Whether it is uncontrolled diabetes, consistently high blood pressure despite taking medication, a fungal infection in their toenails that hasn’t cleared in 2 years or having signs of depression that are not managed by adopting a positive attitude and resilience. These are just the tip of an iceberg of health issues that could easily be managed if it weren’t because of our stubbornness.

The reasons most people are reluctant to seek help always revolve around bad communication between them and their healthcare professionals; or personal perceptions, ill-informed understanding of medicines and unrealistic expectations of what they can do to improve their health without the help of medicine.

Previous bad experiences with a healthcare professional, worrying about the potential harm and side effects that they might experience when starting medication, insisting on lifestyle interventions rather than medication, and being reluctant to take medicines for the rest of their lives are just some of the many excuses that stop people from seeking medical help.

The following points may aid you in convincing them to see a health professional:

1. Do not push your argument, listen to them and acknowledge their “correct” argument

There are several strategies that I’ve learnt on the job over my experience as a front-line pharmacist that has helped me to persuade my patients to seek medical interventions. One thing that I’ve come to terms with is that it’s almost impossible to change someone’s behaviour by telling them you are right and they are wrong.

In most cases, you simply cannot talk logic to people with strong beliefs as their actions are powerfully governed by their emotions rather than rational thinking. If you start the conversation by telling them they’re wrong, you’ll only make them defensive because it feels like a personal attack on their intellect, causing them to dig their heels in. So, in these situations, rather than pushing your own argument, it’s best to be tentative and listen, listen and listen. Paying attention to what they have to say, understanding their ideology as to why they have such beliefs. They may be extrapolating correct points so far that they are no longer right – acknowledge them, before guiding them to realise they’re no longer completely right is probably the best way to make your loved one agree with you that they need help.

2. Do not assume they aren’t aware of what’s the right thing to do

The problem with trying to connect with your loved ones or convince them of a different perspective is that we have a tendency to assume that they aren’t aware of what is and isn’t the right thing to do. The truth is that people are generally smart enough to know what’s right and wrong unless they are a psychopath. So, telling people what to do and how to do things right is not usually well taken and almost every time would lead to a bitter ending.

Take smoking for an instance, everyone knows that smoking is bad and is the major contributor to lung cancer. So, why do many people still smoke despite knowing that it’s a harmful habit? The answer to this is simple – the pleasure they get from smoking is far greater than the truth. The ugly truth of how smoking kills.

3. Guide them to their own enlightenment – make it seems like their own idea

Convincing someone to change their mind and seek help is really the process of convincing them to change their entrenched beliefs. It usually takes more than telling them your own beliefs.

Rather than stating the obvious facts, truths, and consequences of their behaviour, it is much more effective to guide them to their own enlightenment instead. What I mean by this is to make it seem like their own idea in seeking help.

The way to do this is to help them understand “why” they need to seek help in the first place rather than telling them they need help.

People usually have strong attachments to their opinions. So, to change their thoughts about seeking help requires you to address their emotional attachment to what they believe.

Let’s go back to the smoking example, to many people, health is the politically correct reason but usually not the deal-breaker and motivator when it comes to quitting smoking. If health is the priority then everyone would have quit by now. By helping your loved one to dig deeper into finding their ultimate reason for quitting, and acknowledge their reasons for maintaining the status quo – can not only help them see that there is a need to do something about it but most importantly of all, enable the change to come from within.

This approach works well because you’re giving someone you care about the chance to lower their guard and permission to change their mind without fear of it making a fool of themselves.

By acknowledging their concerns and reasons for not seeking help you can increase the chances of convincing themselves to get the help they need. For instance, the motivating factor is beyond avoiding lung cancer but rather focusing on the end goal of being around to see the grandkids.

The next time you want to get your stubborn loved one to seek medical help, follow the tips above, make your case, and guide them to their own enlightenment and help them reach the conclusion for themselves, not because you told them to but because they finally realise that there is a need to.

