English: Lou Ruvo Brain Institute (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When the brain gets sick, what does it look like? Do we grow warts, or turn purple or loose our thumbs? How does our brain say,
Help!
Through emotions and behaviors. That’s how.
If we were an internist, a primary care physician, we would look at the vital signs. We’d put our fingers on the wrist, count beats of the heart and breathing, and measure the pressure in the blood filled arteries. This would tell us some of the story, the introduction to the body.
A church secretary came in complaining of indigestion times two weeks….
Or,
In a far off land, there once was a young maiden who by chance came to a magic filled glade…
Smile.
How does one do this in psychiatry though? We start with the vital sign of SLEEP.
A farmer in the vast expanse of corn fields went each night to his bed with determination, gritted teeth and racing thoughts. He worried over things that others thought were insignificant. He ruminated and chewed over information. Making decisions followed him around as if each were a crisis life balanced on. The farmer was awake in the night for hours before his mind turned off. And when he awakened, he was not refreshed….
Question: Are you comfortable with considering sleep as a symptom of brain health? When do you decide to look for medical reasons for poor sleep verses adjustment issues? Please tell us your story.
Self-care tip: Get to know your story to know better about your health.
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Filed under: Sleep Tagged: brain, health, Mental Health, presence, psychiatry, self care, Sleep disorder, sleep hygiene
