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Thank you for sharing this difficult story of your suicidal roommate and friend. I know there are many stories like this, and yet too few of them see the light of day or brightness of a publication page. I am so happy to hear that she got the help she needed and was able to graduate and become a family doctor (the field I am about to train in for residency!), but sorry to hear she "had to hit rock bottom" in order for that to happen.
She may have been told this many times as I have, but her personal struggles with mental illness will (and likely already have) made her a better, more compassionate physician, colleague, and human being who will be able to identify and treat mental illness more readily than someone who hasn't struggled and cannot relate to the lived experience. However, it's hard to appreciate the silver lining when you're in the middle of a dark cloud as you and your housemates were in this piece. Your article and work in the Emergency Department speak to the need for specialized facilities and treatment programs for patients in psychiatric crisis, as a 72 hour Form 1 hold is grossly inadequate on its own without additional treatments in hospital or the community. Thank you for continuing to care for mentally ill patients in your ED with kindness and understanding.
Competing Interests: None declared.References
- Jonathan Ding. Quiet rooms. CMAJ 2020;192:E662-E663.