To a more persuasive you,

The post How to get stubborn loved ones to seek medical help? appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

To a happier you,

The post The truth about depression – Part 2 appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

To a happier you,

The post The truth about depression – Part 1 appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

As a matter of fact, a patient of mine mentioned to me earlier this week about how she has had terrible sleep due to her husband’s infamous talent of producing a deep soprano type snore every single night. She tried every method available to help her sleep. Every night she had to go to bed at least half an hour earlier than him so that she can fall asleep before he revved his v12 engine. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, especially when she is not in a deep sleep stage, she would be woken up by his snore and never able to get back to sleep. Sequentially she resorted to having her GP to prescribe her with some sleeping pills. I told her that dependency on sleeping tablets to help her get to sleep is not a habit she should get into.  Yes, sleeping tablets can initiate sleep and get you to a shallow sleep state. However, it’s never intended to get you to the deep sleep stage where your mind and body could recover fully from a hard day of concentration. Getting into a good sleep hygiene practice would be ideal in her case and I also suggested her to give white noise a go.

What is white noise?

How will it help with your sleeping?

What does the evidence show?

The post Could Noise Be The Remedy To A Good Night Sleep?! appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

As the day went on, my energy levels dropped a notch, and my thoughts drifted to my wife and the little guy. I was thinking more about my wife. A wave of worry started to erupt out of thin air. I was worried to the point that I need to call her just to make sure she is coping with the baby alone. But to my relief, my wife replied to me in a calm and a collective tone, saying – “ I’m fine, and I’m adapting.” This calm and reassuring response from my wife placed all my worries to rest.

We are indeed living in a fast pace society, especially in the post-COVID world where adaptability reigns supreme. Whether it is in business, life, relationships, and health. The need for adaptability has never been more relevant than it is now. Many of us like to think of ourselves as flexible and adjustable. However, when it comes to change, most of us are actually a lot more resistant to it then we believe. This is because change is usually difficult and is never easy. It’s our natural human instinct to stay within our comfort zone despite knowing that we need to step out of it for us to grow.

I look at change and adaptation like chocolate and coffee. It is the perfect combination that goes hand in hand. Whenever there’s a change, adaptability always follows. If we don’t adapt, we will simply be replaced.

Charles Darwin, one of our great minds of the century, knew about this from the get-go and his words still very much resonate in the 21^st century;

The post Do Not Underestimate Your Ability To Adapt appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

What is off label use?

I had an incident before I went for my paternity leave that a regular patient of mine was prescribed a medicine by her doctor for migraine management. However, when she searched the drug on google, she was surprised that it did not mention anything about the condition that she was using it for. As a result, she was upset and wondered why she needed to take the medicine. It’s situations like this where health professionals need to continuously remind themselves of the importance of effective communication and the impact it may have on patients psychologically if we do not communicate the right information at the appropriate time.  Many of you may wonder what exactly is “off label use” and why would a doctor use an approved drug for an unapproved purpose?

First of all, before you start worrying and go through your medicine cupboard to see which medicines you are currently prescribed as “off label use”, it’s important to understand the approval process of medicine in New Zealand. An approved medicine – which is the majority of the medicines in the dispensary – is a medicine that has been through a regulatory process by Minister of Health and Medsafe and can be considered safe to prescribe, under the approved conditions listed in the Medicine Data Sheet. However, when an approved medicine is prescribed for an unapproved indication, it is considered “off-label” use. Off-label prescribing is relatively common and completely legal. However, the prescriber must take responsibility for the safety of it when used for an off-label indication.

Why doctors prescribe for off label use?

There are many reasons why your doctor would consider prescribing medicine for an off-label purpose. A lot of the time, doctors may not be aware that the drug they use commonly on patients is not approved for the conditions they are trying to treat. (e.g., the use of tricyclic antidepressant for neuropathic pain).

Another crucial reason is the emergence of new evidence from the literature to suggest it can be used for a particular unapproved indication. The reason that off-label prescribing is common is that the drug approval process is generally a lengthy process, which could take 15 years upwards from start to finish.  Drug companies are required to conduct clinical trials to ensure its safety and effectiveness before the FDA can approve for new indications for an approved drug. However, with the rapid emergence of new evidence of clinical practice from the medical and scientific fields, the guideline for best practice is continually evolving. Hence, leading to the rise in off-label medicine prescribing.

