I would just be so interested to hear from anyone that can relate to any of the following when it comes to psychiatrists. I have to see my current shrink tomorrow and I'm dreading it (here we get to see one for literally 2 sessions, then we're shoved into another one's care for a couple of sessions, and then to another- etc....at least that's my personal experience but I know for sure I am not alone). I didn't write the following myself, it was actually written by a columnist that works for the very respected BBC here in the UK- yet these statements took the words right out of my mouth. Who would listen to me alone? I'm a mere patient with no mind of my own and no intelligence eh?!
1. Psychiatrists are always right, have all knowledge, and what they don't know doesn't exist.
2. Patients are powerless, have no knowledge, and should accept everything the psychiatrist says, even when it is wrong.
3. Situations are only as urgent as the waiting list is short. If the waiting list is long, no condition is ever urgent. The waiting list is always long, so your situation is never urgent.
4. In theory, psychiatrists have just as many disorders as the rest of us. In practice, however, psychiatrists are always completely normal, and patients are always completely abnormal - even when it comes to things not related to the original condition you turned up to talk about.
5. If you are at the psychiatrist, you are there because you are not normal; therefore everything that you say is a symptom of your condition, as is every emotion you express.
6. If you get angry, upset or appalled by any of the above, this is also a symptom of your condition.
7. If you complain, things will get worse in direct proportion to the extent of your complaints. If you complain at all, they will add oppositional defiant disorder to your diagnosis. If you complain loudly, they will add histrionic personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you show a strong distaste for the psychiatrist, they will add borderline personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you show any superior knowledge to the psychiatrist on any subject whatsoever, they will add narcissistic personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you are unwise enough to stop even there, you run the risk of being sectioned under the Mental Health Act to languish in the secure ward until you have thoroughly learned rule 8 (see below).
8. Patients may not express adverse opinions. Ever.
I personally relate to the above statements so intensely, that to me it's no wonder that I'm never getting any better-in fact much worse every time I see a shrink. For years and years I have been literally screaming, shouting n swearing in my sleep, completely unaware of it except for my nightmares. People can't bear to sleep in the same room as me cos of the screaming I make! I'm not at all stable, yet I simply cannot approach any so-called professional because I truly believe they won't talk to me like I have a brain. I scream in my sleep because no one listens to me when I'm awake.
I don't expect these people to be miracle workers. But that's beside the point I am trying to make, let's not forget the £££££ or $$$$$ they are making by hiding behind the title of 'professional' whilst doing absolutely **** all when it comes to 'patients' with 'real minds'. Ouch ouch ouch! Can anyone please please relate to me? I'm 'unconventional' or any other title these highly paid people choose to call me. I can't speak for other countries but I've no doubt the point I'm trying to make is happening everywhere.
Messy, I think that a lot of doctors have the view that if they don't understand it then is doesn't exist. It drives me crazy with a lot of doctors. Sounds like you need some empowerment and I don't think that psych docs give that out at their offices. Therapists give this out in much higher rates or you can get it here. You can't get better if you feel that you don't have any control over your life.
Yep I agree with you whole heartedly. My doctor is a moron and I have known this since our first meeting the problem is with so few doctors around I am stuck with him. Did you know when you are walking and think you see something to the side and you stop and look and nothing is there and you do it forty plus times a day that is normal....he was actualy stuttering when he said that to me that means he is lying. I take three antidepressants, a mood stabilizer and a sleeping pill and when I asked if I was taking too much he replied that is something we will worry with down the road. When I asked what these meds were doing to my body again he replied we will worry about that down the road. The we with the body was not happy with these answers. My doctor keeps saying your doing much better yet he will never look at me when he says it. I am pretty sure if my doctor and I were in an empty dark parking lot he would take off running. I guess I would know then how truly stable I was.
take care
trg247
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Major Depressive Disorder With Psychotic Features
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
7. If you complain, things will get worse in direct proportion to the extent of your complaints. If you complain at all, they will add oppositional defiant disorder to your diagnosis. If you complain loudly, they will add histrionic personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you show a strong distaste for the psychiatrist, they will add borderline personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you show any superior knowledge to the psychiatrist on any subject whatsoever, they will add narcissistic personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you are unwise enough to stop even there, you run the risk of being sectioned under the Mental Health Act to languish in the secure ward until you have thoroughly learned rule 8 (see below).
I LOVE THIS!
