I had a patient I saw in clinic yesterday, who was a follow up for chronic pain. He was injured during a work injury about 6 months ago and is currently on disability for his left ankle injury, as he previously work construction. The visit was going as expected, until he started complaining of a couple non-specfic findings, first an atypical chest pain, then abdominal pain. After EKG was done which returned normal, the Attending saw the patient and told him we would start him on a PPI then he left. As I was about to leave the room the patient broke into tears.
He told me that the real reason he came that day was because he has been dealing with depression. He was use to be the breadwinner and taking care of his family. He is now dependent on others and feel he has low self worth. I counseled the patient, did a PHQ 9, started the patient on SSRI and referred him to counseling. I shared this story, because it reminded me of a story that Raya shared about a patient. Hopefully the patient will benefit from therapy.
.