A classic example, for instance, the study of several medications that could potentially be effective against COVID-19. One of the drugs that gain significant attention in the past months was hydroxychloroquine – an approved drug for the treatment of malaria, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. As it was partly due to the controversy of Donald Trump telling reporters he was taking the drug to protect himself against coronavirus despite public health officials warning that it could cause heart problems. The president has repeatedly promoted the drug against medical advice. However, based on a recent announcement from WHO, a clinical trial has found that hydroxychloroquine is ineffective in the reduction of death rates from hospitalised COVID-19 patients when compared with standard of care. This just proves that not all off-label use is clinically sound, and sometimes new evidence could emerge rapidly to revoke previous ones.

In another example, when it comes to anxiety with public speaking, you may find your doctor might prescribe a drug call propranolol. Now, propranolol is approved for use in high blood pressure but not for use in anxiety. However, it helps people manage their anxiety by slowing the heart rate and stop your heart from racing during anxious times.

Good practice from now onwards is to consider asking your doctor about your new medicine before you leave the consultation room. It is essential to understand what medicine you’ll be taking and why you need to take it. Always be familiar with your new medication and understand how to take it properly. Do not hesitate to talk to your pharmacist – whether is me, our pharmacist staff or a pharmacist from other pharmacies. Be sure to ask all the questions and have your concerns addressed so that you can put your mind at ease.

To your health,

Chris
Pharmacist

The post Why Are Some Drugs Prescribed For Off Label Use? appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

Feeling like a walking zombie is somehow expected and socially acceptable when you have a newborn. Besides joking about how tired new parents can be and how much our body can adjust to less sleep, many parents might not be aware, or more correctly, chose to ignore the impact sleep deprivation can have on both our physical and mental well-being and it should not be a health issue taken lightly.

Take me as an example, one morning a few days ago; I was meant to get some more nappies from the supermarket as we were close to running out. Instead of listening to my wife’s suggestion of getting them delivered, I insisted on driving to get them. Partly because despite being beyond tired, I was still functioning well, so I thought I’d go for a drive, and get some much needed fresh after some gruelling nights of fragmented sleep. However, the part I didn’t consider in this was the fact that I hadn’t slept for more than a 2 hour stretch for the last few days. On my way to the supermarket, there were several traffic lights that I had to go through. I stopped at one of the red lights and then what seemed like a split-second later I dozed off, and it must have been a good 5 seconds after the traffic light flashed green and a few horns from cars behind me, I got my thoughts together and started moving again. I was fortunate because it could have been worse if it happened when I was driving where I could drift across to the oncoming traffic and cause a big accident. I didn’t realise how much my cognitive and motor function was impaired by sleep deprivation. What’s worse is that there are many more parents out there on the same page as me, and they don’t understand the negative impact of sleep deprivation has on their cognitive, phycological, and emotional functioning and are an accident in the waiting.

Before the birth of our little guy, both my wife and I were considered ourselves good sleepers. We both enjoyed a good sleep in on the weekends and rarely had problems getting to sleep at night – usually a solid 8 hours for my wife and at least 6 hours for me on weeknights. We were aware of the sleep situation when looking after a newborn. However, we did not anticipate it to this extent. We were a little naïve to think that quantity will make up for the lack of quality from fragmented sleep. However, it this true? Can new parents get the same amount and quality of sleep as usual? Both my wife and I attempted to answer this from our experience of 2 weeks into looking after our newborn. I would generally consider our little guy a good sleeper, considering that it is typical for a newborn to sleep between 2 and 3 hours before they are due for their feed. I remember it so vividly that the first week, he was able to sleep soundly for a good 3 hours before a nappy change or a feed. However, as we approached the second week, cluster feeding kicked in, where he would be feed somewhere between 1 to 2 hourly. This was when things started to get interesting. We noticed that when we had to wake up every 3 hours at night to feed our son, even though it was hard, we were still able to function throughout the day besides a few yawns. However, for the past week of cluster feeding, waking up every 1 to 2 hours does start to take its toll.  Even though we still ended up sleeping for a good 7 hours a day in total, this kind of sleep we are getting is not the kind of sleep that made us feel well-rested the next day because highly fragmented sleep has stolen much of our needed deep sleep. In other words, we are not spending enough hours in restorative sleep to make us feel refreshed and ready to take on the world.

