The problem of believing one has the disease one is studying occurs throughout medicine. Medical student hypochondriasis is worst in psychiatry. 5 Do not call the individuals in psychiatric care mad or insane. It is not difficult to empathise with them if you consider how you would react if you believed everyone on the bus wanted to kill you. 6 Many psychiatrists have idiosyncrasies, perhaps through long study of mental illness.
Allowances have to be made.
Don't bring up their peculiarity or they'll pick up on yours. Be careful of applying this advice in other rotations. When physicians, ask what an endoscopy means, they don't want to hear you ruminating about the loss of the secret inner sanctum of the body's insides.