Posted by JohnL on October 10, 1999, at 9:20:47
In reply to First Psychiatrist Appt., posted by Thumper on October 9, 1999, at 21:29:20
Hi Thumper. I've had 3 pdocs. They usually start with basics such as symptoms, time-frames, family history, previous treatments, method of payment,etc. It's easy to become intimidated to where THEY ask all the questions. Be sure to ask some of your own. You can usually judge a lot about your new doc by how they answer YOUR questions. Through it all, always keep the perspective that YOU are the paying customer. You must ultimately be satisfied with the service you buy.
Things I like are good bedside manners, easy accessibility by phone or short-notice appointment, pharmacology expertise (not someone who just throws SSRIs at you), and open-mindedness to my own ideas. My current doc has excellent bedside manners, he is available by voicemail and can squeeze me in his schedule on as little as a week's notice, he's an oldtimer and knows a lot about these drugs, and he welcomes input from my own research. For example, my current trial of Naltrexone was initiated when he became enthused with info I printed out from this very site. If it fails, no matter, I've received the service I wanted. With continued good service, hopefully the next drug choice would work better.
Hopefully you'll receive the service YOU want. Just remember, who's paying who?
poster:JohnL
thread:12916
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991001/msgs/12959.html