The gamble of psychiatry

[Grim_Rockstar]

To those of you in the trenches of agonizing mental suffering who continue to deal with therapists and psychiatrists, how do you keep your faith in them?

 

[Hollowman]

When I did deal with them it was because I was desperate and thought they knew what they were doing. I know better now and haven't dealt with a quack in years.

 

[Grim_Rockstar]

When I did deal with them it was because I was desperate and thought they knew what they were doing. I know better now and haven't dealt with a quack in years.

They genuinely do not give a rhino's ass unless they see green. Obviously they need to be paid, but my point here is there's a total lack of empathy or concern for their patients without that money, like concern and empathy are things that are completely and totally professional- a *privilege.* They excuse this because they are required to not be buddy-buddy with their patients whatsoever. Even if you can afford their "services" their whole scheme is playing cat and mouse. They disregard your diagnostic history so they can poke around at you themselves (but they won't tell you that to your face!)

 

[Onelegman]

I lost faith in them years ago. I go there out of obligation, so as not to worry my mother, but they always ask the same questions, write down the answers on the computer and give you an appointment for 6 months from now. The last one I went to (private) told me that they don't give a shit about patients, that they only want to get paid at the end of the month, and that after asking, they run to look at the DSM and see what you may have. They don't know how to treat you and they don't want to learn.

 

[Grim_Rockstar]

I lost faith in them years ago. I go there out of obligation, so as not to worry my mother, but they always ask the same questions, write down the answers on the computer and give you an appointment for 6 months from now. The last one I went to (private) told me that they don't give a shit about patients, that they only want to get paid at the end of the month, and that after asking, they run to look at the DSM and see what you may have. They don't know how to treat you and they don't want to learn.

The best way I have ever seen it put.

 

[FallFromGrace]

Until recently I hadn't had a therapist that clicked at all. Like @Onelegman mentioned, it was always the same questions, same BS. My current therapist, however, is freakin' awesome. She actually engages with the shit that I say. Seeing her was the highlight of my week for a while, but there's nothing she can do for me now. It's not her fault - there's just only so much that talk can accomplish.

 

[Grim_Rockstar]

Until recently I hadn't had a therapist that clicked at all. Like @Onelegman mentioned, it was always the same questions, same BS. My current therapist, however, is freakin' awesome. She actually engages with the shit that I say. Seeing her was the highlight of my week for a while, but there's nothing she can do for me now. It's not her fault - there's just only so much that talk can accomplish.

Sweet people like her are rare. I'm happy you at least have her company.

 

[ferrie]

I've had my share of awful psychiatrists. Even as a kid, most of the ones I saw only cared about getting through my appointment as quickly as possible and then sending me off without actually doing anything for my issues. Inpatient psychiatrists have been even worse, like literally violating my legal rights. I was lucky enough at one hospital to have a very dedicated inpatient psychiatrist who went out of her way to help with my physical ailments not just my mental health, remembered everything I told her despite only knowing me for 11 days, and was the first psychiatrist to do anything to help with my CPTSD by putting me on prazosin for nightmares which is usually only used for veterans with severe PTSD, not small girls in their 20s. I also really like my current psychiatrist. We definitely work as a team, and she takes my opinion on my meds very seriously. It's always my choice to start a new med or come off of one. She gives me multiple options for my care and lets me choose from them. She also has never cut an appointment short, we actually usually run over bc she does her due diligence in getting every update from me, noting down all my symptoms, and even researches medications and their interactions with my health conditions with me during my appointments. I know she would actually help me recover if that was something I was interested in. It's really hard to find good people in psychiatric care, but there's a world of difference when you do

 

[Grim_Rockstar]

I've had my share of awful psychiatrists. Even as a kid, most of the ones I saw only cared about getting through my appointment as quickly as possible and then sending me off without actually doing anything for my issues. Inpatient psychiatrists have been even worse, like literally violating my legal rights. I was lucky enough at one hospital to have a very dedicated inpatient psychiatrist who went out of her way to help with my physical ailments not just my mental health, remembered everything I told her despite only knowing me for 11 days, and was the first psychiatrist to do anything to help with my CPTSD by putting me on prazosin for nightmares which is usually only used for veterans with severe PTSD, not small girls in their 20s. I also really like my current psychiatrist. We definitely work as a team, and she takes my opinion on my meds very seriously. It's always my choice to start a new med or come off of one. She gives me multiple options for my care and lets me choose from them. She also has never cut an appointment short, we actually usually run over bc she does her due diligence in getting every update from me, noting down all my symptoms, and even researches medications and their interactions with my health conditions with me during my appointments. I know she would actually help me recover if that was something I was interested in. It's really hard to find good people in psychiatric care, but there's a world of difference when you do

I love to see stories like this. Goes to show there is still hope somewhere even if it's only a tiny fragment. I wish you well.

