Canadian Psychiatrist Doses Off During Sessions, Given A Warning To Stay Awake
The college¡¯s complaints committee said that a therapeutic relationship is of significant importance in psychiatric treatment because a patient should feel that he is being listened to. It added that the patient should feel that he is important and the doctor is paying attention to what he is saying.
Walking into a doctor¡¯s office is intimidating enough and walking into a psychiatrist¡¯s office can be doubly unnerving. You'd expect the doctor to be attentive and help you find a solution to your problems but what if the doctor himself falls asleep during the sessions?
That's the strange fix multiple patients were caught in at a Canadian psychiatrist's office.
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According to reports, the psychiatrist has received a warning for his unusual habit of falling asleep during sessions with his patients. The psychiatrist has allegedly dozed for at least five times while treating patients.
According to a report in The Province, the regulatory board told the psychiatrist, identified only as Dr NJK, that he needs to stay awake while treating patients after one of them complained he had fallen asleep at least five times.
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A patient shared details about a session to the website reported saying she felt weak when Dr NJK felt asleep during the sessions. Citing the patient, Health Professions Appeal and Review Board in its ruling mentioned, ¡°She had lived a life of invalidation, keeping secrets to herself because she thought no one would care, and his falling asleep in the process made her feel weak and unimportant.¡±
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The review board had also supported the college¡¯s complaints committee decision to warn the psychiatrist to change his habit, reported The Province.
If a doctor falls asleep while treating a patient, it can weaken the therapeutic relationship, said the committee. Putting its point across more strongly, it said, 'It is no more acceptable for a psychiatrist to fall asleep during a patient session than it would be for a surgeon to fall asleep during surgery.'
'The patient needs to feel listened to, that he or she is the most important person in the room and that the doctor is trying to understand exactly what the patient is saying. Falling asleep during a patient encounter has a symbolic significance and can destroy the therapeutic connection,' reads the report.
