It was during my Psychiatry rotation
, that my close encounters with psychiatric patients began. I am reminded of Mrs. Rani,
a woman with a history of major depression
that was admitted for suicidal ideation. I wanted to definitively understand why she
had had suicidal thoughts. After several sessions interacting on a more personal level, she finally opened up and tearfully narrated her story. She was a widow and had recently lost her only son in an accident, it was the overwhelming grief and despair
that caused her to have suicidal thoughts. Later, it helped us to arrange for grief counseling after uncovering this vital detail of her story. This was
was a unique transition period, when I reali
zsed how complex and challenging treating mentally ill
ness can be, and also learnt how an individual`s mental well being is linked to their life experiences.


