Fifty Shades of I Don't Give a Fuck

"The 'not-giving-a-fuck' meter is as far into the red-zone as ever before." ~ Lars Ulrich (Drummer for Metallica)

I'd apologize now for my overuse of the word 'fuck' in this post (one of my favorite words ever), but I don't really care about that at the present moment either.

I returned to work this week after the tragic loss of one of my clients (kids). It's my first week back in the office and resuming my normal work duties, including providing therapy to the kids. I'm noticing some startling and anxiety provoking reactions to my being back at work that are disturbing to me on many levels. Most prominent is my profound lack of caring (or, better said, giving a fuck). As a clinician, I have (of course) analyzed my reactions to re-engaging with the kids and my colleagues and have developed some preliminary hypotheses:

  • I don't give a fuck because I cannot sleep since returning to work and am therefore far too tired.
  • I don't give a fuck because it has become too scary to give a fuck.
  • I don't give a fuck because Africa is so close and I am totally bought out of work.
  • I don't give a fuck because the kids I am currently working with are pretty irritating, even on a good day.
  • I don't give a fuck because I feel like I cannot elicit any positive change or shifts within my current client load.
I think there is merit behind each and every one of these thoughts and assume that my present state of not giving a fuck is likely a combination of all of these things. My concern: regardless of how burnt out I've felt doing this extremely difficult job over the past five years, I've never not given a fuck about what the kids have to say. Have I returned to work too early? Have a run my course at this particular job with this particular agency? Have I become ineffective, jaded, insensitive, detached? I have no fucking clue. What I do know is that this feeling is uncomfortable and I hope it passes quickly. 

That said, 59 days.

1 comment:

  1. I give too much of a fuck. Sometimes I think that's not the case, but then something terrible happens and I realize that I have a headache, I've developed insomnia, and my body feels as if it's just survived a car accident. That's giving a fuck, even if I don't care to admit it.

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