Fun with Dick and Jane
See Dick. See Jane. See Dick and Jane have fun. (ok this is beginning to sound pervertic...)
Movie unknown to me until recently, this movie pictures how doing good will not always be rewarded with good. Everything was perfect with Dick (Jim Carrey) and Jane (Tea Leoni), and they never did anything bad. But when there is evil in the world, not all good will get good in this lifetime. (you may debate afterlife, but that's not the point here...)
Modern society values materialism and things of the now, more than the later. How happy will you be if nothing is going your way and there is no silver lining? Even if you are, how long can you last? In case of Dick and Jane, the ended up resorting to robbery and what not. Of course, this is only out of desperation, and they never hurt anyone. Ponder that. What will you do if you are bankrupt and have no where to live? No food, water, electricity... To what extent will you go?
Anyways the story ends quite... er... I can't describe it, but I didn't really agree with it. But it showed, the good will get good. That's a moral for ya.
Face it, everyone of us will value materialism some time, in one way or the other. And to show that I am guilty of it, I would say that I would like the follwing items:
1. PDA - need it for easy reference
2. Camera in my phone or PDA - thinking of taking pictures of visual signs
3. Clinical Examination by Talley & O'conner - for reference
4. Heater - else I will freeze in winter here...
5. Novels - desperately bored. Else, a PDA can store eBooks...
6. Winter clothing - same as heater
7. Mode of private transport - Bicycle will do, but a car will be better...
These are things that I am currently living without and still surviving. So the question would be whether I really need them or not.
My senior was kind enough to take us (transport) to a shopping complex to look for some of these things. Couldn't find a cheap heater or winter clothes and instead I bought 2 shirts that I probably don't need. Ah well... this is what you get from a Manic Episode.
And of course since my senior had to follow me around, I had to follow my senior too. So we went to this women clothing shop called Witchery. It's just weird to go in there. There wasn't anything wrong with the place... but it just feels weird to be going into a shop for women... and neither of us were one. brr...
Adventures... sigh...
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Too Much Free Time, yet so much to do...
"All ignorant people generalize"
I like to generalize things. So in the end, I will contradict myself. I tried to explain my feelings and thoughts but they always end up being total opposites. Since I can't remember when, I have been inflicted with a chronic sense of boredom. There are so many things that I can do, like studying, or reading. But instead, I find myself just lazing around playing or watching anime. Then, I get bored of doing those things as well... now I am not doing anything productive at all.
I've just only started writing notes on my previous rotation. Something that I should have done during the last rotation. My problem seems to be the filing system. I want something organised, but what actually comes organised by itself? apart from the text book... I should be doing notes on MEDICAL stuff, not psychiatry... psychiatry should be my the least of my worries.
General Med has been... too relaxed. I am getting worried about how slack I am. After what happpened in Psych, I really should have learnt my lesson, yet I am still stuck this way. So far, I have approached 5 patients; 1 moreless completed history (but got transfered down to cardiology), 1 informal chat session (missed out so much medical information), 1 just the presenting complaint (not even history of presenting complaint), and 2 turned me down because they were in pain. I wish they weren't sick.
So, I am left with 1 case to present tomorrow.
I conclude that I am living in a undecisive, contradicting world...
However, there are somethings that are certain. And when I am sure of it, I will assert it. Again, i assert that I am living in a undecisive, contradicting world...
"All ignorant people generalize"
I like to generalize things. So in the end, I will contradict myself. I tried to explain my feelings and thoughts but they always end up being total opposites. Since I can't remember when, I have been inflicted with a chronic sense of boredom. There are so many things that I can do, like studying, or reading. But instead, I find myself just lazing around playing or watching anime. Then, I get bored of doing those things as well... now I am not doing anything productive at all.
I've just only started writing notes on my previous rotation. Something that I should have done during the last rotation. My problem seems to be the filing system. I want something organised, but what actually comes organised by itself? apart from the text book... I should be doing notes on MEDICAL stuff, not psychiatry... psychiatry should be my the least of my worries.
