View Full Version : I Fucking Hate Psychiatrists (obnoxiously long)
Nicolina
08-20-2007, 11:14 AM
Exactly. Every time I see a new dr, psychotherapist, etc. I have to go thru this whole explanation of why this one Dr. I saw for all of 15 minutes was wrong in labelling me BPD, and sometimes the new dr. thinks it's a symptom of my so-called BPD that I'm going around lying about it or something...if I can't get it across in the first meeting that the diagnosis was wrong, I have to go searching for yet another provider, cause drs. are REALLY prejudiced against BPD patients, and, yes, with good reason....
Again I'm sorry for the threadjack, but I believe my experiences are at least sort of on topic, what with the imagined omnipotence of mental health care professionals...
Please don't apologize; I think your experience is extremely relevant to the original topic (besides, I'm a great fan of thread drift!).
I have known some people I suspected to have BPD, but, they were never formally diagnosed, because--as is typical, I guess--they would never in a million years admit that they had any kind of problem.
I actually didn't know, though, that so many psychologists would actually REFUSE to work with BPD patients--that's kind of amazing to me! I'd be interested to know more about that, from anyone who has more info.
I'm sorry you had that experience. I think there should be some sort of law against diagnosing patients in 15 minutes flat. :-\
Seriously, how could anyone with even a minimal grasp on the complexities of the human mind and human behavior, and how they are affected by mental illness and developmental disabilities and neurobehavioral disorders EVER think that they could tease out a reasonably accurate diagnosis in such an outrageously short period of time?
Nicolina
08-20-2007, 11:30 AM
Have you read The Paleo Diet? It quotes a bunch of studies on the effects of grains.
I cured my hypoglycemia, fainting when I had my period, and bad bad cramps by cutting out wheat. Now if I eat any gluten I get immediately sick. In the very beginning I lost a little weight by cutting it out, but not that much.
Nope, I haven't read it, but I probably should, because I think I've been doing something similar. Wheat is the only grain I've cut out though--I still eat corn, rice, millet, rye, etc. (Is that not okay on the Paleo Diet?)
Also, do you have to cut out dairy? That's a no-go for me. I tried cutting out dairy once, on the theory that it might help clear my skin, but I saw no positive effects from that experiment. Plus, it's almost impossible for me to live without cheese and butter and cream.
OTOH, I found it was not really all that difficult to give up wheat--there are plenty of alternatives that I find perfectly acceptable. I even just found a gluten-free pizza made by a Canadian company called Glutino that is totally delicious!!!! (No one was more surprised than I!) Also, as long as I can still eat plenty of carbs in the form of potatoes and rice, I'm perfectly happy.
And whenever I give it up, I usually drop 15-20 lbs within the first few months. And my skin clears up. And my mind really does feel a lot less "fuzzy." And my whole GI tract feels a bit happier (though that isn't a drastic change in my case; I was expecting any IBS-type symptoms to completely disappear, but I don't think that happened.)
Lena, do you eat soy-sauce if it isn't wheat-free? I try to avoid it, but sometimes I cheat a little, on the theory that it probably doesn't contain much (any?) gluten. Do you know if it does?
I wonder the same about wheat beers--and Grey Goose Vodka! Anyone know?
zxcire
08-20-2007, 12:00 PM
Zxcire - What do they tell you is the reason they cant help you? Do they actually say its cause ur borderline? thats so mean
One therapist told me that she thought I was "hiding from myself" and "not compliant with treatment" when I tried to explain that I thought my BPD diagnosis was incorrect. I didn't see her for more than a month. I couldn't handle the fact that she saw me that way, and she wasn't getting over it so I took off.
Now I personally know some folks I believe were borderline personality disordered (enough time in psych wards and rehab, you'll meet a few)...and I don't like them at all myself. It's hard to feel sorry for them...but they suffer badly. They are difficult to pin down, temperamental, dramatic, good at getting themselves in trouble and deflecting blame...and overall they make you want to pull your hair out.
