In 1960, at the 902nd plenary meeting of the United Nation’s General Assembly, Nikita Khrushchev was so annoyed by something Harold Macmillan had said that he banged his shoe on the table. Some historians say that he just waved the shoe around a bit. Either way, it was a surprisingly ineffectual gesture from a man who had control of the world’s second largest arsenal of nuclear weapons.
This is my personal blog. In the beginning, it was mainly concerned with mental health, politics and music, but I ran out of steam in 2017. After a long hiatus, I resumed in the summer of 2021. The blogs from “Malcolm McLaren blanked me Part 1” onwards are about how I became a psychiatrist.
In all of my writing, I take accuracy seriously. There are particular pitfalls in writing a memoir, especially if you are a doctor. Doctors have an enduring duty of confidentiality to patients. Some of these stories from the distant past do involve patients, and I have altered circumstances and personal details in order to protect their confidentiality. Amongst those whom I encountered in other ways, some names and details have been changed.
The content of these blogs does not represent the views of my employers, nor any organisation in which I hold office, whether paid or honorary. Nothing in this blog should be taken as advice to guide individual medical treatment. No financial decisions, including betting on horse races, should be made on the basis of my opinions.