I, however, cannot relate. I'm sure it happens here, but I've been lucky enough not to come into contact with any of those psychiatrists. I did speak to one on the telephone... my doctor referred me to him and he does brief phone consultations before deciding if he'll take the patient. He told me he felt that my goal was unrealistic... in other words, that I wouldn't be able to learn ways of dealing with stress, anxiety and my past without going into major episodes. Ever. From anyone. Talk about narcissistic personality disorder! I went back to my doctor and told him the psych doc wouldn't take me (and I told him about the "unrealistic" comment). So he referred me to someone else and she seems to think it's possible for me over-come some of my issues. I don't know what his problem was.
its sooo true right now its weird , espeically the 'if they dont understand it doesnt exist'. right now apparently its normal to be negative and down for 5 yrs, talk to ODing every other day, lining up pills?-dnt worry about it, your totally ok , and the whole self harming everyday too, under eating or attempting to be sick, and obbssessional worrying and walking for hours on end rain or snow, infact my fav was the time the bottoms of my trousers became giant ice cubes and bruised my legs, its all good because everybody probably just does that and i dont notice
what a load of bollocks. i know i was not always such a mess so therefore something is wrong and needs fixing, but i have an awful time trying to show emotion to my docs, so they dont get it, but i show emotion in letters and stuff-but still, as the list said'your case is NEVER urgent'. and the whole beleiving psychs when theyre wrong, my doc loves doing that cos its easy to just swallow, however she forgets i cant swallow just as hard because-im the one who has to live in a mess of the inbetween, and not get enough help because some dude in a porcsh turned up and spoke to me for 40 minutes and decided he knew everything.why are counsellors better at picking stuff up, yet they get paid so little in comparison. psychs may do a lot of busy stuff being docs-but does any of it really help anyone, to me all i hear from this board and elsewhere is just problem after problem with these psych guys-any success stories??
so yea....im angry
thanks for this, xox
__________________
My hands are small
i know
But theyre not yours, they
are my own
But theyre not yours,
they are my own
And i am never broken
Cant really relate as such have only seen a couple of different ones - one was very religious and kept telling me your fathers looking down at you right now, you will be with him eventually and you will see each other again blah, blah but I am afraid I am not a believer and it did nothing for me but make me feel uncomfortable. I havent really come in contact with any that make me feel that strongly about them I am afraid. But I am sure they do exist.
I've commented on this subject before. I went with my daughter in January to a psychiatrist; what a ding-bat! I truly believe she had more problems than most of her patients! Went to her replacement a couple of weeks ago (tell you someting there?) She wasn't as bad, but basically useless. I realize this was our first time with her, but she said no more than I do to my daughter, or her couselor or doctor do! Told daughter to "muddle through" school! Hello!! That's why we were there! She isn't going for some unknown reason yet to be determined.
Also said her meds (on cymbalta now) should make her feel a 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10 at the end of the month. Told our primary that, even the couselor and they looked at us like we were crazy!
You know what they say about psychiatrists.... Though I do believe there are good ones out there like in any profession; we just haven't seen them.
WOW! O.K. This is a GOOD thread and thanks for starting it.
MY psychiatrist says that you must take meds for OCD. He says it cannot be "cured" any other way.
WRONG. While I haven't cured it, I've certainly "cracked the code" a little. And it's not due to just the meds. It's ME. I'VE worked hard to say no to the obsessions/compulsions, etc. It's not all about meds.
So, yeah... Docs? They don't get it sometimes... AT ALL.
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"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." ~ Lao Tzu
These docs only believe in "their" cures - meds. They don't do therapy so they don't believe that that works. After I have seen how I have changed my thoughts and feelings and behaviors through therapy I just know that anyone can do it. I'm getting mad now, let's go beat up some docs!!!!
__________________
"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." ~ Lao Tzu
It's really quite comforting to hear from you all, thanks a lot for sharing your own stories. I know of course not everyone has bad experiences of pyschs but there are soooo many negative ones that I'm glad I've heard from other people. For years I thought it was just me and that I must be awkward and difficult, rather than just being someone who simply can't understand what puts the 'P' in professional. Some of you echoed my own situation perfectly, when it comes to the frustration of the way they talk down to you or treat you like you're brain dead. In my honest opinion, it's mostly intelligent people that suffer from these sorts of problems. Hence the irony when you then visit a shrink for them to treat you like you're the complete opposite! What I posted was sooo true for me and it seems I'm not alone.
It's interesting reading all of your stories and helpful to know that I'm not alone, too. The last psych I went to was years ago and he only helped me wean off Paxil. I haven't been to therapy since and have been thinking over the last couple of months that it's time to go back. I've moved to a new state, however, and just the thought of starting over with a new doc makes my head spin. I know it's important, and I'll go, but Lord... where to begin!
So thanks to everyone for being so open with your own experiences. This has helped me, too.
I would just be so interested to hear from anyone that can relate to any of the following when it comes to psychiatrists. I have to see my current shrink tomorrow and I'm dreading it (here we get to see one for literally 2 sessions, then we're shoved into another one's care for a couple of sessions, and then to another- etc....at least that's my personal experience but I know for sure I am not alone). I didn't write the following myself, it was actually written by a columnist that works for the very respected BBC here in the UK- yet these statements took the words right out of my mouth. Who would listen to me alone? I'm a mere patient with no mind of my own and no intelligence eh?!
