Venting professionals don't know shit

[you cant find me]

wanted therapy. couldn't get it because I was in the wrong state. waited months to move back to my home state. tried to find a therapist. sent emails. no response. called numbers. no response or "I'm not accepting new clients" even though they say they are online. finally one responds but passes me off to another random therapist. waited to see therapist. this whole process took weeks because I rarely have the motivation to do anything above the bare minimum. but finally i would see a therapist, right?

therapist asks the basic questions ("what is your family like, do you have trauma") then says I have OCD because I made the mistake of using the word "obsession". I KNOW I don't have OCD. But if you try to argue it just looks like you're in denial. Therapist says wait two weeks for next appointment. Says get a psych evaluation.

I've wanted a psych eval for the better part of a year. I thought I would get a huge packet of obscure questions to find uncommon symptoms, get interviewed extensively, get my parents interviewed, maybe get a brain scan, I don't know. Instead I got a five minute online questionnaire that any fuck who googles "depression test" and "ocd test" could find. And more basic questions. "What is your family like, do you have trauma". Fucking pathetic. A complete waste of my time. Any Psych 101 student could have done what this "professional" did.

I suspect I may have some form of inattentive ADHD but of course the five minute questionnaire lumped inattentive ADHD in with hyperactive ADHD so the score was only mild/moderate. Which should still have been enough to garner further questioning, but of course it didn't, she had already made up her mind about me.

The OCD questions were vague and I answered them according to my "obsessions" even though I know they don't line up with actual OCD. Even then I got a MILD score. Of course the psych took that and ran with it and tried to convince me to immediately go on medication for OCD and depression. I've already tried medication and I know it just makes me complacent and even more apathetic without actually solving anything. Of course when I tried to express this she acted like I was an idiot in denial. Said I would "think about it" just so I could leave.

Saw therapist again (paying full price for telehealth services of course) and she ALSO spent 30 minutes straight trying to tell me to go on medication. Literally said something like "If you want to spend your life crying and doing nothing then it's your choice, you don't have to go on medication". Tried to explain again and got treated like an idiot again. Again I said I would "think about it" just so I could spend what little time I had left on an actual topic. She then spent the other 30 minutes telling me that the solution to me not being able to go through with anything is to....just do it. Try harder. Tried to explain that I already knew to "try harder" and had been trying it for 10 years with zero success. Then she said maybe I shouldn't be wasting my time in therapy if I don't want to change.

This is my third attempt at "getting help" and it's going how I should have expected it to go. Every "professional" is a quack who knows nothing except "take this pill and cry about your shitty parents". I suspect if I even mentioned my possible DPDR symptoms they wouldn't even know what it is. How can people scream and cry over "tiktok misinfo" and "self diagnosis bad" when the "professionals" are even worse????? If someone doesn't perfectly fit the mold of the most basic form of a mental disorder then it completely stumps these people.

I don't want to continue living like this. I don't want to take medication and be reduced to a bedridden airhead like I was when I was put on Prozac (from another five-minute questionnaire, surprise surprise!!!!!!!!!!) Is my only other option to just CTB? Luckily I already ordered my SN and it finally arrived last week but I don't think I have the balls to actually use it. So I'm just stuck forever.

 

[FuneralCry]

That sounds really awful and frustrating what you went through, and I get that it's tiring feeling trapped in this world. But anyway I wish you the best of luck.

 

[ctb7767]

wanted therapy. couldn't get it because I was in the wrong state. waited months to move back to my home state. tried to find a therapist. sent emails. no response. called numbers. no response or "I'm not accepting new clients" even though they say they are online. finally one responds but passes me off to another random therapist. waited to see therapist. this whole process took weeks because I rarely have the motivation to do anything above the bare minimum. but finally i would see a therapist, right?

therapist asks the basic questions ("what is your family like, do you have trauma") then says I have OCD because I made the mistake of using the word "obsession". I KNOW I don't have OCD. But if you try to argue it just looks like you're in denial. Therapist says wait two weeks for next appointment. Says get a psych evaluation.

I've wanted a psych eval for the better part of a year. I thought I would get a huge packet of obscure questions to find uncommon symptoms, get interviewed extensively, get my parents interviewed, maybe get a brain scan, I don't know. Instead I got a five minute online questionnaire that any fuck who googles "depression test" and "ocd test" could find. And more basic questions. "What is your family like, do you have trauma". Fucking pathetic. A complete waste of my time. Any Psych 101 student could have done what this "professional" did.

I suspect I may have some form of inattentive ADHD but of course the five minute questionnaire lumped inattentive ADHD in with hyperactive ADHD so the score was only mild/moderate. Which should still have been enough to garner further questioning, but of course it didn't, she had already made up her mind about me.

The OCD questions were vague and I answered them according to my "obsessions" even though I know they don't line up with actual OCD. Even then I got a MILD score. Of course the psych took that and ran with it and tried to convince me to immediately go on medication for OCD and depression. I've already tried medication and I know it just makes me complacent and even more apathetic without actually solving anything. Of course when I tried to express this she acted like I was an idiot in denial. Said I would "think about it" just so I could leave.

