They're Watching You

This month I've been working in the surgical ICU. One thing I've come to notice is that ICU delirium is a very real thing. One patient on our service developed quite florid delusions and delerium. He rants about nurses having sex near his room and hospital staff stealing his credit cards and perseverates on the idea that the hospital staff is trying to keep him from communicating with his son. His delusions are so strikingly paranoid that if they were in almost any other context I'd think schizophrenia. Or cocaine abuse.

Anyway, he reminded me of my stint at the county psychiatric hospital. While there I saw many patients who had all sorts of bizarre and non-bizarre delusions. People would confide to you such things like their mother is really satan, or that their bones are disintegrating or that their doctor is conspiring against them.

It's interesting dealing with these patients because you have to build their trust, but at the same time cannot foster their delusions. You have to reassure them that you believe them, but at the same time let them know what is actually real.

The reason I am re-blogging about this (you'd have to have access to the old blog to see the original post) is that I saw the below video at The Onion. I wasn't quite sure what to think of it. They bring up some of the most common delusions that schizophrenics have, but make a mockery of it in a Steven Colbert style comedy. While some of the delusions people have can certainly be entertaining is this video going too far?