When you look at the sleep pattern of an adult versus, a newborn, an adult has a definite sleep pattern cycle, each one lasting about 90 minutes to 2 hours. On the contrary, a newborn usually has a much shorter sleep cycle of approximately 50 minutes, and they generally spend 50% to 80% of sleep time in the deep sleep phase (REM), compared with our 20%. In other words, if your newborn wakes up every 1 to 1 and a half hours, technically, the fragmented sleep that you managed to fit in during the night may not even allow your body to complete the full cycle of sleep. This type of sleep, which is typical for most new parents – where you are up 2 to 3 times for at least 1 hour over 8 hours could be worse than someone only managed to get 4 to 5 hours of straight sleep at night. Because at least they are getting somewhere between 2 to 3 sleep cycles compared to nothing at all if your sleep is fragmented. This is alarming because every time you get up and go back to sleep, you are practically starting the sleep cycle all over again – meaning that you have to go through shallow sleep stages before you return to deep sleep. The problem is the majority of parents felt like a walking zombie because, with a newborn, you will never reach the deep sleep stage.

So, what can parents do about their deprived sleep state? Most of the parents I came across on my walks tried to convince me that we eventually just get used to the feeling of being so fatigued, however, we tend to underestimate the significant effect on our health and performance as a direct result of prolonged sleep deprivation. Sometimes what we need to do is to make sleep a priority and admit that we do need a decent amount of sleep to function properly. Rather than just accept our fate, we need to proactively try to do something about it and find some personalised ways to help us fit in a few naps where possible. Because at the end of the day, listening to expert advice or finding methods that work entirely for you and your partner can often be the fine line between what will or will not remedy the situation.

Of course, this often is easier said than done, especially when parents need to deal with small children on top of a newborn. However, after almost three weeks of fragmented sleeping patterns, there were several things we’ve noticed and are actively doing that helped us to make us perform a little better than just being walking zombies and could be beneficial advice for some of the new parents or parents to be that you know.

1. Sleep in on the weekends – what we’ve found beneficial was to sleep an extra 2 to 3 hours on the weekends if possible. Even if it means that you need to get your in-laws or parents in to look after your little ones so that you can catch up on some well-needed rest. However, the trick is not to let yourself over-indulge because oversleeping can often lead to a new cycle of sleep deprivation where you don’t feel tired at times where you need to sleep.
2. Take regular naps – take frequent naps is crucial, but getting a full cycle of nap is much more critical. We have often been told to take 20 minutes power nap. However, it only helps if you are getting a decent amount of sleep at night. Given that we now know that a full cycle of sleep last approximately 90 minutes, it would be much better off if you could get an entire cycle of sleep into a nap where it will allow your brain to get into a deep sleep stage and sequentially giving you a feeling of being well-rested.
3. Ask your partner so you can skip a feeding – I’ll be doing this more when I’m back to work in a week so that my wife and I could get a good stretch of 6 hours sleep. This can be done by getting your partner to get a bottle of breast milk pumped ready to go so that you can feed the little one while your partner is getting some well-deserved sleep.

Despite a difficult time for us and many other new parents out there who are feeling sleep deprived, knowing that the gruelling nights will eventually come to an end and that we can start enjoying a good night’s sleep that we always taken for granted is reassuring.

Sweet dreams,

Chris
Pharmacist

The post Sweet Dreams Are Not Made Of This appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

It was only a little over a week now that you arrived in this world at 10:27 pm on June 5^th, 2020, and ever since you have become the centre of our lives. Your presence became the cement that bonded your mum, and I even closer together. Although we’ve only known you for such a small period of time, it felt like we’ve known you for a lifetime. The way you frown, the way you smile, the way you startle, and the way you smell seems too all familiar to us as if we’ve known you way before you were born. Going back to the day before your arrival, your mum and I were randomly joking about how we should cherish the last meal that we’ll be enjoying together with no disturbance – just the two of us. Thinking about this retrospectively, there is no doubt that I’ll be missing the happy times spent with your mum before you were born. However, becoming a parent is an incredible experience that is second to none, especially as you are our first. Even though you introduced us to a whole new way of living, having to deal with regular feeding, caring, nappy changing, burping, and sleepless nights. It is all worth it.

