Yesterday I almost cried in the middle of a consultation. I was just back from 2 weeks holiday and one of my regular patients, a young woman with a big problem with self-harm, came to tell me that she’s managed to survive the time I was away without any self-harm. The last time I went away, 12 months before, I had returned to find her in intensive care after a near lethal overdose.
This patient is a survivor of very serious childhood abuse and has had a lot of therapy including DBT groups – regarded as the gold standard in the treatment of emotional dysregulation. Six months ago she had started an online course for PTSD sufferers and something had clicked for her. It had been torrid but she had emerged from it much stronger. In the last 3 months she had been able to refrain from self-harm but we saw my holiday as a big test.
The online PTSD course marked a turning point. It gave her a better understanding of what was happening for her and allowed her to pull together all the skills she had learnt leading up to it.
To learn more about online therapy go to
www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/emhprac
Jan is Sydney GP, private psychological medicine practitioner in Sydney’s inner west and a GP educator for Black Dog Institute.
Perioperative nurses play a crucial role in ensuring patient safety during surgery. Monitoring intraoperative temperatures is essential for identifying and managing perioperative hypothermia and malignant hyperthermia, safeguarding patient well-being.
Anthony is a retired engineer, who is compliant with his COPD and diabetes management but has been struggling with frequent exacerbations of his COPD.
QHUB, launched by Medcast, is a new home for quality use of medicine education. Supported by the Australian Government, it offers healthcare professionals and consumers free, comprehensive resources on key health issues, starting with eczema.