Posted by Toby on October 21, 1998, at 8:18:24
In reply to Re: personality conflicts, posted by John on October 20, 1998, at 14:28:33
I think it is a good thing for patients to educate themselves on their illness and possible treatments. After all, who would ever say that a diabetic shouldn't be educated on diabetes and how to manage it? I have had many patients come in and say that they have had a particular diagnosis for many years and recently they started researching it on the internet and in books and are beginning to wonder if they have the right diagnosis because they have never really felt any better even though they are on 6 different medications, have gained 50 pounds, and have more side effects than you can shake a stick at. They come in looking for a second or third opinion, and sure enough... wrong diagnosis, and in several cases, the patient didn't even have a mental illness, just severe life stressors so when the medications were stopped and the patient cleaned up the stressors, the symptoms vanished. But they never questioned the doctor before and even when they did, if the doctor didn't enlighten them, they just accepted it. Such a waste of the patient's life.
In this day of managed care, time is heavily restricted, so each session may not be fully satisfactory. But go to your appointments armed with a list of questions, side effects, new stuff you've learned. If the doctor picks up his prescription pad in the first five minutes, say you have other things to talk about first and stick with it. If you've never been in therapy before and the diagnosis is depression, you might want to try therapy first before you start trying to combat side effects of medications. If you run out of time, get a promise to discuss the rest of your list next time. Doing your research may not guarantee the doctor will try the new medication you read about, but at least there will be a discussion about it. Hopefully, the more patients are educated, the less the God complex will be able to rear its ugly head. Also, please be aware there is a lot of misinformation on the web -- you want to have several resources for your information. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill is a great place to find good information.
poster:Toby
thread:917
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19981001/msgs/926.html