The safest thing for us to do, as doctors, is disassociate and depersonalize. We tell ourselves the patient’s suffering, from COPD or alcoholic cirrhosis or opioid addiction, is their own doing. Or more importantly, would never happen to us. Or maybe we try to numb our empathy by memorizing the neurochemistry and behavioral science of addiction. But none of that works so ... Continue Reading
When the Addict is Your Sister
By Rob Schreiner, MD, FACP, FCCP