My Therapist Didn't Believe Me?

[Srain]

IchBin, this is one of the reasons I periodically check my records if that voice in my gut tells me things aren't right with drs of any kind, not just tdocs. You have the right to suppress or correct medical records as well as receive them.

I had one session where the tdoc actually came straight out asked me to show him where the scars on my wrist were where I had attempted suicide and had to have stitches. I was so young and stunned that I showed him before thinking, more so as he snickered and he tried using reverse psychology on me saying, "if you really want to do it right you need to cut straight down the vein, that way they can't sew the veins up in time to save you." I thanked him for the information and got up, walked out.

Next time that's what I did, I was 17yrs old but I was so drunk and on so many pills my friends found got to me in time. But loser tells a kid that???

Rain

 

[Dee Morris]

I'm thankful that the only really terrible psychiatrist issue involved the office staff more than the Dr. I kind of liked the Dr but looking back I don't think our personalities were a good match any way. Unfortunately for my family & I the medication we were trying was Cymbalta. I had to call the office for a refill & a week later they still hadn't asked the Dr to approve the refill! So I run out. It took weeks to get my refill. I don't know if any of you have taken that med but you can NOT just suddenly stop taking the medication. I had a severe withdrawal. I couldn't stop crying, my entire body hurt. I had hot flashes. I knew what was going on & asked my husband to call the Dr's office & explain that I need my medication asap & why. I was just trying to work my way through it. Finally, my husband calls the emergency line for the Dr & the nurse tells him to have me admitted to a psychiatric hospital in our town. I just needed them to do their job & make sure that I get my refill in a timely manner. It wasn't like I waited till I ran out to call. I gave them one whole week & they couldn't be bothered. After that happened my husband called our primary care physician & explained what was going on & we were able to just go to the ER & get an IV to help me get passed the detox.

 

[OKRADLAK]

Strain! OMG!!! Couldn't the be malpractice?? That is awful that you could have died off his advice!! He told that to a minor??? Why is it that people who seem to dislike people so much go into helping people??

And Dee- that is what is so scary about meds. A tornado, a misunderstanding, a mistake, whatever and you are left shivering in a cold room going through withdrawal. They said after Katrina that was one of the big problems, especially for people who were on methodone and schizophrenics who needed medication to stay sane!

I 'm glad you got that worked out before totally crashing into a pile!!!

 

[Reclusive]

Srain. I'm just speechless. That is beyond reprehensible. I'm glad you survived though. So, so glad. (((Srain)))

One of my biggest fears is running out of my medication. Luckily, for my psych meds, the RBHA covers the cost, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford them, but my regular meds I have to pay for. I've had to go off those a time or two and it is just unbearable. I haven't tried it, but what I've been told is that if you go to urgent care or the ER and tell them you're out of your meds (take the bottles with you) they'll give you a 'script. Just for future knowledge if they didn't already tell you. I'm so glad you were able to make it through - some of these meds can be deadly if you go cold turkey.

 

[Dee Morris]

I'm so thankful for the relationship I have with my Dr's now but it took a while to find what feels like a good fit. I've been seeing my psychiatrist for about two years now. My therapist for about 6 months. The thing I love about my team is that I have never once felt like they didn't believe me. That frees us up to focus on cognitive restructuring & we are able to gradually spend less & less time focusing on the trauma.

 

[Mybosstheenemy]

My wife has been diagnosed with PTSD, it took her doctors 3 years to work this out, some of the therapists said she would be cured in time but then when she didnt feel better she would spiral down hill,as she would get her hopes up, it is workerscompensation related so the insurer hangs on every word when the word "cure" is mentioned. She has tried to re-enter the work force twice and after 3 years of some good and some very average doctors she finally has a team behind her who have found a diagnosis, only issue is, the insurance company say it should have been pointed out 3 years ago, yet the doctors say it takes sometimes years to understand a trauma especially if there was a physical injury involved as well.

