Responselet 9711b
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 20:38:33 PST
This is originally from a physician in Utah.
I work part-time as a teacher of family doctors. The
program provides training on psychiatric disorders and
emphasizes the importance of emotional support. The
new doctors are given plenty of time in clinic to visit
with their patients and learn about their challenges.
One of our interns who has never lived in Utah and
knows nothing about Mormons is still struggling to
understand the cultural climate here. Last week he was
interviewing a new patient and stumbled on what he
thought was a raging psychosis.
<![CDATA[ Doctor: "Well, Mrs. Olsen, we've talked about your high
blood pressure and your medications. Are you
experiencing any particular stress in your life?"
Patient: "Oh, yes! It's the Sunbeams. They're
driving me crazy."
Doctor (very surprised): "The sunbeams?"
Patient: "Yes. I've never had trouble with them
before, but this group won't sit still. They bounce
all over the room, and run out the door and down the
hall."
Doctor (reaching for a pen): "Have you told anyone
about this?"
Patient: "Of course. I told the president."
Doctor: "Really! What did the president tell you?"
Patient: "She said Sunbeams are like that. I'm just
going to have to learn to deal with them."
Doctor (concerned that he may be missing something):
"I know people who are sensitive to sun beams. Do they
cause you a rash or anything?"
Patient (confused): "A rash? No."
Doctor: "What's the biggest problem they're creating?"
Patient: "It's the noise. They just won't quit
talking."
Doctor (astonished): "The sun beams are talking to you?"
Patient: "Well, yes. But mostly they talk to each other."
Doctor (scribbling furiously in the chart): "I see.
Can anyone else hear them talking?"
Patient (after a moment of stunned silence): "You're
not LDS, are you?"
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Robert Armstrong, M.D.