Hiding Mental Illness

Mental illness is a funny thing.

I've seen any number of people come in here who look like normal people.  They talk friendly enough, and seem like they don't have much of an issue.  In fact, in looking at them, they don't appear to have a reason to be coming here.

When you look in their note review however, the story is drastically different.

Some have dependency issues but keep them fairly well-hidden.  Others have rage issues.  Some are paranoid and think everyone is out to get them.  And some do really hear voices telling them to hurt themselves.

The trick for some is to appear normal out in public.  These are the people you see walking around in the mall, looking like they are the happiest people in the world.  The people you see sitting in a restaurant with their significant other, having a lovely little conversation.

Seem blissful don't they?

Chances are, looks are truly deceiving.  Over the last few months, I've taken the time to look at various people's notes to get an idea of what kind of client they are and to see if it's possible to tell what their issue is just from how they appear when they sit in the waiting area.

Granted, some are obvious.  They walk around in circles aimlessly, have full-blown conversations with themselves, go from happy to angry in the time it takes to blink, and have panic attacks out of the blue.  In some cases, it is easy to tell who has an issue and who doesn't.

One client who was sitting in here looked calm and well-kept.  When I looked in their history, I saw a history of paranoia along with a poor relationship with both their mother, brother, and 18 year-old child.  The client was afraid that their family was going to turn their child against them if things continued the way they were going.

Another note talked about someone who was convinced that their significant other was cheating on them while working at a bar.  In the course of the relationship, there had been several fights, most of them ending with fisticuffs and the possibility of charges being brought.

What it shows is that some can be completely out of whack, out of touch with reality, or have some kind of serious mental issue, but when out in a public setting, can appear to have no problmes whatsoever.

There really isn't much depth to this entry though.  It was just something I noticed and felt like posting since I hadn't written in a while.

To follow up my last post where I talk about growth, the pharmacy has continued to grow month to month, although we seem to have consistent issues with whoever the part-time pharmacist is here.

The first one is now the full-time pharmacist, the last one was fresh out of school and apparently this wasn't what he was looking for, and the current one seems to have issues remembering things and understanding what we're telling her.

Oh, and there's the issue of her not completing her CE in time.

I guess 3 years isn't enough time for some.