Blah - Latest Psych Appt - I Felt "Brushed Off"

I know he's a Psychiatrist NOT a Psychologist, but I assure you, I do NOT ramble, go on and on nor complain UNLESS I am having a terrible go of it.

Third appt with this guy...

I told him today that I had a real bad weekend, anxiety and depression. I explained it twice how bad this past weekend has been, then I said:

"I often wake early in the morning, filled with anxiety and dread, and wonder: 'Is this all there is to life? Working, dying? I feel like my life has no meaning.'"

To which he replied:

"Everyone worries about that" and shrugged me off.





Still on prozac which so far, isn't doing a thing two weeks in, (I know it's still early) BUT he couldn't tell me what I might feel except "others might notice I am not as sad or crabby".

Huh?




Does this sound "normal" or am I going to the wrong guy...

Yeah I have experienced disappointment with therapists before. My experiences are with psychologists. One therapist I was seeing for a little when I was depressed, I told her that I was low on funds and I can only see er when I can afford it, like every other week or something, until I get more money. she told me that I wasn't allowed to see her anymore unless I went every week. I said I want to but money is tight so I can't do once a week now. She said, I should see someone else and refused to let me see her again. Can you believe this?

Another therapist I saw for a long time, paid her lots of money. I sent her an email how I was having such a hard time and I was getting lots of irregular heart beats and went to the ER. Her response was:

"I am out of town now, but I will contact you on Monday to set up an appt."

Not even a Greeting. I didn't respind as it was so cold. She then writes me again:

"I have a 2pm appt open on Thursday. Let me know if you want to come in."

I then slashed my hand by accident and needed stitches. I told her I cut open my hand and get consistent irregular beats and having a bad week so I can't come in now.

Guess what?

NO RESPONSE!

I emailed her and really gave her a piece of my mind for such lack of any response to anything I have been telling er and only wanted another appointment.

Her response?

"I am very sorry that I let you down. I can understand why you feel that way. "

Now I was really pissed off! I did not want sound bytes how it was about how I feel! She wrote she was hoping to see me in person and discus it. Fine, I understand that, but what jerk doesn't at least say , "Oh are you ok?" or something like that?

I wrote her again really tearing her a new one, but I did it in a professional way and detailed how her behavior and responses were unacceptable for the amount of time and money I spent with her and for the amount of secrets of my life I opened up to her.

She then called me apologizing.

My advice: Don't just pick anyone out of a book. The amount of money, time and personal info you will divulge to them, make sure it is the right fit. It may take some shopping around, unfortunately, but what other choice do you have? Therapy takes time and find the right person to give it that time. A good therapist should not be lazy and give you sound bytes. They need to show at least some skill in dealing with psychology. Anyone can just sit in a chair and repeat, "Well, how does that make you feel?" They should show they are doing something to deserve their high fees.

Luckily my hand is better and my heart is also better and it was benign.

WOW Demitri, that's horrible!!! Glad you stood up and said something. That's bordering on abuse in my humble opinion. The one who refused to see you every other week was over the top! And the lack of concern from the other one? Wow, just wow!! Sorry you had to go through that!!

time2reclaim I feel your pain. My insurance only covers a limited number of Psychiatrists and Psychologists.

I am very sensitive to how people act, and when I entrust a lot of personal info to someone like this, it makes feel very vulnerable already...


This Doc is a Psychiatrist so I don't expect "counseling", but I felt brushed off. It's like: Take your meds, try different ones until you stop complaining, then keep taking your meds and keep quiet.

Maybe I might try another. Blah...

Hi My Anxiety Life,

I hate to come out and say that this sounds normal for a psychiatrist but in some ways it does. I can't really count how many psychiatrists I've seen during my long battle with mental illness or even how many that have left me feeling brushed off but there have been quite a few. I'm actually rather use to a psychiatrist being a little cold and distant and just having maybe 10 minutes to spend with me just to write a prescription. I kind of don't expect anything more.

Sometimes I feel like I'm on one end of the extreme or the other rather in between. I've had this one doctor for a while, I admitted to him that I was having thoughts of "self harm" and didn't really know what to do and that my meds weren't helping me any and he raised his voice and said what are you talking about you need to take care of your daughter go home and take your medication and take care of your daughter, who's going to take care of your daughter, don't be ridiculous. Then I once had another doctor that I told my meds still felt like they weren't working and he said for someone who doesn't like to be hospitalized your sure have a hard time with meds working maybe you do need to be in the hospital for an extended stay. I didn't get where that came from. So it seems like either I don't need any help or I need to be locked up in the hospital. Although I've had good experiences with all the female psychiatrist I've ever seen.



Demetri: I'm sorry to hear about some of your experience with that therapist, she sounds horrible. I'm glad you were okay. I've had a few therapist here and there that I didn't click with, once I had one taking over for my previous therapist who was promoted and no longer seeing clients so when I came in to see her replacement she looked at me and said that I didn't look too depressed to her and she didn't understand why the other therapist was seeing me weekly but that she would not be doing that. She was quite nasty about it then had the nerve to say she saw the purse I had in the store and couldn't afford it and asked me how I could afford it. I told my old therapist who was her new supervisor she called me to apologize and told me she would see me weekly but I didn't want to work with her at all and I didn't.

Time2reclaim: I'm hoping your therapist is good fit for you, I know that "wasn't super impressed feeling" and I'm glad to hear you say that you're going to give it a go and a fair shot, that's a very positive attitude.

In my experience, it's important to make the conscious differentiation between psychiatrist and therapist. Many psychiatrists are more detached, you're seeing them exclusively for medication monitoring and prescriptions,...and NOT for therapy. That is where seeing your therapist comes in.

Trying to encorporate therapy while speaking with a psychiatrist *is* to them, a type of rambling in that they're there to hear and discuss exclusively the medication.

I know it's cold, but that's certainly what I've experienced. Their appointments are more abrupt and sharp and rarely have I found them warm and inviting. They are more "digital" and therapists are more "analog" (that's one way to look at it!)









M.