Reya Shah, DTMH September 2017
It’s coming to the end of Week 6 and our heads are swarming with various flies, worms and life cycles! But one memorable season was quite different: a workshop on conflict, migration and mental health, with a focus on individual experiences. This feels so relevant in the current climate, with an unprecedented scale of catastrophe, war and displaced people around the globe today.
Dr Wilkinson inspired us to think about these peoples’ narratives when acting as their doctor: to see those whose needs may be hidden and listen to their stories, in order to make a difference to their lives and health: both physical and mental. My mind was brimming with tales of patients that she and my fellow DTMHers had met. I imagined being back in an NHS clinic and tried to put what I took from today down in words.
The Iceberg
Another day, another clinic
In this rainy, comfortable, peaceful place
My next patient has fled their homeland
Here, they have no voice, they have no face
What can I do for you today?
Surfing away on the tide of my routine
A perplexing wash of ailments, still
The submerged iceberg remains unseen
Examining every nail, every orifice
Wondering what the physical problem could be
I hear but I do not listen
I look but I do not see
What could they have been through?
What could they have lost?
How did they feel? What were their thoughts?
What’s the psychological cost?
Ripped from cultural and language ties
Torn from a home, a community
The decision to leave amidst
Acts of brutality, cruelty, savagery
Travelling through fire and tragedy
Bearing naught but the tattered flag of hope
They finally arrive to face humiliation,
Degradation, for the misplaced fear they evoke
The trauma many have suffered
Would burn me to my core
War and catastrophe breed ill adventure
Mental as well as visible scars and sores
Another day, another clinic
In this rainy, comfortable, peaceful place
I’ll remember to ask my next patient’s story
Affirm that they matter, they have a voice, a face
**This cover photo is taken from artwork from “Oh Canada” by Missy Higgins, a song telling the heart-breaking tale of a Syrian refugee’s story - his 3 year old son tragically drowned in the Mediterranean sea.