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Dottoré!

Of Earthquakes And Men

"Oh, to sleep as soundly as a man," marvels our Naples-based psychiatrist.

Photo of a ceiling lamp in front of a blue wall

"Because the ceiling lamp isn’t moving"

Pierre Châtel-Innocenti
Mariateresa Fichele
Dottoré!ItalySourcesWORLDCRUNCHCountries

I can feel the earthquake. Or at least, I think I can, because the ceiling lamp isn’t moving. I run upstairs in a frenzy to check on my son. He is sound asleep.

My husband is asleep, too. He hasn’t felt the earthquake, but he has heard me move about. Of course he has.

"What is it?"

"There’s been an earthquake!"

“Alright, alright … Now why don’t you turn off the light and stop making so much noise ...”

P.S. update after he woke up:

“Next time, I'll take our son and leave you to sleep under the rubble!”

“But why so tense? What’s the matter? You didn’t sleep well?”

Oh Lord, please let me be reborn as a man, I promise I’ll serve you well.

____________________________

Learn more about Worldcrunch's exclusive Dottoré! series here.

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Dottoré!

No Smoking When The Dottoré Is In

Our Naples-based Dottoré puts out an argument with patients during a night shift at a psychiatric ward.

Bad for mental health, too

Robert Ruggiero
Mariateresa Fichele
Dottoré!ItalySourcesWORLDCRUNCHCountries

There is a seemingly obvious and trivial rule that patients in a psychiatric ward have to enforce, for everyone's safety: no smoking at night.

But making sure that people understand and accept it is perhaps one of the most difficult things in our job, especially if the night is busy.

Imagine, then, an agitated patient being admitted at 2 a.m.: ambulances, hubbub, voices of people chasing each other — eventually everybody is awake, and after a while, despite things having quieted down around 3 a.m., no one can fall back to sleep. And that's when the procession starts: patient after patient knocking on my door asking for a cigarette, and a lighter.

And the night goes on, with "no" after "no" seemingly falling on deaf ears.

Keep reading...Show less
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We are grateful for reader support to continue our unique mission of delivering in English the best international journalism, regardless of language or geography. Click here to contribute whatever you can. Merci!
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