All too often I am reminded (again) that the line of distinction between myself and my patients is really much thinner and less well-defined than the plexiglas divider between the nursing station and the rest of the unit. Here is one of those moments of insight, encountered recently during a mental health assessment:

Me: “Do you see things other people don’t see, or hear things other people don’t hear?”

Patient: (looking perplexed) “How would I know?”

Indeed. If you know you’re having a delusion, it’s not a delusion any more, because for it to be a delusion, then by definition you have to think it’s real. Which leaves me to ponder why we bother asking, not to mention on which side of the plexiglas I really belong!