Do you respect psychiatrists?

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41

hey,

Some great advice there!

Seriously. I love my shrink and I’m low maintenance…within two minutes he knows my mood and what I’m thinking like…mostly we talk cricket…other than that I’m talking symptoms!

Still he says and knows that psychiatry is very much a trade…if you’ve ever worked with your hands or mind you learn to appreciate this…and often what our expectations are don’t matter…seriously!

If the pills are working they give you your doing well. If they aren’t your doing bad and that often isn’t your fault often…!!!

I’m a pro psych kinda guy but I’ve done well with mine. He’s top shelf but ultimately it’s ten to fifteen minute sessions every six weeks…you learn to maximise your time…and still if it’s going well you’d understand we’re talking about the next ashes and what Australia’s chances are of batting enough and bowling out England twice!!!

A friend in the struggle,

rogueone.

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42

I have only had one psychiatrist since I have been diagnosed. I am not talking about the ones in the hospital which were useless. He is a very good doctor and talks to you. Its harder for him now that he has to put everything on a computer. I recommend him to everyone I meet there or who asks. The best part is that I trust him. He explains the medication to me all the side effects and takes my input.

43

I respect my current one she listens and gives me advice, she was the one that actually looked at my history, knew what it was and put me on chlorpromazine to see how that affected me, it worked and that confirmed my diagnosis. She doesn’t take notes which I respect. She doesn’t judge, doesn’t manipulate the conversation, infact at the moment I’m going through a lot of pain mentally out of guilt and shame she called me a caring, intelligent woman which just shocked me… But meant a lot so I do respect her othewise I wouldn’t have accepted that and I also wouldn’t be taking my meds.

My first psychiatrist completely missed me psychosis, my mum sees her sometimes (my mum has to visit where I went for treatment for meetings sometimes) and the doc actively avoids her, doesnt talk, avoids eye contact etc my mum like intimidating her through smiles and eye contact herself so they obviously feel guilt or something.

My inpatient doctor was pure out narcissist, he made my skin crawl, he’s the closest form to evil that wasn’t delusion. He had all the nurses wrapped around his finger. He was the one that put me on onlanzapine put me up to maximum dose and when it didn’t work, he didn’t believe a word I said p, at the time I thought I was in a political prisoner institution and wasn’t taking meds all the time so god knows what I said in session but he would intimidate me, he would be sarcastic etc I remember being so fearful of him. Had my second psychotic break after being taken off olanzapine it was major and he refused to treat it for about a week, I was crying pretty much solidly, overwhelmed by voices and thoughts, I nearly killed myself whilst under their watch, despite this they didn’t increase my obs which they should have done it was under his orders, I’m still not sure why they didn’t do that as I made another attempt which warranted going to the emergency department. They still didn’t increase obs but my mum begged him to put me back on something I think that’s what he wanted, to feel that power, so he did although it was quetiapine which just made me not give a damn I remained in that psychotic state I just didn’t act on anything.

I did have a very confused psychiatrist after coming out of hospital, I don’t know what the hospital notes said but she was getting conflicting messages from them and who she saw infront of her. I was in limbo land for a while. I had respect for her though as she was a relief from the one in hospital, she was the one that got me compliant with meds.

It wasn’t until I saw my current nurse nearly two years ago wo assessed me and noticed I was obviously psychotic so my current doc changed me onto chlorpromazine at that’s where I am today.

I think some of them have too much power over people’s minds and others are
too ready to pill pop, but then there are some absolutely wonderful ones who genuinely care and are good at their job.

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44

I like my current doc a lot. She always calls back pretty quick if I am having problems. She has a good sense of humor, is very respectful and very realistic that she knows she doesn’t know all the answers either. I usually never have to wait more than 15 minutes in the waiting room and she doesn’t pressure me into trying to work. She is very kind and I am quite fortunate.

45

I also forgot to mention that I have quite a bit of respect for psychiatrists because I think most of them have to deal with severe stress, depression, harsh criticism and plenty of other stuff. I never met one yet that had an easy job… Yeah some make a lot of money but I don’t think I could ever handle that much stress and disappointment. I get frustrated enough sometimes trying to fix pc’s.

Given the complexity of neural networks in our brains, I am surprised they can do anything at all to help but I think statistics show they do a good job. I am glad they helped me with this black box inside my skull.

I have almost no respect for certain religions that criticize them.

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46

they have their place,but personally i don’t care for them…

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47

I am not saying I haven’t had some rather incompetent ones… There is incompetence in every profession. There are probably a few that I would call evil but most I think I had tried to help In some way. Those pesky molecules are hard to predict sometimes :slight_smile:

48

I finally found a good pdoc but I hated most of them.

But psychologists are the worse in my opinion they can’t heal you with meds,
so all they can do is keep you coming back to insure their income stream.

your mileage may vary of course.

49

why do you think their job is any more stressful than another?

I think the process itself is broken, passing out pills is not a solution if you cannot measure the levels of neurotransmitters in someones brain, then how do you think you can alter that with a med successfully.

and now you have a label slapped on you, nobody listens to you. swallow your pill, come back next month is the process.

50

I agree that the process itself is broken however I do not think that it is the psychiatrists fault that it is broken. They are doing the best that they can same as anyone in any profession. Some will suck and some will be awesome with the majority somewhere in between. Have you ever been to your GP and been prescribed an antibiotic that didn’t work? I have. My GP couldn’t test to see which antibiotic was going to work first.