Im struggling as are the kids, I really feel helpless, sometimes my wife is curled up on the bathroom floor saying things like " i have no worth" or "im not good at anything anymore". She has started cognitive behaviour therapy but the constant negative impact of the insurance company make it hard for her to concentrate on and she is up at night hyper and convinces herself people are here to harm or watch her. Im worried about our kids who have been very upset watching their Mum cry and fall apart, I just have no where to turn as my own parents feel that she should just pull herself together which makes things worse. Recently my mother sent her a herbal tea and told her that would help and she burst into tears as she thinks everyone thinks its so easy and she is being weak. Its absolute havoc here at the moment.

 

[anthony]

yet the doctors say it takes sometimes years to understand a trauma especially if there was a physical injury involved as well.

That can be about right, depending on the person and situation. Some are open and closed cases, some not so...

 

[a3a2]

I am speechless! I have a really good t.....never realized how good until I read this.

 

[Dee Morris]

some of the therapists said she would be cured in time

I am disturbed by the use of the word "cure" in regards to PTSD. How unfair to your wife for such "professionals" to use that word so carelessly. My experience thus far has been that my PTSD is not curable but it is manageable.

 

[Mybosstheenemy]

Good to hear your replies, not sure how to keep her chin up with this so the cognitive behaviour therapy can start to have a positive effect as everytime she turns a corner they send out letters for her to attend their "independant" doctors who write 14 page reports saying " i feel she is able to return to a suitable workplace or workplace programme" and each time we go through the whole thing again. She has the same ightmare over and over that she is stuck in a giant tree with star fruits on it ( the only fruit she cant stand to eat)at the bottom of the tree is a giant crocadile this tree is on a small island and the water around it is teaming with sharks, the whole island and water is in a glass bubble and outside the glass bubble are her former boss's laughing and drinking champagne, as the years go on more people appear with the champagne including people from the insurance company, people with no faces, demon looking things and sometimes she tells me that me and her parents are in there as well laughing with the others and our kids are by themselves on the other side of the glass crying but no one can see them.
Any insight into what this could mean and the fact that it is recurring and progressively getting worse. Sometimes the water is acid and sometimes she gets so angry in the dream at everyone laughing to jumps out of the tree trying to attack them and wakes up when the sharks or crocadile bite her or wakes up crying. Each time she has any contact or reminder about her former work place or insurance company, these dreams get worse. She has not told her therapist about the dreams because she is frightened they will think she is crazy. Appreciate any help on why she would have this dream and what is could possibly mean.

 

[anthony]

Psychoanalytical approaches have been tossed out for trauma therapy for many years now, deemed as ineffective. Saying that, regardless the therapist, they have a job to do which takes personal intuition, experience and their opinion at the end of the day, on whether what you are saying is true or false, self interpreted memories. A good majority with trauma have distorted memories and either self inflate, intentionally leave information out, or create information they deem to be real, yet isn't. These are facts with trauma...

This is not a judgement here, this is just information that should be added. Even I had some false memories, recollections, etc, when going through trauma therapy, that had built in my mind or I had just created without really knowing, and the longer these memories are there, the more believable they become. Unfortunately, a therapist is left to self interpret, and whilst they should not judge... they must judge in order to diagnose and provide assistance based on their judgement, experience, training, etc.

Its a tough call... and the more complex a persons trauma, the near guaranteed they are that their job just got that bit harder to differentiate between real and false memories.

I think many therapists also don't like to share too much information with patients, notes, etc, because without the training you can become easily offended with what you will read. It is like reading a psychiatrist diagnostic evaluation. You can become easily intimidated and offended by reading their interpretation of us from a diagnostic and medical viewpoint.

You then have the problem with people wanting to sue their therapist under the belief of malpractice... so its not in their best interest to share information that will likely save their arse, or by itself, could burn them, if shown in the wrong context or partially.

 

[IchBin]

Yeah, I totally agree, the problem was that she was dishonest with me regarding her experience treating people who have experienced trauma. Her definitions of PTSD were faulty and limited, what one would expect from someone who has not read any of the recent literature on the subject. This combined with my increasing intuition that the therapeutic alliance itself was faulty led me to terminate the therapy. She in fact didn't need to explicitly say that she didn't believe me, because I could tell from how she responded to me how she really felt. Besides, I don't need a therapist to give the go-ahead on a memory, flashbacks, vivid nightmares, and dissociation are enough proof for me. :(