Conspiracy of silence. When the psychiatrist has bp

I always joke that psychology majors go into psychology because they want to fix or understand either themselves or their family. The reason that that is funny is that it is so often true. I think that most of my psych-major friends chose psychology for exactly that reason. I would also include myself in that group of people (psychology is now my minor, but I am majoring in Mental Health Advocacy!).

This article discusses what it is like to be a psychiatrists dealing with bipolar disorder. It is very common for psychiatrists to deal with either bipolar disorder or unipolar depression, but it is less common for these psychiatrists to seek help themselves. One interesting quote from this article that I would like to note is this:

“I have this theory,” she says. “If you were a patient before you were a doctor you don’t have so much trouble being in a patient role. But if you’ve been the doctor first and then you get sick, you have a hell of a hard time being a patient. 

That goes along well with something one of my favorite high school teachers told me: 

First you take care of yourself. Then your family and friends, then others…You must first take care of you before you can take care of the world.

This teacher told me this a number of times. We must first find our own balance before we can help others achieve balance too. That does not mean that we cannot work together to get there, or that you cannot share your process along the way, but it does mean that if you want to help others that you also need to group yourself in with ‘others’ as a person you should help.

It’s like needing to put an oxygen mask on yourself before you put it on a child. How can you take care of someone else if you cannot take care of yourself?