Psychiatrists making you feel small.

HI @Helpmeheal,

I'm really sorry to read that you have gone through this experience. I totally understand and empathise with you - I agree with you, I can't understand why you would treat anyone like this, particularly by someone that works in the mental health field.

I can't relate in terms of a psychiatrist but I can definitely relate to your feelings when it comes to GPs. I have had a few make me feel like I'm a bit odd if I talk about certain issues around my mental health. For example, many years ago I had a really bad fear of something and I was made to feel silly about it. I understand maybe logically it didn't make sense to the GP but it made sense/was real to me and I was left to feel unsupported and displaced.

You didn't deserve this to happen to you - I really hope you are okay @Helpmeheal.

Warm wishes,

FloatingFeather

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@Helpmeheal wrote:

Very frustrating, and I have had so many experiences like this. Can other people relate?

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Ooooooh, yes! Very much so.

Aside from the part about being told to read an information sheet. That's actually more respect (if you can believe it) then what I got from my therapist. He didn't want me to know anything about the meds he put me on; he simply expected me to take them without thought, question, or any level of awareness about them at all. He actually got upset when I told him that the pharmacist advised me about the potential side-effects. And even the pharmacist didn't give me the full picture there.

I can relate very well to being handled very generically by a psychiatrist. There was virtually no interest or recollection of the specifics of my life and problems; no help offered or given. All the guy seemed interested in doing was perscribing me pills. And when the pills did nothing, he refused to listen to my concerns and insisted that I must be better, because I "looked better."

Hi @chibam

I'm sorry you had what sounds like an unsupportive experience from your psychiatrist and pharmacist. It can be challenging to find the information that you would expect to be told before you take a new medication.

It sounds like you asserted yourself and made your own enquiries to find out what you wanted to know.

Take care

RiverSeal

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@RiverSeal wrote:

Hi @chibam

I'm sorry you had what sounds like an unsupportive experience from your psychiatrist and pharmacist. It can be challenging to find the information that you would expect to be told before you take a new medication.

It sounds like you asserted yourself and made your own enquiries to find out what you wanted to know.

Take care

RiverSeal

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No, @RiverSeal , at the time I was incredibly naieve. I figured that "doctors know best" and so I just went along with what I was told to do, although I was increasingly concerned that there were no improvements forthcoming. But the therapist brushed those concerns off with: "Oh, you need to give the medication time to work!" (I was of a similar mind in the first place, and only raised my concerns about my lack of progress after being on the meds for 2-3 months. The therapist nonetheless implied that I was still being too impatient)

I only looked into things more critically years after he booted me out of his care; when I saw a TV show where a girl mentioned being on the exact same meds I'd been on, but she had stopped taking them because they made her fat. This struck a chord with me because I had put on a significant amount of weight myself while I was on the pills; but I'd never put two and two together before. So I did some research online through reputable sources, and sure enough, weight gain was most definitely a well-known side-effect of that medication! And nobody gave me any warning about it before I started popping them down!

Hi @chibam

I totally understand the weight gain from medication and other side effects. I have had my share and they can be challenging to deal with on top of mental health issues. I was very overweight from medications for a long time and understand the effect that can have on people.

I have come to learn that recovery is made up of many moving parts that require attention and effort simultaneously. Medications can be an important part of the process as therapy and choices with coping techniques are too. Even the TV can be helpful and a source of information for getting us through the recovery journey that we wouldn't willingly sign up for given a choice.

Thank you for sharing your experiences here on the Forums!

Regards,

RiverSeal

Hrmmm @Helpmeheal ,

I do have to agree with the clinical-ness of things. I don’t like it either.

However, I have had ONE (in a million) psychiatrist who treated people as real people! He was such an inspiration and there was such a ‘human-ness’ about him that I’ll never forget.

Actually, as I write, I also remember another one I came across in hospital. She was human too! I wasn’t just a disease or number to her.

I’ve noticed that the newer psychiatrists (freshly out) are a lot more compassionate. The older psych registrars and the top psychs seem to be less human - does the profression turn them to becoming less-human, less-empathetic, and less-relatable? IDK?