1. Introduction:
My problem-based learning objective for this week is to find out how to differentiate between different types of pain. How are we supposed to do that? My general experience of occupational therapists is that if a patient complains of pain they go and get a doctor or nurse. As occupational therapists are trained in anatomy and physiology it would be great to see occupational therapists investigating pain themselves (at least on a superficial level) before reporting to other multidisciplinary team members. Hence I thought it might be worth sharing my work this week, which is intended for first-year students.

0. Introduction:
This is some problem-based learning work I did a while ago. Unfortunately, voluntary movement depends on the integration of several non-voluntary mechanisms so the material I had to cover seemed pretty complex to me. I thought I might as well share my work here instead of wasting it, but I am no neuro-physiologist so please do not expect any rocket science.

1. Introduction:
Some years ago while I was working as a health care assistant in operating theatres a student nurse from Ireland consumed alcohol excessively during her 21st birthday party. The next day she attended the accident and emergency department but was sent away diagnosed with a hangover. Normal doses of self-administered paracetamol overloaded her liver due to her dehydrated state and she subsequently underwent a liver transplant. Unfortunately she then had a stroke and died in the intensive care unit. Her 18 year old sister who was also a student nurse went back to Ireland in a state of distress. My last shift in theatres before I departed to University ended with an alcoholic man bleeding to death. I still remember the distinctive smell of blood which at first could not be seen. The surgeon tried to look for the source of his bleed with an endoscope, but there was so much blood that his view was obscured. As his blood pressure dropped we put him in a head-down tilt. That was when I first saw the blood as it gushed out of his mouth looking like chopped liver. I was at his waist level when we turned him on his side to clear his airway and I found myself covered with blood as he was bleeding from his rectum too.

Introduction: I have previously argued that occupational therapy has existed for thousands of years within Hindu/Buddhist health models[1] and we have recently seen techniques from Buddhism feature in occupational therapy research[2]. This blog entry reflects on how the Buddhist principle of non-attachment might be applied to romantic/sexual relationships.

Abstract: This blog entry reflects on my experience as an occupational therapist treating a terminally ill patient and my lack of understanding of a doctor's and a palliative care team’s perspective.

Abstract: This blog entry reflects on my personal feelings of occupational alienation and how they were stimulated by the use of occupational alienation and occupational injustice as weapons in a foreign country. It provides examples of politically and internationally generated occupational risk factors. Finally it describes my self-treatment using the limited means I have. Luckily for me, those means are far less limited than those available to people in the country that inspired this blog. THIS BLOG INCLUDES PICTURES FROM WAR, INCLUDING DEATH. YOU MAY THEREFORE WISH TO AVOID READING IT. The pictures in the referenced material are much worse and are likely to shock most people, so think carefully before looking at material from the reference list. Thank you.