Posted by RN320 on May 5, 2008, at 19:31:10
In reply to psychiatrists are bastard don't you agree?, posted by Jeroen on April 27, 2008, at 13:25:02
Hey Jeroen-
Sorry you've had what seems to be a really bad experience. I've heard so many people talk about the way that they've been treated by the very people who are supposed to be specialized in the area of Mental Illness yet don't seem to be able to apply it, or give a rip about their patients. I would like to show you the other side, however:I fell into a major psychotic depression back in March of 2001. I'd never had a mental illness before and was perfectly functional (had a great career, lots of friends and special relationships with others). I have a slight immune system problem, and was going in for a routine follow up appt with my immunologist, who has treated me for almost 20 years now. I was falling apart and planning to kill myself, and had no intention of seeking help of any kind. Of course the worst (best?) thing happened- I broke down when I saw my doc and we talked for quite awhile. He arranged an appointment with a psychiatrist in the building, who fit me in because of the abrupt and severe onset of the depression and psychosis described by my immunologist.
Initially I didn't trust him, although he had very kind eyes and appeared very concerned about me. (But then i was extremely paranoid about most things at the time.) I grew to like him as the months went on. I've now been seeing him for 7+ years. He does all kinds of things that show his concern for me-
1)He knows that I can't stand crowds and he runs a very busy practice, so he personally makes all of my appointments for me and TELLS the person at the desk (who usually makes the appts)the date and time to book. He tries to see me on days when he's not doing a med clinic, but if that's not possible he puts me ahead of his 1st patient of the day or after the last patient of the day.
2)He's a straight shooter- if he wants to introduce a new medication, he explains the info he has, offers me the chance to get more, and asks me what I think about trying it. This is how I got on the EMSAM.
3) In 2007 I required brain surgery and also broke my ankle (actually it was shattered and required 2 surgeries and 3 months in a wheelchair). His office staff does not normally help patients outside of the doors of the office, but when i explained that my mom (who weighs <90# and is 83 years old)would be driving me for appts and couldn't lift the wheelchair out of the car- he told us to just call from the car and that help would come from the office over to the parking structure to help us get into the office and then back to the car after the appt. His office manager told me that they just couldn't accept the liabilty to help me, so when I told Dr. G what she said, he said quietly "I'll take care of it" and he did.
4)Although he's very eccentric (he's older, wears the bowtie and is the stereotypical Jewish Psychiatrist!) I really enjoy him. He has shown me that he has a sense of humor over the years, and although he really doesn't talk about anything personal, he'll answer a question if i ask. Recently there was a baby picture front and center on his desk, and I asked him if he'd become a grandpa for the first time and he just beamed. He's always been kind to me. I know he has a bad temper, as I've seen it used on others, but he's never used it on me. He's gotten frustrated with me on occasion, but it's done in a respectful manner.
5. A couple of years ago I had to have a Cardiac Cath on an urgent basis, and he actually called me on a friday night at home (when he wasn't on call) just to ask how things went, and then called again over the weekend just to "check in" with me. He did the same when I was discharged from the hosptial from a really bad head injury. Also- I mentioned above the major surgeries from 2007. I had major complications from both and spent weeks at a time hospitalized and was very ill. I was told afterwards that none of my docs thought I was going to live. Even though my problems were not psychiatric in these hospitalizations, Dr. G came to see me religiously after hours, since I was not at the hosptial that he normally works out of. He had his office staff call me almost every day to ask how I was doing, and if there was a problem I'd hear back from him- even if it had nothing to do with my mental illness.
I won't bore you with anything else about my Dr. G, but to me THIS is a GREAT Psychiatrist. I have no other experiences to compare.I have the same type of (although much closer from a personal perspective)relationship with my Psychologist. I started seeing him immediately once i began seeing Dr. G. Dr. P has been teriffic. I cringe when I hear other people's horror stories about Therapists and it just makes me more grateful that I have been lucky (blessed?) to have the same docs for so long. I'm a female, and my psychologist, Dr. P is a guy. I still feel comfortable talking about just about anything with him.
I'm so sorry you have had such bad experiences. The only bad experiences I've had being mentally ill is the treatment that you get from OTHER doctors and most all nurses. I'm a nurse myself, and was appalled at how these so-called psych nurse specialists treat others. i initially spent a lot of time in the hospital (thank God it was a private hospital- no "villiage idiot" resident wannabe doctors to deal with!) and it was the NURSES that treated me the absolute worst. Then the first Internist I had attributed everything I said to "anxiety and depression". Because of that, he missed a life threatening parathyroid tumor (the normal parathyroid gland weighs about 40mg; my tumor weighed 944mg!), heart disease (he begrudginly sent me to a cardiologist that he talked to in advance about me. This cardiologist never took my blood pressure, never did an EKG, never even examined me- and told me- just based on talking to me- that there was nothing wrong with my heart. Dr. G, my shrink, called the Internist and kind of blew him out, telling him that I deserved better treatment than what I had received), and diabetes (my blood sugars had been high for the last 2 years I saw him and he never mentioned it or did anything about it). Based on these experiences, it has taken me a long time to trust any physician that I'm introduced to. It took a long time, but I am now "shielded" by a wonderful team of doctors and practitioners who all work together, talk to each other, and aren't afraid to pick up the phone to express concern within someone elses specialty. I'm not afraid to talk to any of them about anything that's bothering me because I know that I'll be listened to and that my concern will be followed up on. What more can you ask?!
I hope that you can find someone like Drs. G and P to help you. After reading what you wrote and others' responses, I immediately thought that my docs are probably in the 1-2% of them all- the good ones, that is.
Hang in there. Just remember, they're not ALL scumbags! Best wishes.
/RN320
ps- sorry for the length......
poster:RN320
thread:825816
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080430/msgs/827406.html