General Med has been... too relaxed. I am getting worried about how slack I am. After what happpened in Psych, I really should have learnt my lesson, yet I am still stuck this way. So far, I have approached 5 patients; 1 moreless completed history (but got transfered down to cardiology), 1 informal chat session (missed out so much medical information), 1 just the presenting complaint (not even history of presenting complaint), and 2 turned me down because they were in pain. I wish they weren't sick.
So, I am left with 1 case to present tomorrow.
I conclude that I am living in a undecisive, contradicting world...
However, there are somethings that are certain. And when I am sure of it, I will assert it. Again, i assert that I am living in a undecisive, contradicting world...
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Black and White
(Post for Easter)
How often can you, at the end of the day, lie in bed and think about the day, and not wish that something was different? Last Friday was a day that I can think back and truly say that I don’t want anything changed. No “what if” questions, no worries about tomorrow, and no “I should have done this, done that.” It really was a Good Friday for me…
The church service in the morning was interesting. The pastor questioned, Though we live luxuriously (compared to the past), why are we still not happy? What will make everyone happier?
It isn’t hard for us to split everyone into 2 groups; one good, one bad. We just need to get rid of the ‘bad’ and everyone would be living peacefully. It’s just so easy to do that and it’s not impossible… Relationship to Black and White? It’s all about good and bad.
In the game, there are almost always 2 ways to solve a problem or mission; a good way, and an evil way. As time progresses, you and your creature would either start glowing in an angelic halo, or bear scars and claws of anger and hatred. The good way, naturally takes more time and nobody gets hurt, and the evil, speeds up the game tremendously.
In all, it shows our nature about things, we all have the potential to do good and bad. And it’s not about splitting the world into 2, but more like our own hearts that is split up. And it is up to us to show which side of it.
Later that night, there was another church event, with dinner and performances. There is something about being in this group of people gives me courage and make me build my own confidence… There were many talented performers that night, and I was wishing that I could be as talented as them; Rachel, Lydia, Katie, Steve... even the little Abby, who was helping out diligently. ^_^
There was also a talk, on the topic of Jesus and the Simpsons. The speaker showed many remarks by the characters about God and religion and how God in the Simpsons have 5 fingers when the other characters all had 4. It’s how like I see stuff in House and make me wonder about things. The Simpsons do have some ideas on how life is in reality, and there are really moral values that can be learnt from that series.
But then again, which show doesn't have moral values?
(Post for Easter)
How often can you, at the end of the day, lie in bed and think about the day, and not wish that something was different? Last Friday was a day that I can think back and truly say that I don’t want anything changed. No “what if” questions, no worries about tomorrow, and no “I should have done this, done that.” It really was a Good Friday for me…
The church service in the morning was interesting. The pastor questioned, Though we live luxuriously (compared to the past), why are we still not happy? What will make everyone happier?
It isn’t hard for us to split everyone into 2 groups; one good, one bad. We just need to get rid of the ‘bad’ and everyone would be living peacefully. It’s just so easy to do that and it’s not impossible… Relationship to Black and White? It’s all about good and bad.
In the game, there are almost always 2 ways to solve a problem or mission; a good way, and an evil way. As time progresses, you and your creature would either start glowing in an angelic halo, or bear scars and claws of anger and hatred. The good way, naturally takes more time and nobody gets hurt, and the evil, speeds up the game tremendously.
In all, it shows our nature about things, we all have the potential to do good and bad. And it’s not about splitting the world into 2, but more like our own hearts that is split up. And it is up to us to show which side of it.
Later that night, there was another church event, with dinner and performances. There is something about being in this group of people gives me courage and make me build my own confidence… There were many talented performers that night, and I was wishing that I could be as talented as them; Rachel, Lydia, Katie, Steve... even the little Abby, who was helping out diligently. ^_^
There was also a talk, on the topic of Jesus and the Simpsons. The speaker showed many remarks by the characters about God and religion and how God in the Simpsons have 5 fingers when the other characters all had 4. It’s how like I see stuff in House and make me wonder about things. The Simpsons do have some ideas on how life is in reality, and there are really moral values that can be learnt from that series.
