How do you vet a prospective doctor for, shall we say, PTSD or "issue" awareness or even friendliness? Especially when contact with the medical profession for a non-psych complaint has been repeatedly turned into a psych issue and you thus have troubles with dealing with ppl who appear not to be hearing you AND/OR you tend to just STFU and agree when it seems like the provider's getting annoyed? (Lest you be labeled dramatic, attention-seeking, or drug-seeking?) I've had insufficient glasses rxs for years because of this.
I searched and found threads recommending finding PTSD sensitive providers, but I didn't find the screening questions you all would use for this. Can anyone share what worked for them? "Not listening" and having my words twisted are basically my 2 remaining "buttons".
The question is: How the hell do you FIND providers who work around/with issues? What do you say and ask to weed out the problem ones?
Vision specialist - how do I assert myself or find someone who can slow the f down and let me actually perceive the damn differences?
Neurologist - How do I non-defensively make it crystal clear I'm here to talk about a non-psych issue and no, we don't need to "just try antidepressant or anxiety drugs" to see if it helps. I just need to know what to avoid, if it's causing damage, and what non-drug options I have. If the answer is "take this pill daily" that's also out, I just need to know how to minimize risk or damage.
I have some very visible ancient scars from how I used to deal with things that are obviously self-inflicted. By used to I mean 15+ yrs ago. It's very old news. I do NOT want or need "the mental health angle" factored into a discussion of the 2 issues Spouse thinks I should see about. My worry is that, yet again, they'll see that and then not hear what's actually going on. I have had drs, dentists, professors, managers, coworkers and customers all see those and start treating me weird as recently as last year.
I searched and found threads recommending finding PTSD sensitive providers, but I didn't find the screening questions you all would use for this. Can anyone share what worked for them? "Not listening" and having my words twisted are basically my 2 remaining "buttons".
The question is: How the hell do you FIND providers who work around/with issues? What do you say and ask to weed out the problem ones?
Vision specialist - how do I assert myself or find someone who can slow the f down and let me actually perceive the damn differences?
Neurologist - How do I non-defensively make it crystal clear I'm here to talk about a non-psych issue and no, we don't need to "just try antidepressant or anxiety drugs" to see if it helps. I just need to know what to avoid, if it's causing damage, and what non-drug options I have. If the answer is "take this pill daily" that's also out, I just need to know how to minimize risk or damage.
I have some very visible ancient scars from how I used to deal with things that are obviously self-inflicted. By used to I mean 15+ yrs ago. It's very old news. I do NOT want or need "the mental health angle" factored into a discussion of the 2 issues Spouse thinks I should see about. My worry is that, yet again, they'll see that and then not hear what's actually going on. I have had drs, dentists, professors, managers, coworkers and customers all see those and start treating me weird as recently as last year.