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Posted by Alex Lickerman  Print  Email to a friend  Photo: Autistic Psycho The other day I found myself standing in a long line to buy breakfast in my hospital’s cafeteria when I noticed something that surprised me: I wasn’t feeling annoyed at having to wait. In the past, such a delay to the start of my day—to any part of my day, really—would have driven me slightly crazy. Not because I think I’m so important that others should part before me, but because of an omnipresent feeling I’ve had to get on to the next thing I needed to do—whatever it was. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: IAN RANSLEY DESIGN + ILLUSTRATION Most of us probably remember the television program Who Wants To Be A Millionaire—originally hosted in the United States by Regis Philbin—in which contestants were given three “lifelines” they could use to get help answering questions to earn money. What I found most striking about the show was that whenever a contestant used the “ask the audience” lifeline the choice that the majority of the audience favored was always the correct one Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: Ms. Phoenix Over a decade ago, I did something about which I remain ashamed to this day: I broke a promise to someone in a way that hurt her terribly. I rationalized my decision by arguing that I hadn’t wanted to make the promise in the first place but had been pressured into it. Many of the people in my life agreed at the time that for a variety of reasons my action was more than justified, framing the situation in different terms that made it seem more palatable. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: familyfwr I’ve recently started running again after having been forced to take a four-month break by an injured knee. This turned out to be a long enough hiatus to decondition me, so for the first few weeks I found running my usual four-mile route tremendously hard. I would start out strong, but by the last mile I’d be dragging: my legs seeming to thicken, my breath coming in ragged gasps, my energy waning, my body’s weight seeming to increase several-fold. But I’d force myself on knowing that only by completing my route would I be able to re-establish a level of aerobic fitness that would make running four miles as enjoyable as it used to be. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: Stephen Brace This last summer, my wife and I had a fight. As with many fights between married couples, the surface issue was inconsequential but housed an important issue underneath. I’d accidentally burned the hamburgers I was grilling for our dinner (because we hadn’t cleaned our barbecue for some time, grease had accumulated, which increased the barbecue temperature as it burned). When I placed the charred hockey puck burgers in front of her, she became annoyed (having warned me about the grease). When I apologized, she said nothing, and I became angry that she was still annoyed with me. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: cogdogblog I recently wanted to prescribe a medication called Prevacid for a patient. It’s a proton pump inhibitor that shuts off acid production in the stomach. It’s used to treat a wide variety of gastrointestinal complaints, most commonly heartburn, which is the malady I was aiming to treat in my patient. She was strongly resistant to starting it, however—not so much out of concern about its safety (it’s quite safe), but because, like many people, she simply didn’t like taking medication. I was sympathetic but also felt that Prevacid had the greatest chance to help her feel better. A long discussion ensued after which she agreed to try it. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: zoutedrop A few years ago, a close friend of mine was struggling with his job. He worked in a large corporation he couldn’t stand: unethical business practices, employee backstabbing, and sexual harassment all seemed to occur on a regular basis. He wanted out. Not only that, for years he’d harbored a secret dream of starting his own business. Driven by his growing disgust with his company’s culture, he made a determination to do just that. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: gustaffo89 I had a patient once—a fellow physician—who came to see me complaining of mid-back pain. When I examined him, I found I could reproduce his pain by pressing firmly on the spot he said was hurting him. He said pressing there also made the pain radiate around to his stomach, a phenomenon known as “referred pain” that meant his pain was almost certainly caused by a trigger point. I offered to inject it with a mixture of lidocaine and cortisone, a procedure that’s been shown in the medical literature to be helpful, but he declined, preferring instead to use over-the-counter pain relievers. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: Josep Ma. Rosell When I was a fourth-year medical student, I once did a month-long rotation in the ER. One night a woman came in who we decided needed some lab work. When I let her know we needed to draw her blood, she began to tremble visibly. “I’m scared of needles,” she whispered to me. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: erix! Some people have the misfortune to have been born to abusive parents who belittled them and prevented them from developing a healthy self-esteem. Others are born predisposed to view themselves in a negative light because of their physical appearance, a disability, or for no reason anyone, including themselves, knows. Research has consistently supported the notion that it’s difficult to be happy without liking oneself. But how can one learn to like oneself when one doesn’t? Continue reading…
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