Having the chance to witness you came into the world is both exhilarating and exuberant. It is truly a blessing, and all I can say is that your mum is amazing! The obstetrician and midwife told us that it could take your mother at least 12 to 36 hours after induction for you to be born. However, little did we know that you were an eager baby and meeting us as soon as possible was the only thing on your mind. Hence, it only took mummy two and a half hours and three final pushes to give birth to you, and the rest is history. The amount of pain your mother went through during those gruelling two and a half hours was unimaginable. I was pretending to be strong, holding your mother’s hand tightly, brushing her hair slowly and kissing her forehead as she pushes at each contraction. However, deep down, I could feel my heart ripping apart every time your mum experiences a contraction. It is the kind of pain you and I will never experience. It is something you must understand, treasure, and deeply engraved in your heart, son, as you get older, that your mother has given you her ultimate love through the selfless sacrifice. She held you close to her and comforted you when you were restless long before I could do anything for you. Your mother is the reason that I hold you today.

Your mother and I always knew that I wanted to be a Dad. Despite our busy work life, we knew immediately not long after we got married that something was missing from life that a dream job or traveling couldn’t fill. However, with the number of things on our plate at the time, it felt like starting a family would not be the best decision. Yet it turned out to be the best decision of our lives. One thing we’ve to learn from this and you should always remember when you get older is that there is never a right time to do the things you hate, but it is always the perfect time to do the right things and the things that you are passionate in.

My son, hearing you, and seeing you for the first time, was an incredible moment filled with an overwhelming sense of excitement and happiness. It must be our natural human instinct, but I felt immediately attached to you – my little man. Our first night at Birthcare was a huge learning curve for me. After being discharged from the maternity ward at 2 am, we had to drive to Birthcare where we stayed for the next four nights learning how to take care of you. It was the first time I drove with you in my car. Your mother would tell you that I’m usually a fast driver (of course, within the speed limits). However, suddenly driving at 50km/hr speed seems to be too fast. This is the first out of many adjustments that I had to make bearing you in mind. After we checked in at Birthcare, we were immediately given a run down by the midwife on how to take care of you. It was the night which I gave you a lot of my “first-timers.”

The first time I changed your nappy filled with meconium. The first time I cuddled and burped you on my shoulders. The first time I gazed into your eyes, introducing myself. You were calm and contented, which made me think that it’s because you knew who I was and you must have felt at home already.  It’s a wonderful moment that I will treasure for life, but it also marks the beginning of the unimaginable period of worrying, learning, and perfecting.  The truth is that the first week after your birth was bitter and sweet. I had to learn and do a lot of new things while I’m deprived of sleep. It is because of the unknown that made me feel nervous about being a dad. I could remember vividly that the midwife told us that you might have jaundice and we had to do a blood test on you made us so worried despite it is common in new-born. The sight and sound of hearing you crying during the blood test made my heart sink into my stomach, and we just felt so anxious, nervous, and helpless. I guess this would be the first taste of the many worries that are lined up for us for the rest of our lives.

Being a dad is like on a roller coaster ride where you continuously have the thoughts and feelings of whether I’m good enough for you and can be a good provider of not just being able to support the family financially but also by being there for you when you ever need me. But what fatherhood taught me so far is that life is precious and worth fighting for. A lot of the times we tend to let the regret of our past or the fear of the future distract us from the present. I have no doubt that you will grow up so fast right before our eyes and being fully present for you is the least, I could do to not miss any moments with you that I will never get back.
Having you in our lives is the best thing that happened to us despite the changes we need to make along the way. You have made me a more responsible, caring, patient, and loving person, which I never thought I could have become.

I can’t wait to share the rest of my life with you, teaching you how to play basketball, how to be a man, and find your purpose in life.

Love you always,
Dad

The post How you have changed my life appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

I’ve known you for more than eight years now but not until almost six years ago that we started our relationship together. The first time we met was when we were working together – back then, you were a pharmacy student, and I was a pharmacist early in my career. I remember vividly on your first day of work; you came across to me as a straight A’s student that knew your stuff very well. But what made you stand out was how hands-on you were at work, which impressed me greatly. I have to be honest that it is very rare in my opinion that a student could pose both book and street-smart qualities. So, it was a fantastic start to our collegial relationship during our times working together.

Fast track to 3 years later, we both were working in different places. You were working as a clinical pharmacist in Lower Hutt, and I was working as a part-time pharmacist while pursuing my PhD study. Out of the blue, we started messaging each other again. By the time we knew it, the rest is history. Life is an exciting mystery, often we set out on a quest in search of the best, but without realising, the best is already present right before our eyes. I often used this phrase to describe our relationship. Because you are the perfect one for me and I’m so glad that it didn’t take me long to realise that and did something about it.

