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Showing posts from July, 2021

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: HOW LONG?

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The first time I treated a victim of domestic abuse for eye injuries I was livid. I wanted her to leave immediately and cause the arrest of the abuser. I almost threatened to refuse treatment if that wasn't done. When she hesitated i asked her to go for a police report before I discharge her. I was a fresh graduate and was filled with righteous anger. Fortunately, my then supervisor and mentor was the head of the unit and called me into her office. She expressed equal concern for the victim but asked me to have patience and LISTEN to the story from her point of view. After getting fully acquainted with the story I understood exactly the myriad complexities of the  situation she faced as a religious person, mother and unfortunately an economically unempowered spouse. I realized although I was justified in my anger, it was better and more productive to be pragmatic and empathize.  In a country where you are actually asked to feed a criminal you get arrested and where...

Are You Addicted to Social Media?

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A few months ago, a friend called me and she was almost hysterical. She was on the brink of a full blown anxiety attack and needed someone to talk to. After calming her down, I asked her a couple of questions and she revealed that her account had just been suspended on one of the popular social media sites because of an unintentional misdemeanor on her part and she felt her life was over.  According to her, prior to this "grievous calamity", her number of likes were gradually being reduced by the algorithm of the site, a claim she could not really prove but believed without a doubt. This plus several attempts by hackers to take over her account were already causing her so much stress and anger. She further intimated that, she doesn't know what she is going to do for the next 21 days  which was the duration of her suspension. She was literally having withdrawal symptoms from Social media. When I pointed them out, she was shocked. Fortunately, we were able to work on few st...