But then again, which show doesn't have moral values?
Thursday, April 13, 2006
My Manic Episode
Mania is characterised by:
A. having a period of abnormally and persistently elevated mood.
B. (1) inflated self-esteem, (2) decrease need for sleep, (3) more talkative, (4) flight of ideas, (5)easily distracted, (6) increase in goal directed activity, (7) excessive involment in pleasurable activities.
C. impaired social functioning
This episode can be a defence mechanism which hides the fact that I am internally distraught and chaotic. I have been more talkative than necessary, having trains of ideas, I'm not paying attention in lectures, and I almost got involved in a shopping spree.
And this is what I had been up to the past hour or so:
Meet Linda.
Mania is characterised by:
A. having a period of abnormally and persistently elevated mood.
B. (1) inflated self-esteem, (2) decrease need for sleep, (3) more talkative, (4) flight of ideas, (5)easily distracted, (6) increase in goal directed activity, (7) excessive involment in pleasurable activities.
C. impaired social functioning
This episode can be a defence mechanism which hides the fact that I am internally distraught and chaotic. I have been more talkative than necessary, having trains of ideas, I'm not paying attention in lectures, and I almost got involved in a shopping spree.
And this is what I had been up to the past hour or so:
Meet Linda.
(picture has been removed)
And of course, me.
This is what she did to me.
And this is what she did to me further.
It was fun to get a free hair cut. Heh... (hum Queer Eye for the Straight Guy)
This is a break from my very agitated self. I didn't do well for my Psychiatry Exam and I am set to have practice interviewing sessions later in the year. So I can brush up my skills. It may be a bore and chore, but I think this is a very good opportunity for me to really be serious about things and do well. I don't have a problem being empathetic (I think...) but I think I sacrificed too much of the goal directed questions.
I also plan to get a job soon, and buy a bicycle. At least I will have a source of income and a mode of transport. And it would be a good experience and a method of exercise.
Oh well. We'll see how things go.
^_^
Monday, April 10, 2006
Psychiatry
This is a very depressing posting for me. This posting will make you start to think about the different people around you and understand why they act the way the act... and then you start diagnosing them with psychiatric illnesses. They are amongst us.
Heck, there are even movies about these people, and even real life celebrities who have psychiatric illnesses. Some professions just needs a person to be so, accountants should have a compulsive disorder, lighthouse watch should be a schizoid, actors be hysterionic... They are more prevalant than you think!
Anyway, back to my posting... Psychiatry is a very long process, from long history takings, long management, and long list of problems and treatment.
Long History. Tomorrow, I will be sitting for an exam, that will test my presentation skills and diagnosing and management. Today, I sat for one that tested my interviewing skills. I failed miserably. I declare the session unjust, but I know where I went wrong. I was probably to familiar with the patient and knew her diagnosis before I sat down to interview her. That led me to only have a checklist and not ask in detail about her change. That cost me dearly. Depressing.
Long List of Problems. The list is almost endless. Mood disorders - Depression, mania, depression with psychotic symptoms, mania with psychotic symptoms, hypomanic, hypothymic, cyclothymic, bipolar I, bipolar II, etc... Anxiety disorders - OCD, PTSD, generalized anxiety, social phobia, specific phobia, agoraphobia, panic attack, etc... Schizophrenia. Schizophreniaform. Schizoaffective. brief Schizo... Drug induced... Sleep disorders... Sexual disorders (which reminds me of what we did in Moral Studies; necrophilia, zoophilia, paedophilia, homophilia, etc...) ... erm... that's all I can remember apart from the Dementia/Delirium and other medical causes for psychiatric problems.
Long List of Treatment. Each grouping has it's specific drug, but since each disorder can overlap into the other, the drugs will also overlap. It's just too long a list to do here. And that's just the drugs. There is also the other Therapies, like CBT, ECT, hypnotism, acupucture, etc...
