Do you respect psychiatrists?

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61

hey,

A good shrink will have you pegged in the first five minutes!

Ask you a question and listen to your answers. It’s easy to spot psychosis and other concerns!

Seriously. I talk too much and I’m an easy patient! But still you approach things fairly! If your having problems and you don’t talk then write things down! Come to your shrink and give them a list of your problems…it’s not hard and a good one should know anyways!

I’ve had a great shrink and he let me walk away from stuff years ago but he kinda knew I’d run back into him!

Your pretty silly if you don’t respect a shrink but I know their must be some bad ones…a reason why I think therapists are a crock of shite…never dealt with a decent one!

A friend in the struggle,

rogueone.

62

Hi rogueone, long time.
I say therapists are all talk and no action. They are powerless to really change anything.

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63

Some psychiatrists are really great.

64

my p/doc has left me but the last time i saw him he wasn’t being very nice, we spoke and then i asked if i could see what was written in his notes which were the last few times he saw me and he refused which made me wonder what he had written about me bc he must have been scared about my reaction, probably looking down his nose at me in his notes calling me the ‘subject’ and detailing how i have been coherent and malleable maybe even stating that i don’t need help any more. he also said he would get the new guy to send me a letter in 6 months and i was like ‘thats too long’ :frowning:

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So do you respect psychiatrists???

66

I don’t all of them. They make lots of $$ for doing virtually nothing to do harm.

One diagnosed me with bipolar without me knowing. Next thing I knew, I was being choked to a mental facility. When I got out, I was hearing voices already. I paid $1,200 for the torture and brain damage.

Then there’s friend I know, 22yos, who was sexually abused. She was diagnosed depressed initially. The psychiatrist wanted another cash cow with his RX. She’s now on Anti-psychotics. She doesn’t take it she goes crazy. She now has heart problems as well and is very fat. She was hot before.

I could go on with reasons why I don’t respect them…

67

same as with any group of people, i can’t say i respect or don’t respect blanketly. they’re individuals. i respect my current outpatient one a great deal. i’ve seen him for nine years and he hasn’t dropped me and i do believe he’s doing everything he can and he’s gotten me through some hell. there have been some inpatient ones i have zero respect for. there are some i respect…i think it’s hard for me to see it as all or nothing because of how long i’ve been in mental health things. but, just like, there are some great case workers and some just abysmal human beings given that job.

it’s on an individual basis whether i respect anyone in any capacity is what i’m trying to say.

68

long time ago I asked my psychiatrist to lower my medication just a little and he intentionally dropped from 2mg to 1mg Risperdal. I told him that’s too much and he reply that’s how it is suppose to be done. so I agree. after 10 days I went into severe depression and hypomania. I raised my medication back and I told him what has happened to me. and he says that’s the SZA symptoms coming back. He lied again. latter when I learn that it is withdrawal symptom and I confronted him about it, he didn’t say anything. from that they on I lost my trust in him. now he knows I know much about the almost everything about my med and my illness, and now he is the one who listens to me and lowers my medication as I wanted to be.

69

all very interesting as my best friend is newly symptomatic and i am trying to explain to her that what she hears is not always real or truthful. she is angry at me and i am her only current source of assistance. when i suggest therapy she says i think she is crazy and she is fine.***
how do u tell this to someone with out losing them? she will NOT GO TO THERAPY, plz help. i am over my head. tx

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I would suggest reading this article on anosognosia, or “lack of insight or awareness.”

http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=27&Itemid=56

It is part of the brain disorder that is schizophrenia. Some people can’t even see their own symptoms, let alone admit that they have a disorder that necessitates professional care.

As for what you can do to help her, that depends largely on her current mental and functional states. Is she so symptomatic that she’s a danger to herself or others? Are her symptoms interfering with her activities of daily living to the point of affecting her health?

In these kinds of situations, you need to ensure her safety and well being. That would require that you contact the proper authorities to have her hospitalized.

Are her symptoms not that severe? In this case, establishing and maintaining a strong, trusting and non-judgmental relationship is key. Get her to open up to you about her symptoms. Reassure her that you’re there for her and that she’s safe. This way, she will trust you and feel open with you. This might take some time. But the goal of such a therapeutic relationship is to not only support, but also to gain the person’s trust enough so that they will be open to your suggestions, like seeking professional help, and they will trust that you have their best interest at heart.

It is important, since you are her primary support, to educate yourself as much as possible about her disorder, as well as on being a caregiver to someone with the disorder.

