I’m writing a paper for a public health class, and my topic is mental health in children of immigrant parents. Sometimes I worry that I’m secretly a narcissist because my interests in public health have deep roots in personal experience. Then again, who better to solve a social problem than those who know it best? Anyway, that’s not the random thought. My random thought is that mental health should not automatically be lumped with substance abuse the way it often is in the social services world. There are certainly links between the two issues, but connecting them really does a disservice to people struggling to maintain their mental health but are otherwise high-functioning members of society. Or am I just further stigmatizing drug abuse? 

Another random thought. 

This postcard on PostSecret today really struck a chord with me. If I were that physician, I would feel awful about letting my patients down. But we’re human, too, you know? It’s hard to know where to draw that line between your own needs and the needs of your patients. I hope I get better at it.