Long List of Management. I am getting tired of listing down stuff. It's a long list. There are many ways to manage psychiatric patients.
The only difference in the outcome is whether the patient complies or not. Some do. Some don't know they need to. Some don't get better anyway. So it's sad.
It's hard not to get depressed in here.
This is a very depressing posting for me. This posting will make you start to think about the different people around you and understand why they act the way the act... and then you start diagnosing them with psychiatric illnesses. They are amongst us.
Heck, there are even movies about these people, and even real life celebrities who have psychiatric illnesses. Some professions just needs a person to be so, accountants should have a compulsive disorder, lighthouse watch should be a schizoid, actors be hysterionic... They are more prevalant than you think!
Anyway, back to my posting... Psychiatry is a very long process, from long history takings, long management, and long list of problems and treatment.
Long History. Tomorrow, I will be sitting for an exam, that will test my presentation skills and diagnosing and management. Today, I sat for one that tested my interviewing skills. I failed miserably. I declare the session unjust, but I know where I went wrong. I was probably to familiar with the patient and knew her diagnosis before I sat down to interview her. That led me to only have a checklist and not ask in detail about her change. That cost me dearly. Depressing.
Long List of Problems. The list is almost endless. Mood disorders - Depression, mania, depression with psychotic symptoms, mania with psychotic symptoms, hypomanic, hypothymic, cyclothymic, bipolar I, bipolar II, etc... Anxiety disorders - OCD, PTSD, generalized anxiety, social phobia, specific phobia, agoraphobia, panic attack, etc... Schizophrenia. Schizophreniaform. Schizoaffective. brief Schizo... Drug induced... Sleep disorders... Sexual disorders (which reminds me of what we did in Moral Studies; necrophilia, zoophilia, paedophilia, homophilia, etc...) ... erm... that's all I can remember apart from the Dementia/Delirium and other medical causes for psychiatric problems.
Long List of Treatment. Each grouping has it's specific drug, but since each disorder can overlap into the other, the drugs will also overlap. It's just too long a list to do here. And that's just the drugs. There is also the other Therapies, like CBT, ECT, hypnotism, acupucture, etc...
Long List of Management. I am getting tired of listing down stuff. It's a long list. There are many ways to manage psychiatric patients.
The only difference in the outcome is whether the patient complies or not. Some do. Some don't know they need to. Some don't get better anyway. So it's sad.
It's hard not to get depressed in here.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Harvie Krumpet
Won the Best Animated Short Film in the 2003 Australian Film Institute. I do wonder though, why it won. It was interesting, but NOT for children. It's for us studying psychiatry. It's just interesting how the director does things. In the DVD that I have, there are other short films also with weird stories that are related to psych.
Harvie is a very unfortunate man. He was born with a schizophrenic mother who developed Alzheimers, had Tourette's Syndrome, had his skull cracked, struck by lightning, has a testicle removed... He got married (but his wife later died of a stroke), they adopted a little girl (who went on to be a lawyer, and finally he himself developed Alzheimers.
This story is basically a journey to discover himself. And in the middle of the film, the famous words get uttered again: CARPE DIEM. And so he went on doing strange stuff like liberating animals from the slaughter house, became a vegetarian, joined a nudist camp... It's interesting how those words keep coming up in the things I do.
So, in total, I have watched 6 films, not including the ones I watched on TV. However, they are all older movies and none of the new ones. I am also watching Anime before I go to bed. If I think about it, I'm doing not badly in surviving here in Perth.
Last night was a friend's birthday party. We showered him with water and flour. I miss this kind of fun... I have not had this much fun for a long time. It feels quite nostalgic when I think back about things that have happened to me in the past. Like the countless orientation that I've been through; in ASEAN, in NJ, and in IMU. It's just so much fun to not be a grown-up just for that few minutes. It's just interesting how much you can find out from a person by the way they play. Work is one thing, and everyone can put up a face in normal times. But when it come to play, I think you can get much of a person's personality and character. There is also the words that mean something like: judging a person from how he treats the people under him and how he treats his peers.