People with this disorder will play games with therapists, place blame, twist words, etc...even if they're serious about getting help. BPD sufferers are very manipulative, but usually they are not trying to be, they just have maladaptive coping mechanisms. A therapist has to have a butt-load of patience to take on, treat, and deal with a borderline patient. (Suicide threats, midnight phone calls, etc. are common.)
xdamage
08-20-2007, 12:13 PM
Oh yea, I can confirm from my own personal experiences with BPD, and people I've gotten to know who have dealt with someone in their life who truly has this problem, there is a good reason why a therapist wouldn't want them as a patient. Between the twisting of words, lack of taking personal responsibility for negatives (although most take full responsibility for positive outcomes even if they shouldn't), emotional instability, the strong tendency to split other people, how they see themselves, and almost every idea into all good or all bad categories, use of suicide threats are common, abandonment issues that can often result in a never ending stream of phone calls and manipulative tests to confirm they are really truly loved, lets just say people with this disorder are incredibly frustrating to deal with. OTOH a relationship with one rarely starts out that way. The first 15 minutes or even many days or weeks they can come across as truly wonderful giving people. Ah well, any way that's off track, but yea, I can see why an incorrect diagnosis could haunt you.
Katrine
08-20-2007, 12:28 PM
Fuckall, now I need to cut out wheat too? Perhaps I just don't try long enough, but cutting things out just doesn't work for me, no difference either way. The best combats I've found for depression and control for ADD/mania are:
1. Keeping myself as occupied as possible through work and hobbies
2. Small amount of Adderol
3. Very small dose of Seroquel at night to relax my body and keep me from wanting to run the streets.
4. Being in love and having regular sex
5. Eating a balanced diet of small meals, eating often, so that I don't get sleepy and lethargic from huge meals. Giving myself plenty of cheats, but not beating myself up. Not eating huge portions of meat.
6. Staying away from drugs/alcohol (duh!)
7. Journaling my feelings, therapy, and reinforcing myself of the positive and spiritual.
This doesn't always last for me, because I do something to let it go. But I'm trying to "convince" my brain to stick with as much of the above as possible, and trying to keep myself from this inconsistency that has plagued me all my life.
As for being in love..it just helps, it always has taken me out of my funks. The strongest drug that is out there...... :)
britt244
08-23-2007, 04:37 PM
so today i had a meeting with my alcohol counselor. i told her about the things that the psychiatrist i saw last summer said to me, and without remembering his name other than his first name, she knew who i was talking about and said those things sounded just like him. how can you have a reputation like that and still be allowed to practice?!
dlabtot
08-23-2007, 05:40 PM
I've only seen psychologists, never a psychiatrist. But it just seemed like a waste of time and money. For all the feedback I got, I might as well have just bought a tape recorder and told it my issues.
Budai
08-23-2007, 06:46 PM
In other words, I think a primitive ADHD hunter would have been more likely to "space out" at an inopportune time during the hunt and get picked off by a predator, or fall out of a tree, or step on a snake, or otherwise get himself injured or killed.
I also think a primitive ADHD hunter would be more likely to have trouble staying still and silent and patient during the boring parts of the hunt--because hunting requires a great deal of patience; contrary to Hartmann's claims, it isn't necessarily a high-stimulus endeavor...
Hey, Nicolina!
I revisited your thread this evening and just saw your responses to my post regarding Thom Hartman's body of work. I agree to an extent with your observations regarding Hartman's "Hunter/Farmer Theory", but given the various subtypes of ADD (six, according to Dr. Daniel Amen), I wasn't completely swayed. Hartman wrote an article entitled "Could Someone with ADD have Survived in a Primitive Hunting Society?"; is that the one you were referring to? ()
As a child, I attended schools in Nigeria, England and the United States where I was persistently labeled "a gifted but inconsistent student" by my teachers and parents. It wasn't until adulthood/parenthood, when I was seeking explanations for my eldest child's distractibility, that I recognized and acknowledged my own ADD traits. For that reason alone, Hartman's "anecdotal" discussions tend to resonate with me, and I find his "Hunter and Farmer Approach to ADD/ADHD" matrix enlightening because it underscores (for me, at least) some fundamental differences between the stereotypical "office types" versus the "entrepreneurial and/or artist types."
()
...And most doctors will tell you that medication is only part of the treatment; you should also be doing cognitive behavioral therapy, working with an ADD coach, and exercising regularly. Most don't mention diet, except maybe to tell you not to drink too much alcohol. But I think Western medicine doesn't pay enough attention to the ways in which the foods we eat affect our whole selves.
"The ADD-Friendly Diet"^^ was developed in response to a series of scientific findings since 1990 linking ADD and weight gain. However, the article's author emphatically notes that "the precise mechanism underlying the link between obesity and ADD is yet to be discovered."
The shrinks just told me I have (there is a list...)