 

[ferrie]

I love to see stories like this. Goes to show there is still hope somewhere even if it's only a tiny fragment. I wish you well.

I wish you the best as well! I'm really thankful for my current health care team & I wish more people could experience health professionals that actually care

 

[thenamingofcats]

I lost faith in them years ago. I go there out of obligation, so as not to worry my mother, but they always ask the same questions, write down the answers on the computer and give you an appointment for 6 months from now. The last one I went to (private) told me that they don't give a shit about patients, that they only want to get paid at the end of the month, and that after asking, they run to look at the DSM and see what you may have. They don't know how to treat you and they don't want to learn.

I definitely agree this is the norm. Deep thinking and caring psychologists seem to be the exception. It's really hard work. I wish psychologists were not legally able to diagnose and only psychiatrists could. I also wish diagnosing was seen as a long term process and not an event.

I've long lost faith in therapists in general but still listen to lectures from the few I like. For psychiatrists I go to request meds but I never trust them or open up to them, I keep it all very superficial and professional which they respond well to. I'll describe my symptoms, what drug I would like and why I think it would help me.

 

[theboy]

Some people get it and others don't. Simple

 

[Grim_Rockstar]

I definitely agree this is the norm. Deep thinking and caring psychologists seem to be the exception. It's really hard work. I wish psychologists were not legally able to diagnose and only psychiatrists could. I also wish diagnosing was seen as a long term process and not an event.

I've long lost faith in therapists in general but still listen to lectures from the few I like. For psychiatrists I go to request meds but I never trust them or open up to them, I keep it all very superficial and professional which they respond well to. I'll describe my symptoms, what drug I would like and why I think it would help me.

This!! I had a primary physician in which my ADHD was the ONLY mental-related concern. We were supposed to be primarily focusing on my autoimmune disease, though I'll admit I may have fucked up in that aspect. I had been diagnosed earlier that year and still didn't understand it completely so I would break down a lot when I came in. Long story short I saw the guy only three times and he ended up attempting to suggest to me I have BPD and ADHD isn't my problem? The dickwad lives in my neighborhood, too but at least I have a new doctor lmfao. It is so fucking alarming how diagnosis are thrown around like old gum in a wrapper. A shame, too. He was hot. What a waste.

 

[thenamingofcats]

This!! I had a primary physician in which my ADHD was the ONLY mental-related concern. We were supposed to be primarily focusing on my autoimmune disease, though I'll admit I may have fucked up in that aspect. I had been diagnosed earlier that year and still didn't understand it completely so I would break down a lot when I came in. Long story short I saw the guy only three times and he ended up attempting to suggest to me I have BPD and ADHD isn't my problem? The dickwad lives in my neighborhood, too but at least I have a new doctor lmfao. It is so fucking alarming how diagnosis are thrown around like old gum in a wrapper. A shame, too. He was hot. What a waste.

The whole psychiatric/psychological experience can be really overwhelming so the baseline is that our emotions can already be peaked going into the appointment. BPD is the hot diagnosis right now so everyone's walking out with that one and I suspect most diagnoses are not accurate. If a diagnosis is trending then extra scrutiny has to be taken to verify it's right.

Story about how I got put on inappropriate drugs:
I had lost my home and my psychiatrist mentioned that I was being especially quiet and asked me if anything had happened. I started crying since the loss was still raw and said I didn't want to talk about it. She didn't like my emotional reaction and ended up putting me on mood stabilizers. That kind of inappropriate prescribing is a huge red flag. Sometimes it seems like they see us as malfunctioning machines and not people with stories.