I don’t consider myself as someone who has the instinct of always making the right decisions in life.  However, marrying you is probably one of the most decisive choices that I’ve made that turns out to be the best decision that I’ve ever made in my entire life.

Popping the question, buying a house together, and getting married and going on a honeymoon is the natural progression when you find someone willing to embark on a journey into the unknown with you regardless of the outcome. It is no different from ours. Since we both love kids and we are always on the same page when it comes to raising a family together, it has never been a question of “whether” but more so about “when” we are going to start a family.

I can remember clearly the day you surprised me with new-born onesies and a positive pregnancy test wrapped in a gift box; it is the day my life has changed completely. It was something that I have never experienced. It was a sense of joy that can never be put into words. Since then, we have embarked on an extraordinary pregnancy journey. It was the one that has completely recalibrated our life. Being able to witness and be right beside you throughout the journey was a blessed and miraculous experience. It made me appreciate so much about life.

I mean, we all know how precious life is, and some scientists even estimate the probability of you being born at about one in 400 trillion – that’s a pretty significant number. However, a lot of the time, you couldn’t put it into the perspective of the sheer odds we are in from just being born. At least not until you see how a little person comes about overtime that you genuinely believe that being able to be given a chance to be born in this world is itself is already a miracle. Not to mention all the complications and challenges that could potentially arise throughout the whole pregnancy journey.

What makes it amazingly special is that despite knowing that the odds are against us, we still managed to create something so perfect and precious. To be honest, the word ecstatic is an understatement as we just cannot find a word to describe our joy truly.

To say that you are simply my superhero is an understatement. You are a strong and yet a caring person for whom my admiration and love for you has grown a little more each day since we got married. However, not until the past nine months that my love for you has grown exponentially. I may have thought I loved you before, but I’m not exaggerating when I say I worship you now.

I’ll never forget the way you looked when the obstetrician told us that our lives as we knew it was set to change forever. The way you protectively cradle your belly during the car ride home, the way you smiled as we decorate baba’s room to a safari theme, the way you change your routine to accommodate this little person in you, the way you sacrificed the food that you love so that this little person could thrive in your tummy.

Day by day, you started to see the little guy growing bigger ever so slightly in your tummy. Day by day, you begin to feel his kicks getting stronger and stronger to the point that we could literally feel his little feet pressing hard against your tummy. Day by day, we start to build a real connection with him. You still manage to get through each day as though it’s no big deal, as though you just naturally know what to do.

At times, part of me is terrified about what is to come. I worry about whether I will be a good role model for our son. I worry about not being able to help with taking care of our son properly. I worry about not earning enough to give you and baba a comfortable life. But every time I had those thoughts, I just look at you and realise how you have handled everything that came your way, whether you like it or not so confidently and poise. This is just simply enough for me to keep on grinning about the future.

Right now, I’m sitting in a chair next to your bed at Birthcare, staring at you while you are sleeping as I am writing this. I have no idea how you did it. The pain must have been so intense and overwhelming that even I could feel it.  The pain was brutal and unbearable, and I found myself gritting my teeth and tensing my whole body every time when you experience a contraction. I was in awe that you decided not to have an epidural despite the amount of pain you were enduring.

We always heard that we see the real person in times of desperation. The person I see today was the exact same girl that I met eight years ago, strong and tough but yet soft-spoken and caring. Despite the amount of pain you went through, you still manage to comfort me through the way you looked at me. The pain from the last few pushes must have been so intense that you gave everything you had in you. But the reward was out of this world.

You gave me a glimpse into what you have been keeping to yourself for the past nine months, and finally, we are holding our little man that you have sacrificed yourself, your body, and your routine and your time. I remember our midwife said to me as she delivered our baby boy that my son is a miracle. I couldn’t agree with her more. But in my honest opinion, the greater miracle is my wife, who has shown me what love really is and the definition of true selfless sacrifice.

Because of you, there are three of us now. The unbreakable trio of love, laughter, selfless and appreciation.

To my amazing wife,

Chris
Husband/Father

The post An open letter to my wife appeared first on Eastmed Pharmacy.