I would even suggest that you, yourself, join a caregiver support group like NAMI, to learn how to function as a caregiver, as well as how to take care of YOURSELF while being a caregiver. Caring for someone with a severe illness, especially schizophrenia, can be very emotional draining and stressful. So you need to learn how to cope with this.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Many Blessings,

Anthony

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71

Some guy that I once knew, treated those that he perceived as lessors, as absolute moronic crap, and continued to do so until they proved that they were not crap at all. I thought that this was cruel and horrific.

However, I am beginning to think that this may be the way to treat those who think that they are above and beyond you. This would go on unless they can prove that they were not crap at all, or simply admit that they are not so high and mighty in comparison to you after all. I say this because some folk in the medical field often show no true respect for you at all.

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I remember in college them telling us about “transference” - where you project your conflicts and drama with other people, usually your parents, onto your psychotherapist. I don’t know how much faith to put in that. If I had projected some of my conflicts onto my psychotherapist I would have truly hated him. Also, according to some psychoanalytical theories, the psychotherapist is supposed to passively let you project your conflicts onto him or her. However, I don’t see paying good money to talk to a fence post.

  • a good joke - How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? - One, but it takes a long time, and it has to want to change.
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73

A lot of people can’t see their symptoms. In turn, some CEO’s end up becoming thieves, some people on Wall street end up becoming thieves, some politicians end up becoming thieves, etc.

But obviously they are completely unaware of their symptoms and thus proceed onward practicing them.

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so many tx to anthony for great suggestion. trust IS key. logic does not work! when i ask how she could have heard someone across a crowded room for example she gets hostile and feels i don’t believe her. in this case the truth will NOT set u free i just makes u more anxious. i will continue to glean suggestions from your forum as u are the ones who really know. in addition i may have to join a support group as i can feel overwhelmed and i try not to lose perspective and patience. so many thanks and blessing to u too and all who suffer from mental illness. being a recovering alcoholic myself with some depression issues i am quite aware of the stigma issues. best babs

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75

The psychiatrist I met with was a socially-inept young woman who had trouble holding eye contact with me. Dang, I thought I was the one who should be giving HER the psych eval!

She read off questions like a gun firing bullets. I knew what all the questions were looking for. It was like taking one of those dumb online “do you have mental illness?” quizzes. She didn’t give me time to explain or provide detail for any of my answers, and made fun of me when I tried to explain that my voices weren’t audible but were more like intrusive thoughts that didn’t come from me. She barely listened, just wanted to check off symptoms on that dumb list of hers. Then after about 20 minutes she told me I had anxiety and a nonspecific psychotic disorder and tried to prescribe two different antipsychotics to me. I was so furious I ranted to my therapist a good deal afterwards and ranted on here too. It was a supremely unpleasant experience for me.

I realize she had social issues, but I definitely did not respect her as any sort of authority on my mental health. She was some kid who read the textbook a lot in med school and in reality doesn’t know dip about actual people. A psychiatrist should be good with people, for gods sake. And medication should not be doled out like candy.

The field of psychiatry is important, because people do need medication, but it needs vast reform, less big pharma influence. Medication needs to be improved as well. Being on high dosages of antipsychotics on a long-term basic creates irreparable changes in the brain that can create an illness in itself.

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You are absolutely right about less influence from big pharma.

In fact, there was a study published in the British Medical Journal last month about how pharma reps have a subconcious effect on doctors’ prescribing methods. Sometimes doctors don’t even realize that they’re prescribing a medication not because it’s the best choice, but because that particular med has been drilled into their heads by frequent visits from pharma reps.

Since that study, both my psychiatrist and primary care doc have put up signs on their office doors saying, “No pharma reps. No exceptions.”

I think it’s a wise move on their parts, as they will be able to start prescribing the right meds for the right reasons.

However, this does cause a bit of a problem for patients, inadvertently. Without pharma reps, doctors don’t have access to free samples for patients who either can’t afford their meds, or just need samples to determine whether a particular med is right for them.

It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. Just another part of the field of psych that needs to be radically reformed.

Blessings,

Anthony

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77

if people don’t want therapy they shouldn’t have it IMO.

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ID REPSECT PHYCIATRISTS MORE IF THEY ADMITTED they don’t know YOU DONT KNOW WE ALL DONT KNOW ITS JUST GUESS WORK BUT THEN theysd be out of a job sorry for caps.

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80

I have no trust in my Psychiatrist. He care nothing of no one, but the largely paycheck he receives monthly for claiming to be a “Good spirited” doctor that taunts and mocks every experience I’ve encountered.

81

I respect them, but the relationship I have between my Psychologist is the reason I stay in this area. I feel a bit misunderstood by my Psychiatrist.