A memorable patient: A case of mistaken diagnosis

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7289.775

BMJ 2001;322:775 ( 31 March )

Filler

A memorable patient

A case of mistaken diagnosis

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

It was around May or June 1977. I had started my house job in psychiatry in India a couple of months before. Psychiatry wasa brand new subject forme.

I was attending an outpatient clinic daily. The clinic was extremely busy. There were no set appointments (most of the patientsdid not have telephones at home), no distinct catchment area,and a referral letter from the general practitioner was not required.It was not surprising that a big crowd gathered in the clinicevery morning seeking treatment. It was probably only the stigmaof mental illness, which was more prevalent in those days, thatprevented the clinic getting busier, and we were expected notto return anybody without providingtreatment.

It was a Monday morning, traditionally the busiest day of the week. A male patient was making too much noise in the waitingarea, and his relatives made vain attempts . . . [Full text of this article]