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LJ Idol Week 7
Dec. 7th, 2011 11:27 pmDon't you just hate it when people act like they know everything about a particular subject, when in reality they don't know anything?
In the last few years, I've run into several of them. The really scary part is, these people were supposed to be mental health professionals. Now call me fussy, but when I have someone treating me for various disorders – is it really too much to ask that those people know what they are dealing with?
How to be a helpful professional, and not an idiot:
- Four years ago, I had a female psychiatrist. That November, I went for a routine appointment and ended up admitting that I was suicidal and wanted to kill myself. Her reaction? “Oh it's just grief. Here, have a prescription for your medication and I'll see you again in six weeks.” It's definitely not a good idea to say that to a client who already has three failed overdose attempts on their records!
- My brother had a psychologist who – when her textbook methods failed to produce any results – accused him of lying about trying them. Because apparently the solutions they give in psychology always work for everyone, every single time. If you do them and you're still not better... well, obviously you are just a big fat liar.
- This one has become a family joke. I went in to see a different psychiatrist, this was a couple of years ago. So I'm sitting there, and he asks how I'm doing. I say that things aren't good; at that time there was a lot of work being done on the outside of the building where I live, so there were men going back and forth constantly. I was so freaked out that I was spending a lot of time shut in the house with the curtains closed. He listened to that, nodded and then asked me: “Can anyone else see these workmen?” I do not suffer from hallucinations, so I still have no idea why he asked me that.
- Then there was the child psychologist I saw at 16 who was convinced that my self injury was caused by violent video games and horror films. Never mind that I could give her at least five reasons why I did it and none of them had anything to do with 'pretend' violence – nope, that was her theory and she stuck to it.
- There was also my last therapist, who told me that my boyfriend was abusive, and decided that she was qualified to tell me that I didn't have Asperger's Syndrome (Tests later showed differently).
- And the psychiatrists I've had this year have been pretty poor too. One decided that having two fairly good weeks meant that my depression was cured – I've sure all other sufferers of chronic depression will be so relieved to hear that. The one I have now thinks that you can just forget that you're having a panic attack, if you try hard enough. Hey, that fear in your head? Just think about something else, and it's all gone. Easy as that!
The problem is that all it takes to become a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist or a mental health counsellor is the training. Read a few books, get a degree, a bit of field work, and there you go. It seems to me that most of them have no experience in what it is like to be on the other side.
Despite their training and their education, they know nothing at all about what we go through. And it makes me angry... although admittedly some of the worst stories can be fairly amusing afterwards.
(Side note: I know not all of them are like this. I've seen a lot of people in my lifetime, and many of them have been great. But even one idiot in this profession is too many.)
In the last few years, I've run into several of them. The really scary part is, these people were supposed to be mental health professionals. Now call me fussy, but when I have someone treating me for various disorders – is it really too much to ask that those people know what they are dealing with?
How to be a helpful professional, and not an idiot:
- Four years ago, I had a female psychiatrist. That November, I went for a routine appointment and ended up admitting that I was suicidal and wanted to kill myself. Her reaction? “Oh it's just grief. Here, have a prescription for your medication and I'll see you again in six weeks.” It's definitely not a good idea to say that to a client who already has three failed overdose attempts on their records!
- My brother had a psychologist who – when her textbook methods failed to produce any results – accused him of lying about trying them. Because apparently the solutions they give in psychology always work for everyone, every single time. If you do them and you're still not better... well, obviously you are just a big fat liar.
- This one has become a family joke. I went in to see a different psychiatrist, this was a couple of years ago. So I'm sitting there, and he asks how I'm doing. I say that things aren't good; at that time there was a lot of work being done on the outside of the building where I live, so there were men going back and forth constantly. I was so freaked out that I was spending a lot of time shut in the house with the curtains closed. He listened to that, nodded and then asked me: “Can anyone else see these workmen?” I do not suffer from hallucinations, so I still have no idea why he asked me that.
- Then there was the child psychologist I saw at 16 who was convinced that my self injury was caused by violent video games and horror films. Never mind that I could give her at least five reasons why I did it and none of them had anything to do with 'pretend' violence – nope, that was her theory and she stuck to it.
- There was also my last therapist, who told me that my boyfriend was abusive, and decided that she was qualified to tell me that I didn't have Asperger's Syndrome (Tests later showed differently).
- And the psychiatrists I've had this year have been pretty poor too. One decided that having two fairly good weeks meant that my depression was cured – I've sure all other sufferers of chronic depression will be so relieved to hear that. The one I have now thinks that you can just forget that you're having a panic attack, if you try hard enough. Hey, that fear in your head? Just think about something else, and it's all gone. Easy as that!
The problem is that all it takes to become a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist or a mental health counsellor is the training. Read a few books, get a degree, a bit of field work, and there you go. It seems to me that most of them have no experience in what it is like to be on the other side.
Despite their training and their education, they know nothing at all about what we go through. And it makes me angry... although admittedly some of the worst stories can be fairly amusing afterwards.
(Side note: I know not all of them are like this. I've seen a lot of people in my lifetime, and many of them have been great. But even one idiot in this profession is too many.)
