the mind studying the brain
Current Trans: Geriatric Psych
Current Mood: depressed
Why?
Memories of my lola & her mental/physical demise in her old age. The fact that depression/dementia are common co-morbidities with heart disease. It bothers me that she may have been suffering from more than physical disease and nobody bothered to catch it :( She had a history of falls as well, and I remember it got to the point where she needed help just to bathe.
Seeing my lola grow old wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to watch as a 10 year old. Seeing my aunt who’s a nurse get frustrated with my lola’s impairments wasn’t much fun either. I suppose it wasn’t until I got into medical school that I began to fully understand my aunt & why she is the way she is - she knew what was coming. I’d bet good money that she was mostly frustrated because cardiac disease can be preventable; and yet she has essential hypertension despite her healthy lifestyle. I bet she was frustrated because despite her diligent care of my lola, her kidneys finally gave out one day.
It’s hard to study this knowing that my mother has hypertension & is growing old as well. It’s hard to study psych when I have questions about depression running in my family; when I’m not even sure if I’m depressed myself or if it’s just the regular med-school-stress.
I cannot wait for this module to be over so I can worry about having some other disease already.