Of course everybody has their own personality, but most people hide it in public. Everybody wants to look good in front of others, nobody shows who they really are (of course there are exceptions). Harvie shows who he really is, and he is free and he knows what it is to be human...
Anyway, this song is from Harvie Krumpet:
God is better than football
God is better than beer
God is better than cricket'
Cause God's there all the year
He isn't shut on Sundays
He isn't stopped by rain
He's better than a captain coach
You can talk to Him again and again and again and again and again
Ooh! God is better than football
God is better than beer
God is better than cricket
'Cause God's there all the year
Won the Best Animated Short Film in the 2003 Australian Film Institute. I do wonder though, why it won. It was interesting, but NOT for children. It's for us studying psychiatry. It's just interesting how the director does things. In the DVD that I have, there are other short films also with weird stories that are related to psych.
Harvie is a very unfortunate man. He was born with a schizophrenic mother who developed Alzheimers, had Tourette's Syndrome, had his skull cracked, struck by lightning, has a testicle removed... He got married (but his wife later died of a stroke), they adopted a little girl (who went on to be a lawyer, and finally he himself developed Alzheimers.
This story is basically a journey to discover himself. And in the middle of the film, the famous words get uttered again: CARPE DIEM. And so he went on doing strange stuff like liberating animals from the slaughter house, became a vegetarian, joined a nudist camp... It's interesting how those words keep coming up in the things I do.
So, in total, I have watched 6 films, not including the ones I watched on TV. However, they are all older movies and none of the new ones. I am also watching Anime before I go to bed. If I think about it, I'm doing not badly in surviving here in Perth.
Last night was a friend's birthday party. We showered him with water and flour. I miss this kind of fun... I have not had this much fun for a long time. It feels quite nostalgic when I think back about things that have happened to me in the past. Like the countless orientation that I've been through; in ASEAN, in NJ, and in IMU. It's just so much fun to not be a grown-up just for that few minutes. It's just interesting how much you can find out from a person by the way they play. Work is one thing, and everyone can put up a face in normal times. But when it come to play, I think you can get much of a person's personality and character. There is also the words that mean something like: judging a person from how he treats the people under him and how he treats his peers.
Of course everybody has their own personality, but most people hide it in public. Everybody wants to look good in front of others, nobody shows who they really are (of course there are exceptions). Harvie shows who he really is, and he is free and he knows what it is to be human...
Anyway, this song is from Harvie Krumpet:
God is better than football
God is better than beer
God is better than cricket'
Cause God's there all the year
He isn't shut on Sundays
He isn't stopped by rain
He's better than a captain coach
You can talk to Him again and again and again and again and again
Ooh! God is better than football
God is better than beer
God is better than cricket
'Cause God's there all the year
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Thank God for Fidays
Its the weekend again. The only difference this time was that my Friday was a busy one. Started with just PBL. The still remaining problem is that I tend not to speak up. My topic was on the Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia and we were supposed to go through it at the beginning. Of course when I don't say anything, we tend to skip it. I should talk more, speak up more. I mean even in history taking I don't pronouce the words correctly. It's called dysarthria.
After PBL, I went to Royal Perth Hospital to meet up with my group members about our research project. I finally got a research project. It was a great milestone as the due date for the proposal was Friday. oh wait... this IS Fridy. Anyway, my supervisor is a very nice man. He likes to talk, I feel, and is very enthusiastic about his work. He has a Toshiba laptop that is huge. Larger than Martin's one was. It has a remote and everything. And doctors get to buy one every year tax-free. Anyway, after a brief discussion, we were sent off with writing the proposal while another group discussed theirs...
I went to Princess Margarets Hospital for Children next to see my Mentor. We talked and it was fun to have someone to be guiding you and asking how we're getting along in Perth. I've answered that question 3 times on Friday, and all of it are to different people and I gave different answers. All in all, the general idea is that I'm coping. It's been fun and a much educational expereince. Of course there are still stuff to do like reading up on antibiotic regiments.