Lasting memories are often created during ordinary times but with undivided attention for each other. One of the things we enjoy doing on our weekly date nights is actually not going to a restaurant for a great meal or going to the movies for the latest blockbusters, but instead opting for a night in, cooking our favour meal together while enjoying a glass of wine over some Netflix movies. The point here is not about how delicious the food was nor how great the movie was. Instead, it was about us spending time together alone, and sharing laughter. This is was what made it extra memorable for both of us.

Although, we are quite aware that times like these could change pretty quickly as we are anticipating a new member of the family very soon. We’ll still make sure we carry on the tradition of dedicating time out of our busy schedule for each other. Which in my opinion, every couple should not forget to do regularly.

Anyway, one of my patients mentioned an interesting movie she had seen recently and thought that I would like it too. So, hence our movie was sorted for the long weekend. To be honest, I’ve always wanted to watch it since it was released in the cinema. However, I never got the chance to watch it partly because of the mixed reviews from friends and family. Yet, since my patient highly recommended it, we decided to give it a shot, and it turned out to be one of the best movies I’ve watched in recent years!

I’ve always been a massive fan of Batman since I was a kid and, in recent years, the Dark Knight series. But I’ve never really interpreted the series more than just an entertaining, action-packed movie until I saw the Joker.

In a nutshell, the movie was about a mentally unstable man suffering from isolation and bullying. He was driven to madness day after day by his surroundings to become a psychopathic killer while continuing to battle with his inner demons.

The movie itself dived down into the core of our society and touched on multiple layers within our seemingly normal and orderly society. One of these issues is the struggles of people with mental illness face on a daily basis. The movie brought across a strong message of how our society does not do well to protect people who have a mental illness. Where social support is usually broken down by how cruel and insensitive the general public can be at times, although we are very fortunate to be living in New Zealand where there is a considerable amount of awareness and funding into managing mental health, the daily struggle that people with mental illness go through is still very real and poignant. And that’s what makes this film so controversial – its jarring realism.

I can remember vividly one scene where Arthur (the Joker) says the worst part of having a mental illness is that people expect you to behave as if you don’t have it. Imagine the kind of stress and emotional turmoil that people go through when their very existence is to hide their mental illness so that they can become socially acceptable. In my opinion, this is inhumane and cruel. When people develop thoughts like this, it makes you wonder what our society has evolved into.

In this day and age, technological advances have allowed us to voice our opinion much more quickly and easily than 20 years ago. A lot of the time, it’s our assumptions/opinions that we all think we are entitled to which become the ultimate judgment others base their lives upon. The sad truth is that judging is an instinct within our human race.  We all partake in judging every day, no matter how big or small the judgment is. Judging has become the daily norm that we don’t even realise that we‘re doing it. The problem usually arises when a collective group of people shares the same judgment, which then forces their opinion onto others with a different view.

In the movie, Arthur was consistently judged and bullied ever since he was a child. From his family background to a humiliating condition of uncontrolled episodes of laughing or crying at inappropriate times, he was judged continuously by insensitive others. This makes me wonder if he was never judged, bullied, belittled, and abused; would his life would be very different? Would his mental illness have escalated to a point where he becomes a villain? The world will definitely be in a better place if everyone thinks twice about the impact their judgment has on others and tries to be a little bit more understanding towards each other. Because at the end of the day, lack of understanding is what fuels judgment and discrimination.

At the end of the movie, rather than just condemning the person Arthur became, it made me think differently. I have developed empathy with his situation and what he has been through. I found it hard not to have sympathy for someone who experiences that level of trauma in their life despite the fact he turns out to be a villain. It doesn’t mean his actions are justified. But it allows us to approach the character from a different perspective with less judgment and more kindness. It makes you ponder what led Arthur to his downfall? How much responsibility does the society he was in contribute to his behaviour?

Joker is a movie about mental illness, judgment, and empathy. It teaches us how to accept others despite their differences. Sometimes issues are best dealt with head-on rather than shy away from it – in this case, mental illness.

If you need help or require further information about depression, please do not hesitate to contact me, your GP or someone you trust. Remember, you are not alone and never let depression or other’s judgment take control of your life.

To your mental wellbeing

Chris
Pharmacist

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