A new angle...

I have a few things to say today. First of all, when did Psychiatry and Psychology become 2 totally different fields?? So much so, that the Psychiatrist sometimes doesn't even talk to the Psychologist. How annoying is that? I remember when I was younger and I needed "help" and my mother's big thing was that you had to go to a PsyCHIatrist (please insert Jewish mother accent) because then you get a DOCtor. Which is especially ironic since my mother seems to think I am a doctor, and I merely have a Master's degree in Genetics and was an English major. Which is ridiculous. But anyway, let's think about this.

A PsyCHIatrist goes to medical school and has to complete each rotation including just one in psyCHIatry. Then, the residency, blah blah blah. a PsyCHOLogist goes to the same amount of school, does the same amount of internship type stuff and writes a thesis (supposed to be original) and does nothing but psychology for the entire post-grad education. That being said, MOM, aren't you way better off with a CHOL than with a CHI?? Nowadays, you go to the CHOL to "talk" and then get sent to the CHI for meds. The CHI knows nothing about you except that you need meds and usually sends you to a Nurse Practitioner, who records all of your info so you can spend as little time as possible with the CHI who is actually the one prescribing the drugs! Ridiculous.

That being said, I recently starting seeing a CHI who actually talks to me. How weird is that?? She gives me some meds and then talks to me! Today, we interpreted a dream. The funny thing is, she's from CNY - I think she likes me because I pegged her accent and didn't mistake her for Midwest. Which is a rare talent :)

On another note, the CHI is almost definitely a part of the "network". What network, you may ask? The GAY network. Yes, we have one. Now I'm not one to limit myself but it's pretty funny. My Primary Care happens to be gay. She referred me to a gay CHOL. The gay CHOL referred me to a gay massage as well as a gay contractor (rare for a female contractor). She did (shockingly) refer me to a straight CHI. When that whole scene didn't work out, the original doc started me on another network. She referred me to a gay CHI who does drug trials. He referred me to the current CHI who I think is gay, mostly because she has adopted kids and she came from a double-network contact. Is the network ridiculous or what??

I was at Wash U last week (in St. Louis) giving a ridiculous presentation about something I knew nothing about and one of my customers came up to me afterward to "talk". She was very pregnant. So....we started to talk. And she was saying that she will go on maternity leave and then her "other half" is going to quit law school to take care of the kid. My antennae went off. Then, she amended "other half" to partner. But, I still didn't believe it - she doesn't LOOK gay and she's pregnant and believe me, THAT is not easy. Especially on a lab tech salary. She finally drove home her point by saying, "SHE doesn't like law school anyway". I'm hoping to start a new network!!!

And I will NOT invite anyone from that awful Christmas party to MY network. Although, the one guy is a lawyer and it's nice to have a good gay lawyer when you live in VA, the state that treats the "gays" like 2nd class citizens...