Next was a vegetarian dinner in the City. It really does taste like the real meat. It was great.
Next, we watched another 2 movies. Van Wilder and Being John Malkovich. They both have their own pros. Van Wilder is the comedic, sexual movie, where else Being John Malkovich is twisted. The underlying message in Van Wilder, the most popular guy in school, is that everybody is cool in their own right, and there is potential in all of us. Oh yeah, point to note is dog semen is fetocidal.
The second movie is an old movie, by the same writer as Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind and just as twisted. There are very good actors in it, John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, etc... I still have no opinions as to what the show actually means but it's about being someone else. The feel to be someone different. It's for those who are experiencing identity crisis and want to know who they really are. And the way to do it is to be someone else for the time being. I guess we all want to be someone different at some point in our lives, but not all of us get to do that.
The similarities in these two movie? Live for moment. Carpe Diem, Memento Mori.
And to end the day (or night) I finally was able to watch Book of Daniel, a series that I've stumbled upon in my search for entertainment. A priest who sees Jesus, who's married to a lovely wife, and have 3 children: a gay son, an adopted chinese guy, and a drug selling daughter; has a Bishop as a father (a father for a father just makes the show weirder...) , a mother who suffers from Alzhiemers, a gullible ignorant innocent sister in law. People talk.
Its the weekend again. The only difference this time was that my Friday was a busy one. Started with just PBL. The still remaining problem is that I tend not to speak up. My topic was on the Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia and we were supposed to go through it at the beginning. Of course when I don't say anything, we tend to skip it. I should talk more, speak up more. I mean even in history taking I don't pronouce the words correctly. It's called dysarthria.
After PBL, I went to Royal Perth Hospital to meet up with my group members about our research project. I finally got a research project. It was a great milestone as the due date for the proposal was Friday. oh wait... this IS Fridy. Anyway, my supervisor is a very nice man. He likes to talk, I feel, and is very enthusiastic about his work. He has a Toshiba laptop that is huge. Larger than Martin's one was. It has a remote and everything. And doctors get to buy one every year tax-free. Anyway, after a brief discussion, we were sent off with writing the proposal while another group discussed theirs...
I went to Princess Margarets Hospital for Children next to see my Mentor. We talked and it was fun to have someone to be guiding you and asking how we're getting along in Perth. I've answered that question 3 times on Friday, and all of it are to different people and I gave different answers. All in all, the general idea is that I'm coping. It's been fun and a much educational expereince. Of course there are still stuff to do like reading up on antibiotic regiments.
Next was a vegetarian dinner in the City. It really does taste like the real meat. It was great.
Next, we watched another 2 movies. Van Wilder and Being John Malkovich. They both have their own pros. Van Wilder is the comedic, sexual movie, where else Being John Malkovich is twisted. The underlying message in Van Wilder, the most popular guy in school, is that everybody is cool in their own right, and there is potential in all of us. Oh yeah, point to note is dog semen is fetocidal.
The second movie is an old movie, by the same writer as Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind and just as twisted. There are very good actors in it, John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, etc... I still have no opinions as to what the show actually means but it's about being someone else. The feel to be someone different. It's for those who are experiencing identity crisis and want to know who they really are. And the way to do it is to be someone else for the time being. I guess we all want to be someone different at some point in our lives, but not all of us get to do that.
The similarities in these two movie? Live for moment. Carpe Diem, Memento Mori.
And to end the day (or night) I finally was able to watch Book of Daniel, a series that I've stumbled upon in my search for entertainment. A priest who sees Jesus, who's married to a lovely wife, and have 3 children: a gay son, an adopted chinese guy, and a drug selling daughter; has a Bishop as a father (a father for a father just makes the show weirder...) , a mother who suffers from Alzhiemers, a gullible ignorant innocent sister in law. People talk.
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