I sometimes tell parents/caregivers that learning the system can make a big difference. Knowing what to expect and what you can’t expect. Acknowledging that psychiatrists are human too and unfortunately they can make mistakes and be overworked. Not an ideal situation but reality non-the-less. I don’t agree with anyone being pill pushers and I’ve been lucky that my son’s workers are not. They can prescribe him 1000 pills but they can’t make him take them. They can schedule 1000 appointments but they can’t make him attend them. In the end the responsibility of these choices are on him, not on the drug companies or even the scientists creating the drugs or the psychiatrist prescribing them.

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51

Due to my brother’s life, I have ended up being by his side in front of many psychiatrists, psychologist, and therapists.

From the outside looking in, I hope you don’t mind my saying that I noticed the relationship between my brother and his pdoc improve when he started opening up a bit more and talking to the doc. A doc can only go on information given. But if there is no info, there is nothing to go on. Then it’s all a guess, and many times they guess wrong.

I wish there was a class on pdoc lingo. There are some key words a doc is trained and obligated by law to act on. There are some concerns my brother used to want to bring up without being afraid of being slapped into hospital. So my brother is afraid to open up, and the doc is trained to look for other signs, and often misreads them. It’s not a good situation.

An amazing therapist came into our family’s life and she sort of gave my brother the “how to open up to a doc with out getting slapped in hospital” training. So my brother had a way to discuss his anger management and some of his intrusive violent thoughts without the doc thinking he was a threat to himself and others.

My brother was able to communicate how he was feeling in such a way that the doc could get a handle on what was going on. I have noticed, the more my brother opened up to his doc, the better his meds and the more healthy he got.

That’s just me on the outside looking in.
Thank you for letting me post.

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52

The pdocs are just one piece of the puzzle. Self help helped me a lot over the years even for physical stuff. Your physical doc can prescribe blood pressure pills, cholesterol pills etc… but it is much more powerful if you yourself make radical changes to your diet and exercise.

I think the pdocs have a rough job because they are usually dealing with suffering people (not as bad as hospice nurses but bad enough)… If they have any mirror neurons left I think they suffer along with the patient too. How would I feel if one of my patients killed themselves?

The problem with the system is that consumers don’t take matters into their own hands… I know for a very long time I didn’t. they don’t try hard enough to eat right, attend self help groups, give up smoking, manage stress, read a lot… It’s like physical illnesses where a middle age guy is overweight and has diabetes and is eating steak dinners. The doctors can only do so much… if the patient isn’t going to work hard too things will go nowhere. I was very fortunate to have a lot of modalities available to me: Recovery meetings, day treatment, psych docs, advocacy organizations, this website, chiropractors, physical docs, gyms, good books, good pharmacists, good educational opportunities…etc.etc… One person doesn’t usually build a house completely by themselves. Most people can’t lift themselves up by their bootstraps as the old saying goes but there is much better progress if they lend a hand in their own health.

There is no “magic bullet” for this disease. As they say in Recovery, it requires a total effort. You gotta throw the kitchen sink at it.

(Excuse me for using so many analogies, but I think they are good ones)

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53

Very well put. I agree. It’s hard and I know finding that first step is no easy thing, but man, you’ve got to move your foot to take that first step. I had help finding that first foot hold. I asked for help and it got me on my path.

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54

Yeah… negative symptoms made it rough for me in the beginning… I was very depressed too and I didn’t even know how to try to try at the start. Meds helped me get a head start but all the other stuff got me moving again… I am extremely lucky to live in a town where mental health services are taken a little more seriously.

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55

I agree though that some psychiatrists aren’t as resourceful as they could be. Some only seem to have a rudimentary understanding of psychology and don’t really talk to the patient enough. Some don’t take physical problems enough into consideration either. I think have had better docs though since when I first started. I am also with a different agency that seems to pay its doctors more so they get the cream of the crop. They seem to cherry pick their patients a little though.

56

they get paid good money,

57

I’ve had a few Pdocs cense I’ve been diagnosed. My first one an old fart not saying any names here would just ask me how I was doing… dumb ■■■■ couldn’t tell I was lying through my teeth.
You know I don’t think he really cared. Then I seen this older lady I seen in the stress center. She made me laugh a few times… she was a real hoot. Now for the last 6 years I see this cute nurse practitioner who I trust asks all the right question even though they get under my skin at times. I’m doing really good now. I got family, friends, and relatives that really care. And mostly I had and still have my faith. I was diagnosed at the age of 23 now in 5 months I’ll be 40. And my dreams are coming true. I feel like I am going to live forever.

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58

If psychiatrists respect me then i respect them. If they come over as arrogant and narcissistic then- NO.

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59

well, I am afraid of the pdocs in clinical practice nationwide doctors now, that is for sure, after what I’ve been through. Now I get it. My friend tells me don’t use the word ‘afraid’ now I am empowered instead. I am now empowered. Thank you NIH. There are now a group of psychiatrists I respect in Maryland! However, if you travel the country, like I ended up doing, current clinical practice is still incredibly horrific (in my own personal experience.)

yes, it’s true, I have excess spinal fluid in my head, I’ve been locked up against my will (without any brain imaging), forced to take meds (which do nothing if you’re symptoms are caused from intracranial pressure), and my symptoms were caused from excess spinal fluid in my head along with alot of exercise (biking). No, pdocs don’t even talk to you when you are put into an acute care setting. pdocs don’t talk to me after I got out either.

current clinical practice is still so bad, this seems like a good option to me some days, my neighbor offered to help get the excess spinal fluid out of my head, charge me only $10!

my new care team consists of a primary care doctor, a neurologist, and a neurosurgeon. And yes, I have a list of Sz diagnosis under my belt too.

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60

I give them as much respect as I give anyone else and on an individual basis…

Yes I think I respect my new psychiatrist…there was one however I lost all respect for but I can’t let this influence my opinion of all psychiatrists as this would go against everything I believe.

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