Nesrin Abu Ata is a psychiatrist and can be reached at her self-titled site, Nesrin Abu Ata.

Clinical attachment in medicine: How familiarity creates safety

Physician
January 28, 2026

You don’t learn this in medical school: Clinical familiarity creates attachment.

Not the kind we mean in romance. Not even the kind we mean in psychotherapy. Something quieter and more automatic, built through repetition and stakes.

You don’t have to say anything deeply personal for it to happen.

You just have to show up again. And again. And again.

Same hallway turns. Same waiting room chairs. Same voice calling your name. Same pace in …

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Clinical attachment in medicine: How familiarity creates safety

From medical student to MS warrior: Navigating life with multiple sclerosis

Conditions
July 22, 2023

I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during my second year of medical school. It happened while I was on a neurology rotation when I approached the neurologist after a lecture and expressed my suspicion of a flare-up. Subsequently, a lumbar puncture and a contrast brain MRI confirmed the diagnosis, leading to my treatment with IV steroids and later disease-modifying medications.

It has now been 18 years since my diagnosis, during which …

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From medical student to MS warrior: Navigating life with multiple sclerosis

Getting the COVID vaccine: a behind the scenes look

Conditions
January 22, 2021

Don’t let images deceive you. You may think you see everything in my picture after getting the vaccine, but you don’t. Let me take you behind the scenes of my life this past year. As I can only imagine what being behind the scenes of your life has been like for you.

What you don’t see in the picture is my yearlong of agony, tears, hard decisions, and losses, like all …

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Getting the COVID vaccine: a behind the scenes look

A call to action for wounded healers

Conditions
October 27, 2020

I used to work with veterans who sought mental health care. Many developed PTSD after witnessing their comrades get injured, blown up, and die. Some of these veterans had visible wounds, as one would expect, but almost all of them had invisible wounds. The latter were worsened by survivor’s guilt or shame that they failed to protect their buddies or complete the mission. Many had guilt about getting med evac’d. …

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A call to action for wounded healers

How the pandemic forced this physician to quit

Physician
July 7, 2020

I never thought that I would resign with my last day of work being the same day of my resignation. In fact, I did everything in my power to stay at my job, but the job didn’t want me to stay. COVID brought a sharp focus on the difference between my goals and my employer’s goals.

The meatpacking plants made my town a COVID hotspot. To minimize patient COVID exposure, we …

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How the pandemic forced this physician to quit