1) Depression (I'm the happiest person in the world. I don't know where they ot this one)
2)Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (oi)
3) SEVERE anxiety issues
4) Histrionic personality disorder. (Look it up. If everyone in the world had it, this world would be a whoooooollle lot funner)
then they tried to perscribe me stuff and tell me that all my problems were because of my dad offing himself when I was a kid.
Then I never went back.
I still don't get it.
gingerlee
08-23-2007, 10:19 PM
so today i had a meeting with my alcohol counselor. i told her about the things that the psychiatrist i saw last summer said to me, and without remembering his name other than his first name, she knew who i was talking about and said those things sounded just like him. how can you have a reputation like that and still be allowed to practice?!
The first doctor I had when I moved to TN was an asshole. He wanted to change around all my meds and shit like that when I was doing just fine. He would always talk to me like I was stupid or like I had to be lying about things I had going on in my life. When my depression popped back up full force I asked him for help in the form of antidepressants. He refused to give me anything and told me to get out of his office. It turned into a physical altercation that got me locked up for a little while, but I got my meds. :-[
It's been 2 years since I saw that doctor, and I've heard SO many patients and caseworkers complain about him being mean to everybody that it makes me sick. My current doctor didn't even have to have me say the other doctor's name and he knew who I was talking about when I had to tell my 'why I'm here' story the first time I saw him.
/end threadjack
madmaxine
08-23-2007, 10:24 PM
The first doctor I had when I moved to TN was an asshole. He wanted to change around all my meds and shit like that when I was doing just fine. He would always talk to me like I was stupid or like I had to be lying about things I had going on in my life. When my depression popped back up full force I asked him for help in the form of antidepressants. He refused to give me anything and told me to get out of his office. It turned into a physical altercation that got me locked up for a little while, but I got my meds. :-[
It's been 2 years since I saw that doctor, and I've heard SO many patients and caseworkers complain about him being mean to everybody that it makes me sick. My current doctor didn't even have to have me say the other doctor's name and he knew who I was talking about when I had to tell my 'why I'm here' story the first time I saw him.
/end threadjack
Interestingly enough, our local general practice doctor has the same reputation- he's been told off repeatedly & I refuse to see him anymore.... We're moving so it's not an issue now, but seriously I wonder if some of these docs take advantage of their position to indulge in sadism...
britt244
08-23-2007, 11:27 PM
^ its just so ridiculous! people like that should lose their license!
Circe
08-24-2007, 07:21 AM
Nope, I haven't read it, but I probably should, because I think I've been doing something similar. Wheat is the only grain I've cut out though--I still eat corn, rice, millet, rye, etc. (Is that not okay on the Paleo Diet?)
Also, do you have to cut out dairy? That's a no-go for me. I tried cutting out dairy once, on the theory that it might help clear my skin, but I saw no positive effects from that experiment. Plus, it's almost impossible for me to live without cheese and butter and cream.
OTOH, I found it was not really all that difficult to give up wheat--there are plenty of alternatives that I find perfectly acceptable. I even just found a gluten-free pizza made by a Canadian company called Glutino that is totally delicious!!!! (No one was more surprised than I!) Also, as long as I can still eat plenty of carbs in the form of potatoes and rice, I'm perfectly happy.
And whenever I give it up, I usually drop 15-20 lbs within the first few months. And my skin clears up. And my mind really does feel a lot less "fuzzy." And my whole GI tract feels a bit happier (though that isn't a drastic change in my case; I was expecting any IBS-type symptoms to completely disappear, but I don't think that happened.)
Lena, do you eat soy-sauce if it isn't wheat-free? I try to avoid it, but sometimes I cheat a little, on the theory that it probably doesn't contain much (any?) gluten. Do you know if it does?
I wonder the same about wheat beers--and Grey Goose Vodka! Anyone know?
Paleo diet followed strictly means no grains of any kind and no dairy. But in my experience and from those I've heard, cutting out sugar and grains is more important than cutting out dairy...and some people tolerate raw dairy, but not pasturized.
I tried eliminating dairy to clear my skin too. But it was only until I eliminated grains and sugar that my skin cleared. It's like baby skin now and is awesome...I have a thread on it in BB.
I tend to stick more to higher fat dairy as well like cheeses, creams and yogurts. These products really don't have much, if any lactose...but casein in cheese might be a problem. Maybe if I were to chug milk, perhaps the increased lactose would have an effect. However, I sometimes drink glasses of whole milk and I don't break out. YMMV.
I personally have small amounts of sauces like soy sauce that contain wheat and my digestion and skin are fine. It really depends just how sensitive to wheat you are...I think for some people the minute amounts could cause a flare up.