Saw therapist again (paying full price for telehealth services of course) and she ALSO spent 30 minutes straight trying to tell me to go on medication. Literally said something like "If you want to spend your life crying and doing nothing then it's your choice, you don't have to go on medication". Tried to explain again and got treated like an idiot again. Again I said I would "think about it" just so I could spend what little time I had left on an actual topic. She then spent the other 30 minutes telling me that the solution to me not being able to go through with anything is to....just do it. Try harder. Tried to explain that I already knew to "try harder" and had been trying it for 10 years with zero success. Then she said maybe I shouldn't be wasting my time in therapy if I don't want to change.

This is my third attempt at "getting help" and it's going how I should have expected it to go. Every "professional" is a quack who knows nothing except "take this pill and cry about your shitty parents". I suspect if I even mentioned my possible DPDR symptoms they wouldn't even know what it is. How can people scream and cry over "tiktok misinfo" and "self diagnosis bad" when the "professionals" are even worse????? If someone doesn't perfectly fit the mold of the most basic form of a mental disorder then it completely stumps these people.

I don't want to continue living like this. I don't want to take medication and be reduced to a bedridden airhead like I was when I was put on Prozac (from another five-minute questionnaire, surprise surprise!!!!!!!!!!) Is my only other option to just CTB? Luckily I already ordered my SN and it finally arrived last week but I don't think I have the balls to actually use it. So I'm just stuck forever.

You almost perfectly describe my experience with mental health. It's like you took the words from my head. I expected these professionals to be able to dive deep, figure stuff out like doctors or something, do brain scans, really have a plan or something. Nope, it's just like a mess to even get to meet one of them, expensive (and you have to deal with insurance), then they basically ask some questions, ask if you're suicidal, and after you explain your situation or life over a few sessions, they basically just have basic vanilla responses to anything that comes up. It's a complete joke.

 

[Damnation]

I know that for some things, all that's needed for a diagnosis really is just a certain "score" on a test. Things like OCD can't be picked up from brain scans. Still, this whole experience would make me feel like I just got scammed out of my money, what the hell? It's disheartening.

 

[you cant find me]

I know that for some things, all that's needed for a diagnosis really is just a certain "score" on a test. Things like OCD can't be picked up from brain scans. Still, this whole experience would make me feel like I just got scammed out of my money, what the hell? It's disheartening.

I know there's no brain scan for a lot of mental problems but I still expected more than 10 minutes of basic questioning and a vague buzzfeed-tier quiz. I managed to do intake with a psychologist who actually listened to me and talked for nearly an hour, and she agreed the problems I'm describing definitely don't sound like OCD. It pisses me off how most of these quacks can misdiagnose people in 20 minutes and immediately push pills on people. If I hadn't already researched OCD I probably would have accepted it because I'm not the "professional" and I'm sure that's what happens with thousands of people every day. It's fucked.

 

[Wannagonow]

I couldn't agree with you more. Mental health professionals and the services they provide have become terrible. My last therapist just disappeared on me last spring. As you said, they're hard to find these days. I've been looking since last spring. Either they only work with kids, are in another state, not taking new clients or don't take my insurance. The same with psychiatrists.

Had to get a new psychiatrist last fall. Didn't ask for any detailed history. Stopped 3 of my meds and added 1. All in 10 minute phone call. Yeah- quality care there.

Anyway- just wanted to validate your feelings about mental health care. It can be such a bad situation. We shouldn't have to work so hard to get help. Although it's frustrating, I hope you're able to stick with your search to find a therapist with some compassion. I wish you luck. Be well.

 

[littlelady774]

Psychology, especially psychiatry is an absolute joke. I knew this psychology major (now probably PhD) who took advantage of 20 year old me and ruined my life. I hate him so much. Most people in that field are probably absolute quacks and psychopaths

 

[vultureilse]

legit ive been to a shit ton of therapists and psychiatrists since i was 10 and the vast majority of them have sucked. im heavily suspecting that i could have bpd or cptsd or both but when i saw a therapist and described my symptoms i got told that no i definitely dont have bpd because i dont lash out at other people. ive tried explaining to them that symptoms may be directed inwards instead of outwards but they just said that im making it up?

most mental healthcare professionals are so incompetent at their jobs. and everyones like you should reach out for help but every single time i did try to get diagnosed or get therapy or meds ive been failed

 

[Kurushii]

One would think mental health care would be able to do something, especially in our modern society. For some people it does help, but for a lot it does nothing. I'm sure they have good intentions and everything, but that's just not good enough. We don't need to talk about our problems with random professionals, we need them fixed. But some problems are harder to fix than others, and some just aren't fixable. The healthcare system in general is already a for profit system, so one would expect mental healthcare to unfortunately follow suit.
I'm sorry about your awful experience, it just goes to show how little they care about us. I think you did well resisting (the wrong) medication and standing up for yourself. Therapy is broken.

 

[Hollowman]

They are a joke and need to get real jobs.

 

[oneeyed]

Well shit I'm in the wrong field of work. I can totally set my own hours, work from home, tell people they're wrong and need pills while doodling on a notepad and collect a fat paycheck at the end.

 

[Lightblitz]

There are good professionals out there as well, all the best in your journey !

 

[SamTam33]

I have very little faith in people being able to fix other people.

Most humans aren't that powerful or talented. They're the same people who live two houses over and let their dogs bark all night, disturbing their neighbors.

These are the same people who cut you off in traffic on their way to work and don't know what they want in the drive-thru lines.

They didn't get bestowed with special powers when they graduated from Anytown University with a degree in Psychology.

They pick their noses and leave skid marks in their underwear. Their kid is throwing a tantrum and their spouse is cheating on them as we speak.

They're not special.