Some of the people who commented seemed to notice the same thing when I scrolled down to read them.
The video is an example for learning psych students, the psychiatrist and patient are actors, and they are trying to show what paranoid schizophrenia might look like when a psychiatrist meets the patient for the first time.
But to me it seems very unrealistic because the patient is super open with the psychiatrist (who is really annoying btw) and just completely spills the beans to her, whatever she asks.
Maybe it’s because if I don’t really have SZ then I experience psychosis differently, but I am curious for those of you who have been officially diagnosed, do you think it’s unrealistic? Even when you have been in a full-blown delusion, would you have just readily told everything to a total stranger, especially a doctor?
I sure as hell never would have. Even when I am experiencing psychosis or psychosis-like symptoms, I have always known better than to tell anyone about them, ESPECIALLY doctors or psych professionals. It’s their whole job to scrutinize your thoughts, and plus there is a lot of anti-psychiatry material out there that can make me very paranoid of psychiatrists/doctors when I am in that state of mind. Plus I will usually be convinced that what I experience is supernatural in nature, so I will feel like psychiatrists would be in on it and that they are evil.
But this guy just tells her everything without hardly any hesitation. Do you think that’s an unrealistic portrayal? Or not?
I told my doctor everything, because I was scared and wanted someone to help. I knew I was going crazy and that a doctor could help me. But I am an open person by nature.
I spent the first year trying to hide stuff from my doctors. They might think I was crazy and keep me in the hospital even more. Then the meds kicked in enough and I realized that the crap I was writing down was crazy. And that I hated being hospitalized. That’s when I decided to be 100% honest with my doctor and at AA meetings. Also about the same time I started getting healthier.
Thanks for the feedback on it, appreciate it. I have a hard time imagining telling a pdoc or therapist everything. It seems pretty terrifying. I usually just go kind of numb and spaced-out, then almost have a panic attack, and wind up being told I seem depressed/anxious, accepting that immediately and trying to get the hell out of there.
I remember making a deal with my pdoc: Told her I’d tell her everything that was going on in my head, but she had to understand I was doing this because I wanted to get back to a normal level of function – we weren’t going to consider any other goal. She held up her end and I kept up mine. I shared, I took my meds, I called her when I was falling apart and needed an admission, and I got my arse to AA meetings like I said I would. When I needed a bed or a med change, I got them pronto. And she always treated me respectfully.
I understand how you feel, Turnip. I tend to downplay with my doctor, or overemphasize that I know something isn’t right - “I know this isn’t true, but I feel like…” Or I immediately insert what people tell me about my experiences - “the crisis counselor says that’s just magical thinking, that makes sense to me,” or “my roommate tells me that our minds will look for reasons to make us feel bad,” in order to frame what I’m saying in the most “normal” way possible.
I remember my first appointment with my psychiatrist I kept staring at the air conditioner thinking there are cameras inside. I also had trouble talking and explaining myself.
i am honest but it takes me a while to get it out. i want to start laughing because i think my delusions are ridiculous. it’s hard to put them into words because they are so jumbled together. I just sit there felling confused while i try to form my thoughts.
I am honest. But I really just answer questions, I don’t volunteer much information because I don’t think I know how or I don’t think it’s important. my psychiatrist last year was great. After my initial inspection of his room, I reminded him he is bound as a professional to not disclose any of our conversation to anyone without my prior consent. Then we worked out a password system so I knew it ws him and not an impostor I was speaking to in future. The password system came in handy again when he referred the mental health crisis team to visit me everyday for welfare checks. I would only speak to them once they gave me the password.
After it being written some time ago that I was awkward,demanding and troublesome for seeking more help I am very reluctant to open up. My standard response to being asked how I am is a rather non committal “not too bad” or “so so” Having said that let my guard slip a little last appointment with my nurse practitioner after she gave a positive response to my telling her I was reluctant to say things due to past experiences.
Yeah, I didn’t watch the whole thing, and I don’t know what it’s like for others, but I started shaking almost convulsively and sobbing the first time I explained what I see and hear to a professional. I was terrified. This guy’s pretty calm…Also, I have a hard time articulating what’s going on…
I was also honest, my mouth just talked and my brain said things, I was honest because I thought it wasn’t a problem and that people understood me and agreed with me. Then after I got hospitalized I started lying for a few months, then the meds worked and I stopped lying.