How to talk to a psych patient??

Hello Friends!

I believe the last NAMI meeting went well. Huzzah!  On to the next…

I was invited to speak at the IACC Annual Conference, April 22nd at the Riverside Convention Center. Guess what they want me to speak about? “How to talk to a psychiatric patient.” Interestingly, I was also asked to speak on the same topic for the AMA Annual Meeting in June. Who would’a thunk?

Before you throw your popcorn at me, please put it into words here, at FriendtoYourself.  What do you think?  What to say?

Will you help me?  How to talk to a psychiatric patient…

Keep on!

10 thoughts on “How to talk to a psych patient??

  1. I agree it could not be funnier to be asked to talk about that!! 🙂

    I agree with Carl. Listen more than talk. Be open, non judgemental, patient, understanding, etc. I mean, if a person is suffering to use your common sense and make them feel better emotionally. I don’t know how you are going to fill up a whole hour with this subject. 🙂

    • How to fill up an hour… 🙂
      Good points, Clare.
      What about the other practitioners out there though? The ones seeing psych patients in a different context? Say a cardiologist, gastrointestinologist, a nurse checking vital signs? The emergency room staff?
      Keep on!

    • Thank you Kitty-Cat.
      I’ll ask you also, what I asked Clare. What about the other practitioners out there though? The ones seeing psych patients in a different context? Say a cardiologist, gastrointestinologist, a nurse checking vital signs? The emergency room staff?
      Thank you!

  2. Talk to a psychiatric patient like a human, kind. Find the pieces and places in the conversation- respect/connect and worlds open.

  3. I often have to remind myself that a patient with a psychiatric disorder is a PERSON diagnosed with a mental illness, they are not “mentally ill” patients. And instead of asking them “what is wrong with you?” , ask “what happened?” But in general, they should be treated like anyone else. Using to Golden Rule.

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