 

[Grim_Rockstar]

The whole psychiatric/psychological experience can be really overwhelming so the baseline is that our emotions can already be peaked going into the appointment. BPD is the hot diagnosis right now so everyone's walking out with that one and I suspect most diagnoses are not accurate. If a diagnosis is trending then extra scrutiny has to be taken to verify it's right.

Story about how I got put on inappropriate drugs:
I had lost my home and my psychiatrist mentioned that I was being especially quiet and asked me if anything had happened. I started crying since the loss was still raw and said I didn't want to talk about it. She didn't like my emotional reaction and ended up putting me on mood stabilizers. That kind of inappropriate prescribing is a huge red flag. Sometimes it seems like they see us as malfunctioning machines and not people with stories.

My god, what a two-faced douche sucking bitch. There's no sorry to even amend that. Does she expect someone to come in and be all happy and excited to be there? That's what happened to me. I was anxious one day because I had just gotten out of a really bad situation and my medications weren't helping me through it. I was open and honest, but my ex-psychiatrist attempted to persist with the same ones that were making me worse. She immediately assumed I was Bipolar because I was speaking fast. I WAS ANXIOUS. I was reading a medical article recently detailing how BPD is one of the most common misdiagnosises especially among women. People need to understand that no matter who has a degree or a shiny gold dildo from Yale, Harvard or wherever else shoved up their asshole you have to be your OWN advocate.

 

[thenamingofcats]

My god, what a two-faced douche sucking bitch. There's no sorry to even amend that. Does she expect someone to come in and be all happy and excited to be there? That's what happened to me. I was anxious one day because I had just gotten out of a really bad situation and my medications weren't helping me through it. I was open and honest, but my ex-psychiatrist attempted to persist with the same ones that were making me worse. She immediately assumed I was Bipolar because I was speaking fast. I WAS ANXIOUS. I was reading a medical article recently detailing how BPD is one of the most common minsdiagnosises especially among women. People need to understand that no matter who has a degree or a shiny gold dildo from Yale, Harvard or wherever else shoved up their asshole you have to be your OWN advocate.

I want a shiny gold dildo from Yale

But yeah my theory is they spend their education looking at all these diagnoses where the baseline is assumed to not have any psychiatric features. So basically the baseline is neutral and if someone rages that's mania, or if someone cries it's major depression or however they interpret it. They seem to forget that people have a range of emotions, even strong emotions that aren't part of a diagnosis, it's part of being human. They constantly dehumanize us in so many ways. Whatever you do in that hour EVERYTHING will be labeled and medicated. So basically you have to remove your humanness for that hour, making yourself less normal, so that you can appear to them to be more normal. It's insane.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

I want a shiny gold dildo from Yale

But yeah my theory is they spend their education looking at all these diagnoses where the baseline is assumed to not have any psychiatric features. So basically the baseline is neutral and if someone rages that's mania, or if someone cries it's major depression or however they interpret it. They seem to forget that people have a range of emotions, even strong emotions that aren't part of a diagnosis, it's part of being human. They constantly dehumanize us in so many ways. Whatever you do in that hour EVERYTHING will be labeled and medicated. So basically you have to remove your humanness for that hour, making yourself less normal, so that you can appear to them to be more normal. It's insane.

On the other hand, they seem to have a stereotyped image of what someone with a certain issue looks like, and they get confused when you don't match that image. In my case, I tend to speak about my depression and suicidality in a very level-headed, rational way, as if it were any other subject. Not because there aren't any emotions associated with it, but because that's just my personality. Yet every "professional" I've talked to almost immediately notices this fact and tries to psychoanalyze it. Like, what do you want me to do, come in here bawling, like a depressed person apparently should be?

 

[thenamingofcats]

On the other hand, they seem to have a stereotyped image of what someone with a certain issue looks like, and they get confused when you don't match that image. In my case, I tend to speak about my depression and suicidality in a very level-headed, rational way, as if it were any other subject. Not because there aren't any emotions associated with it, but because that's just my personality. Yet every "professional" I've talked to almost immediately notices this fact and tries to psychoanalyze it. Like, what do you want me to do, come in here bawling, like a depressed person apparently should be?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It seems to always come back to how they see the world. What is that, countertransference?