1. Psychiatrists are always right, have all knowledge, and what they don't know doesn't exist.
2. Patients are powerless, have no knowledge, and should accept everything the psychiatrist says, even when it is wrong.
3. Situations are only as urgent as the waiting list is short. If the waiting list is long, no condition is ever urgent. The waiting list is always long, so your situation is never urgent.
4. In theory, psychiatrists have just as many disorders as the rest of us. In practice, however, psychiatrists are always completely normal, and patients are always completely abnormal - even when it comes to things not related to the original condition you turned up to talk about....
I guess this is why I quit going to psychs and just ask my Primary to write my scripts... It's all too true and makes me mad just thinking about my past experiences with psychiatrists. The scary thing is that Primary Care Physicians know so little about mental health that you take your mental and physical health in your own hands if you are not extremely careful about the meds you ask for. Psychiatrists may be arrogant, PCP's are idiots when it comes to mental health disorders!
7. If you complain, things will get worse in direct proportion to the extent of your complaints. If you complain at all, they will add oppositional defiant disorder to your diagnosis. If you complain loudly, they will add histrionic personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you show a strong distaste for the psychiatrist, they will add borderline personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you show any superior knowledge to the psychiatrist on any subject whatsoever, they will add narcissistic personality disorder to your diagnosis. If you are unwise enough to stop even there, you run the risk of being sectioned under the Mental Health Act to languish in the secure ward until you have thoroughly learned rule 8 (see below).
8. Patients may not express adverse opinions. Ever.
This was my experience with my last pyschiatrist. Every 3 weeks he would change around my meds. Every complaint I had about a side effect, he would add another med that was supposed to "take care of it". He kept increasing doses and adding meds. Then I ran into trouble with the pharmacy telling me he was giving me too high of a dose of some of them. I started looking up the meds and their side effects.
The more I complained, the more he added. Then he wrote me out something that I looked up and it was for psychotic behavior. I called him and said I was not going to take it, and I was not even going to have it filled and put on my record. I questioned all the meds he was giving me and the doses and he said that he should put me in the hospital for shock treatments. All because I kept questioning the medication. That's when I "fired" him.
My therapist was so appalled at his treatment of me that she said she was no longering referring people to him.
It's hard to find trustworthy doctors/therapists/psychiatrists.... no wonder so many people struggle with depression.
i guess i have it good cause my psychatrist is nothing like this to me. she actually CARES if i'm getting better or worse. last time i saw her i was getting angry at her and she thought it was GREAT. that i was having and feeling emotions again. since i started to see her i would tell her " i dont' care what you do" then last visit i was showing some anger and she was just so happy about that.
we go over my medication, she askes how theraphy is going. i told her "i quit" and she didn't like that at all but when you don't have $$$ how are ya suppose to go to counseling. she was like "well, do you want me to make your art class a part of theraphy"
so there are some genuine caring psych out there. i also gave her the impression on my last visit that i was going to OD and she got real serious with me. i didn't ans her at first then she got more stern in her voice and asked me again. i told her no and she was happy with that.
when i first started taking anti depressant i asked her about long term use. she told me she would not give me anything that would hurt me in the long run. i feel fortunant now that i have such a caring doc.
oh my this is totally me. my psychiatrist even put me in the psych ward with somethign he did. he took me off of a med too fast and i went paranoid and was delusionl. and when i try and tell him i am depressed today he says i am fine we will keep an eye on it and doesnt look at me. just says giver her one day of emds at a time since i was saying i was depressed.
, and the whole self harming everyday too, under eating or attempting to be sick, and obbssessional worrying and walking for hours on end rain or snow, infact my fav was the time the bottoms of my trousers became giant ice cubes and bruised my legs, its all good because everybody probably just does that and i dont notice 
While I haven't cured it, I've certainly "cracked the code" a little. And it's not due to just the meds. It's ME. I'VE worked hard to say no to the obsessions/compulsions, etc. It's not all about meds. 
I know of course not everyone has bad experiences of pyschs but there are soooo many negative ones that I'm glad I've heard from other people. For years I thought it was just me and that I must be awkward and difficult, rather than just being someone who simply can't understand what puts the 'P' in professional. Some of you echoed my own situation perfectly, when it comes to the frustration of the way they talk down to you or treat you like you're brain dead. In my honest opinion, it's mostly intelligent people that suffer from these sorts of problems. Hence the irony when you then visit a shrink for them to treat you like you're the complete opposite! What I posted was sooo true for me and it seems I'm not alone.
she actually CARES if i'm getting better or worse. last time i saw her i was getting angry at her and she thought it was GREAT. that i was having and feeling emotions again. since i started to see her i would tell her " i dont' care what you do" then last visit i was showing some anger and she was just so happy about that. 
