Admittedly I have little idea of the day-to-day workings of a comics artist, but I'm guessing the nature of my job is rather different from Cameron's - as is reflected in his choice to use his Real Life name. My work brings me into daily contact with a large number of people who, by dint of illness, personality or circumstances, have a skewed sense of boundary: what is and isn't acceptable within a professional setting. This means that, statistically, any psychiatrist can expect to be the victim of concerted stalking at least once in his career - and that's a conservative estimate.
While I've been lucky enough to avoid the experiences of some of my colleagues (one of whom was kidnapped and held at knifepoint for 48 hours; another of whom has been the subject of repeated death-threats, fire-bombs and is considering leaving the country), I have, on occasion, been stalked by patients and/or their relatives - continual threatening telephone calls, being paged out of hours, angry remonstrations in out-patient clinics and emergency services when they know I'm on, "I know where you live" warnings, etc., etc. - and I didn't enjoy it. I've also been stalked over the Internet, which was similarly unpleasant.
This is why I'm cagey about keeping my professional and personal lives separate. If my previous Real Life stalker had had access to me - and my personal life - via the Internet, she'd have had many more ways to make my life a misery. That's not something I'd relish.
And yeah, I the stuff I write here does include elements of my medical and psychiatric training, and I've (perhaps recklessly) made little secret of what I do for a living (initially, when I first started on the Nexus, I avoided talking about it, but my contributions to threads on psychosis, depression, etc. made it clear that I had some sort of specialist background). I've made little secret here of my sexuality either, although it's not something I'd generally discuss with patients - again, because it gives additional ammunition to that tiny percentage who go on to obsess about their doctor to the point of stalking them.
So... it's very clear in my mind that, while I'm the product of my experiences, including medical/psychiatric training, I'm not posting in a specifically clinical capacity. I don't mind answering questions with a clinical slant, but 'how dare you, as a doctor, hold that opinion' isn't especially pertinent. I'd also appreciate it, Ria, if you didn't (ab)use me as a receptacle for your own emotional baggage. |
