Before the sun rises
At the dialysis center, the machines greet me with their steady hum. They are both enemy and ally. I sit down in the chair, offer my arm, and feel the sharp pinch as the needles go in.
Violence and Abuse in Dialysis Units: An Urgent but Overlooked Crisis
When we think about dialysis units, we often picture a place of healing — where patients with kidney failure receive life-sustaining treatment several times a week. But behind the scenes, these environments can sometimes be tense, emotionally charged, and even unsafe. Abuse and violence, whether directed at staff or patients, are serious and growing concerns [...]
Teletherapy 101: A Guide to Virtual Mental Health Support
This guide offers an overview of how teletherapy works, its benefits, challenges, and current evidence on its effectiveness.
Two-way life: A caregiver’s story
I walked out of the doctor’s office, in a trance, almost forgetting that my fifteen year old, beside me, had walked through the very same door with me. The doctor had said, “Your son’s kidneys are failing!” During the fifteen-to-twenty minutes of intense conversation, the doctor had talked extensively about chronic kidney disease. Slowly he [...]
35+ Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Team
The sudden news of kidney disease can come as a shock for some, making it difficult to process the information. There may be instances when you want to know more but seem lost in the whole web of advice and multiple clinicians who are now involved. We wanted to provide you a checklist of questions [...]
Webinar: CKD and Mental Health
Diagnosis of any chronic illness like kidney disease can be a very turbulent time for any patient. The information and diagnosis may feel overwhelming and the patient might feel at a loss in connecting with his family, friends and even healthcare team. What is it like to live with a chronic kidney disease, how does [...]
Year 2019 in a nutshell
As we approach the year-end, Team Psychonephrology would like to thank you all for your continuous support and encouragement throughout our journey together. We would like to recap some of the topics that received the widest viewership. At the beginning of this year, we started a new blog series, “in conversation series”, where the patients [...]
Psychonephrology receiving wider focus
We are glad to share with you that Psychonephrology was recently featured in a podcast titled “Psychonephrology: A Psychodynamic Perspective in the Dialysis Unit”
9 suggestions on how to nurture a Chronically Ill Patient’s Mental Health
When a patient is diagnosed with a chronic illness, not only is he the one experiencing this change but his whole family, all going through different emotions at the same time. With the decrease in physical health also comes an increase in mental health concerns. As the frequent hospital visits and medical consultations become the [...]
How to Sleep Better: 10+ steps to get a good night’s sleep
How to Sleep Better A sound sleep does wonders for your mental and physical health. Not sleeping well takes a serious toll on your health and drains your energy. Getting a perfect sleep can prove a struggle for many. […]
Death and social media
In July of 2013, NPR Weekend Edition host Scott Simon began tweeting from the ICU of a Chicago hospital. For the next week, as he watched his mother’s condition worsen until her eventual passing, he shared everything from interactions with ICU nurses to his mother’s wisecracks and life lessons with his thousands of Twitter followers. [...]
“I Don’t Want Dialysis” – Living with a Mother’s Wish
I still vividly remember her last night here. She wasn’t fully conscious. Just enough to keep pulling down the face mask providing her with oxygen and opening her eyes to stare at me, before she resumed dozing off. I have no idea if she knew I was there. Yet, I still sat at her side, [...]
Should moving towards the end of life begin a conversation?
Being Mortal Dying is an inevitable part of life. In the manner that we celebrate and discuss the process of birth, why we can’t discuss the process of death? Even for medical professionals, who have seen people going through the process of dying more than anyone else, they are not completely comfortable talking about it [...]
Can Family caregiving and self-compassion co-exist?
Society’s rules and expectations of behavior by family caregivers can seem quite onerous. A caregiver is anticipated to be a selfless individual who keeps the needs of the patient above everyone else’s, including his or her own needs. He/she looks after physical, medical, emotional, psychological, financial and legal needs. He is thought to be an [...]
Book Review: “Moonface” – By Angela Balcita
Inspirational and humorous There are many books and articles that deal with people living with kidney disease. Our current review is a different genre of book, a memoir of a lady who had three kidney transplants. Angela Balcita, the recipient and the author of this book, shares her inspiring story. Angela calls herself and her [...]