WHY I AM GLAD THAT I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING

Recently I received a call from one of my patients who told me that he was running out of his aripiprazole [Abilify] medication.  I had recently increased his dose fom 7.5 mg to 15 mg and I remembered feeling surprised that he was requiring a dose above 7.5 mg.  He told me that he was running out of the medication because he had accidentally increased it to 30 mg and was feeling much better with a significant reduction in his anxiety symptoms.  This patient has PTSD and I realized that I was acting like I knew that he would not need a dose higher of aripiprazole and of course I was wrong.  I try to keep my mind open and not predict the future.  By predicting the future I mean that I am concluding things before I find out about them.  Such as concluding that my patient would not need a dose above 7.5 mg when he actually needed 30 mg.  So that is why I am glad when I don't know anything. I am more able to help my patients when I am open to see what they need and not closing my mind by thinking I know what they need before we actually find out.  

I believe that this is what Socrates was talking about when he said that he had finally figured out why the god Apollo said that he was the smartest person in Greece.  It was because he knew that he didn't know anything. He was able to keep his mind open to possibilities.  If I am able to keep my mind open to possibillities I am more able to be open to help my patients assess what they need for a successful treatment.  This means any aspect of their treatment, not just the medications that I prescribe.