Betrayed by Self

* A mother seemingly possessed by a demonic force.* A young man tortured from inside decides to act out a horror film in his own home.* A women guilt-stricken by loss believes she is infected by parasitic organisms.* A man who removes and swallows his own testicle in an act to please an alien force.* A child followed by a dark entity bent on torment and control.... BETRAYED BY SELF plunges the reader into the untamed world of psychiatry through the accounts of a psychiatric resident as he struggles amidst four years in the trenches of mental illness. A unique viewpoint told through the eyes of an unlikely doctor who often has more in common with his patients than his colleagues. These accounts provided by a man who rose from homelessness, and overwhelming odds, to fulfill an implausible journey of discovery. In abandoning his attempt to fit the mold of the traditional physician, he uncovers a significant capacity to connect with those who have been all but rejected by traditional medicine. Thrusting headfirst into stories of suffering, he reveals the possibility for empathic understanding while caring for those stricken by psychosis, all while struggling to maintain his own sanity within the added strain of psychiatric residency. This book recounts experiences as raw as they occurred in a behind-the-curtain look at doctors in training and the tragic, fascinating, and often painfully intriguing stories of the patients they encounter.