Before & After

There is a a patient at my fieldwork that everyone tolerates. I do not know if it is his demeanor or the way he talks to the women there. He loves to push every button possible. But, this week he showed a different side of himself. The first week I was there I wondered how is this women married to this man. She is really nice and he is....grating on the nerves, codescending almost to the point of rudeness. On my first day, the wife said, he wasn't like this when I married him. But, something my supervisor said to me stuck and changed my perspective entirely. I think he wants attention, and this is the way he gets it. He is a nice man and at the end of the treatment session when no one was around except him, my supervisor and me he calmed down and started to talk. This smile came across his face. Not the smile I had seem the past 2 weeks. A genuine smile because he got to talk about some thing he loved, Wine.

This got me thinking. This normal man's life was turned upside down by his injury. He can't work, can't complete his ADL's without some sort of help from his wife. This has changed this man's demeanor into a totally different person, and not always for the better. He tries to find some way to compete with others, I can do this. You can't do that yet, why not? Aren't these ladies pushing you hard enough. They are hard on me. And they aren't even treating my other problem (wrist pain). I've had it for 7 years, and it's hurts every day, but I'm still doing this. These are just examples of what Mr.X might say. But, when other patients are not there he is a completely different patient. By giving this patient an outlet for his "old" identity we got to see the real him for the first time. Now I understand what the real implications can be on the persons psychosocial life. The other staff and I did not want anything to do with this man, until he showed another side of himself. But it still stands to question, was any of this from another source. I guess we might never know. Will his life ever return to normal? This is another question that may not have an answer, but he is on his way to recovery from his hand injury, and maybe, just maybe his attitude did not change permanently. But only his wife can tell you that answer down the road.

After loosing a job because of an accident it is hard to keep spirits high but it is crutial to your future outlook. This site has some more information that is hopefully helpful information about coping with the stress of job loss. This article only deals with the loss of a job, but I feel these coping mechanisms would be good for after an accident as well.