Pt #1 told me she was taking a natural remedy called Empower Plus for Bipolar disorder which I was familiar with… I was happy to talk to her about it, however she was so psychotic and hostile I suggested we try to take care of her the way we knew how to first, and that she should consult a physician who was familiar with this product on an outpatient basis so she could manage her illness successfully, noting that the dose she was taking prior to admission was not working for her since she wound up in the hospital in this first place.
pt#2, also Bipolar, told me he was a minister and did yoga in the Park, but happened to do cocaine and told another practitioner on the unit that it helped him spiritually attain clarity. Having practiced yoga for quite some time (except in the recent past due to a minor injury) I confronted him by stating that traditionally cocaine use and yogic principles don’t align…. well as you could guess that didnt get me far. He’s actually one of the more pleasurable pts to speak to on the unit and told me he likes to treat his mental illness naturally with meditation, yoga (and cocaine?). I checked his knowledge of yoga, and found it to be fair (thus, he must be doing it). During rounds one morning I thought aloud, why cant he be a minister of a local small church, who does yoga in the park and happens to do coke a few times a week, and that not be part of his delusion?
pt#3, Bipolar also, shoot I am seeing a trend here, really nice guy, probably didnt need an admission but more of an EOB bed, exercised like crazy, had multiple girlfriends (well there was some axis II mixed in there) and said he managed his mania with diet exercise and red bull… ok, maybe he didnt do that while he was manic, but only hypomanic….
pt #4, also Bipolar, young woman, came to NYC to do dance and happens to do yoga… I think that’s part of her delusion, she doesn’t know too much about yoga and when she reminded me about it she yelled out OM in a way I’ve never heard before… and once I found her in her room w/o pants on in the happy baby pose…
Come to think of it, none of my schozophrenic or schizoaffective patients are into integrative medicine.
