Are they kind and understanding? Or cold and unforgiving?
Listeners? Or ignorant?
Let you decide your med dose, or do they make all the decisions?
Let me know if you have any good or bad experiences.
Thanks.
Non existent as in I haven’t seen him for several years. I see what used to be called my care coordinator(there’s a new title now) and she reports back to him if necessary . I think that’s par for the course when you go past the acute, more florid, stage of being mentally ill.
Historically. I’ve seen quite a few pdocs over 52years as a psychiatric patient. Overall not good.They’ve tended to understand me about as much as I understand nuclear physics. It took my daughter’s intervention, prior to my moving from Essex, to correct long held misconceptions about me. A result of that the pdoc who saw me when I first moved here was much better with me than previous ones.
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We’re on good, friendly terms though he doesn’t really do anything to help me. I talk to him for less than five minutes every 6 weeks on the phone and we pretty much say the same thing every visit:
Him: “How are you doing?”
Me: “Fine.”
Him: “How’s the medication working?”
Me: “Fine”.
Him: “Well, it sounds like you’re doing good? Any changes?”
Me: “No”.
Him: “ Well, see you in six weeks.”
Me: “OK.”
He doesn’t encourage me to talk or ask questions, if I go off script and tell him my real problems he gets disturbed so I don’t bring up anything. We’re friendly but I depend on therapist to tell my problems to.
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Listener. Most of my pscyh appointments turn into mini therapist sessions. She’s wonderful. She gives me options for every decision she makes. She gets me involved in my own care instead of ruling with an iron fist like my former psychiatrist.
She’s pretty relaxed but gets frustrated with me because I always do the opposite of whatever anyone tells me and sometimes she has to dig into me when I keep making the same bad decision over and over again.
The only time she put her foot down and was more demanding is after I tried working overnights. She was blunt and told me not to try that again because it’s horrible for people with bipolar.
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That doesn’t sound like you’re doing yourself a favour. They have to know what’s going on, otherwise they can’t help.
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She listens and gives me a say in what meds im on.
My psychiatrist is a born and raised Iowan like me, so we have that in common, and honestly, we’re very similar as are a lot of Iowans.
He listens, is understanding, doesn’t get freaked out by my symptoms, and we (my dad and I) can talk to him about anything.
I’m very blessed for my family, friends, therapist, and psychiatrist. I’m truly privileged and lucky for having such a great support system, which includes all of you guys.
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IT’s fine. All I really need from them is prescriptions at this point , though.
Like @77nick77 , all they do is ask the same standard questions every time.
Im considering asking for Wellbutrin again to increase mood.
If I say Im having trouble sleeping all the night through they might give me my options for getting better sleep and stuff like that.
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I have a new psychiatrist so I don’t know him well but so far he seems cool enough.
He’s very direct and no nonsense.
He also seems to be a good listener
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I no longer have one. I am too stable. Now have to see a GP for psych meds. I’m fortunate that I have one who is supportive and lets me have what I ask for. Now have extra Ativan as a PRN and was able to ditch Haldol.
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Haldol; the stuff of nightmares.
If I take that my arms get frozen in place in an awkward position.
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It causes muscle cramping. Parkinson’s causes muscle rigidity. The two of them together are a kind fo pain that is hard to describe. I can no longer take anything that amplifies Parkinsonism type symptoms now that I have the actual illness.
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@anon82948922 oh my you have parkinson’s??? bummer
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I’m afraid of Parkinson’s disease if I stay on meds long term.
Via the basal ganglia right? Substantia nigra. Down regulation of dopamine.
Our brains need dopamine to function correctly.
I like my psych. She is kind and listens and is smart too. It’s hard for me to trust but I think I can trust her.
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