anorexia, and multiple suicide attempts. I had always considered our childhood as one filled with happiness and stability. It didn’tdid not seem possible that this could happen, yet it did. For the first time I realized thatthat, there must be other factors that contribute to mental illness apart from the readily apparent ones.
During my 2nd year in medical school, I was devastated to learn that my childhood best friend committed suicide. He had recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia within the past year, and this made me become even more passionate to learn more about the causes of mental illness and effective treatments. I knew my friend was seeing a psychiatrist for his condition, however had not revealed his illicit drug use of marijuana. This …show more content…
From the day of my arrival, I began meeting the residents of the Detwiller PavillionPavilion, who were suffering from mental illness. Mental illness wasn’twas not just something in a text book,textbook; these were real people, suffering from real symptoms. As I began my work, I found that I was deeply moved by their stories and devoted to doing what I could to help them manage their diseases. I was able to appreciate the mental and physical consequences their diagnoses had on them and their families. I saw how debilitating mental illness could be. I realized with even more clarity how vital the resources and services involved in managing mental health are, and how they play a major role in the recovery of the
When I was 15 years old, my sister experienced a sudden-onset depression, which led to psychotic episodes, bulimia, anorexia, and multiple suicide attempts. I had always considered our childhood as one filled with happiness and stability. It didn’tdid not seem possible that this could happen, yet it did. For the first time I realized thatthat, there must be other factors that contribute to mental illness apart from the readily apparent ones.
During my 2nd year in medical school, I was devastated to learn that my childhood best friend committed suicide. He had recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia within the past year, and this made me become even more passionate to learn more about the causes of mental illness and effective treatments. I knew my friend was seeing a psychiatrist for his condition, however had not revealed his illicit drug use of marijuana. This …show more content…
From the day of my arrival, I began meeting the residents of the Detwiller PavillionPavilion, who were suffering from mental illness. Mental illness wasn’twas not just something in a text book,textbook; these were real people, suffering from real symptoms. As I began my work, I found that I was deeply moved by their stories and devoted to doing what I could to help them manage their diseases. I was able to appreciate the mental and physical consequences their diagnoses had on them and their families. I saw how debilitating mental illness could be. I realized with even more clarity how vital the resources and services involved in managing mental health are, and how they play a major role in the recovery of the