St. Andrews Provided A Gentle Forgetfulness Over

Most People Don't Have The Advantage Of Being Able To Evaluate Their Doctor In Advance.

The Pursuit Of Knowledge Is An Intoxicant, A Lure That Scientists And Explorers Have Known From Ancient Times; Indeed, Exhilaration In The Pursuit Of Knowledge Is Part Of What Has Kept Our Species So Adaptive.

Far Too Many Doctors-many Of Them Excellent Physicians-commit Suicide Each Year; One Recent Study Concluded That, Until Quite Recently, The United States Lost Annually The Equivalent Of A Medium-sized Medical School Class From Suicide Alone. Most Physician Suicides Are Due To Depression Or Manic-depressive Illness, Both Of Which Are Eminently Treatable. Physicians, Unfortunately, Not Only Suffer From A Higher Rate Of Mood Disorders Than The General Population, They Also Have A Greater Access To Very Effective Means Of Suicide.

I Compare Myself With My Former Self, Not With Others. Not Only That, I Tend To Compare My Current Self With The Best I Have Been, Which Is When I Have Been Midly Manic. When I Am My Present "normal" Self, I Am Far Removed From When I Have Been My Liveliest, Most Productive, Most Intense, Most Outgoing And Effervescent. In Sort, For Myself, I Am A Hard Act To Follow.

The Chinese Believe That Before You Can Conquer A Beast You First Must Make It Beautiful. In Some Strange Way, I Have Tried To Do That With Manic-depressive Illness. It Has Been A Fascinating, Albeit Deadly, Enemy And Companion; I Have Found It To Be Seductively Complicated, A Distillation Both Of What Is Finest In Our Natures, And Of What Is Most Dangerous.