Reality Check Please

[Kb3]

Yep, that's what it was, although according to his secretary, the driving authority is paying for it.:O_o:

Watch this space to see if I will be getting my kids to school by horse and carriage...

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

I agree with Anthony that if more then one doctor is saying you do...well maybe you should think its possible. I just don't think I had the authority to say it.

Since I have no bipolar symptoms...

Are you sure? Can you say that with absolute certainty? Have you read about from all angles? It took me months to swallow what my doctor said. Months to look into it. Then I read about...at first I thought "hell no!" but it was bias. I refused to believe it. But then I read other sources. I looked past the general basic information sites, I went into detailed doctor websites. I looked into my childhood. I started seeing things made sense. 6 months of reading, thinking and asking questions later to my current doctor...Then I got other doctors opinions. When they backed it up...I realized facing it was better then running from it.


Not saying you do. I really think, that maybe, you should get in contact with him. Ask him why. Ask him for proof. Then...

Your answer is merely an independent shrinks assessment away.

No reason you can't ask someone else.

 

[Kb3]

Are you sure?

Yes.

Can you say that with absolute certainty?

Yes.

Have you read about from all angles?

Yes.

No reason you can't ask someone else.

Actually there is. I've gotten better with effective trauma therapy, and am mostly (ptsd) symptom free these days.

Why would I go back to a profession which has jeopardised every single aspect of my physical and emotional health without solid proof of what they were doing, lied to me to keep me on drugs, and discounted serious and life altering events that have happened to me?

I'd rather come to terms with the fact that I was misled and mistreated for a significant portion of my life, and learn how to protect myself from it ever happening again.

Thanks for your concern.

 

[Kb3]

I spent yesterday feeling trapped, upset and defensive. My self esteem dropped to the floor. All because I had contact from this psychiatrist.

Today I feel confident and have bounced back. I remember similar feelings every time I would have to go see this guy, and the one before him. It used to take days to recover.

That is my common sense telling me to stay away. Psychiatry has literally traumatised me.

 

[Kb3]

I'm so proud of myself. I had had some bloodwork done last week and I went to my GP to talk about the results instead of blowing it off out of the fear that she would start hassling me about not staying in touch with my ex psychiatrist.

The blood work was fine.:D The only thing that wasn't great was when she took my blood pressure she started casually chatting about him and asking me if I was keeping in touch or if I had started seeing another one. Apparently my blood pressure and heart rate shot through the roof. It took three more readings, deep breathing and picturing the beach on a carribean island to get it back to almost normal.

Bit of a cunning trick on her part to see how I was really feeling about that issue, and now she and I both are left with the understanding that psychiatry is definitely not good for my health in many ways.;)

I credit the excellent trauma therapy that I am getting for being able to calmly(despite my blood pressure reading!) tell her that yes, I am feeling fine, and no, I won't be going back to a psychiatrist now or any time soon. I also told her that I have been coming down on my sleep medication, and will eventually come off of it because I don't need to lie to her about it - that's what's happening.

Now I can relax and know that both my physical and mental health are in good shape. It feels so good to take back control after the years of passively neglecting myself, and suffering the consequences - all due entirely to the many debilitating and unnecessary drugs I was on.

It is very empowering to look after myself in this way.:)

 

[Kb3]

Here is an NPR article that was published back in 2008 after a University of Rhode Island study which showed that out of 700 patients diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, half of them had been incorrectly diagnosed. That is what happened to me.

[DLMURL]http://www.npr.org/tablet/#story/?storyId=90231958[/DLMURL]

The dr who diagnosed me did so by using a video which showed 5 people with bipolar disorder. It was produced by a pharmaceutical company. After I watched it, she asked me what resonated. I told her that I hadn't been sleeping well. She diagnosed me with bipolar II and prescribed a mood stabiliser, an antidepressant and a sleeping pill. That was it.

She is well known for only diagnosing bipolar, and many patients have complained about her. The complaints have included causing people to be hospitalised with serious medication related interactions, abandoning suicidal patients, having no one on call over weekends. Me she just turned into a paranoid zombie who thought about suicide every single day. If I hadn't had little kids there would have been no reason whatsoever for me not to have.

Other patients have speculated that because she accepts insurance, that she can make more money with this dx because of the necessity of more frequent med checks. Her followup appointments usually last less than five minutes, so she can really pack patients in. One of my appointments couldn't have lasted two minutes. There is also speculation that she is receiving kickback money from the pharmaceutical companies, as she has a very limited number of drugs that she prescribes. This also is common with other psychiatrists in the US and another source of income.

She came very, very close to destroying my life. She traumatised me by labelling me incorrectly, medicating me improperly and causing me to question my sanity and reasoning. I came to her as a vulnerable, depressed young mother and she profited off of my weaknesses.

Instead of helping me get the correct diagnosis and cutting back on medication that was clearly harming me, two other psychiatrists read my notes and just kept jamming me into the bipolar slot. This last one didn't overmedicate me, but he did lie to me and upheld the diagnosis after he knew it was important to me to be correctly diagnosed, and that I had suffered an extremely traumatic event very recently. Shame on him.

I have no faith or trust left in the profession and will not go back.

 

[Srain]

(((((((((((Eat))))))))))))))

Good for you for trusting yourself!! I so understand the difficulty in doing so. You have had a long history in being taught to second guess your reality and it is unfortunately very easy to get caught up in the net of mental illness insurance/diagnosis in this country. There's money in that arena and it's sad.

I have no doubt you have had a rough road and from reading what you have written here I am certain it's been even more difficult in reality. It's frightening to have that kind of medical power hanging over you and to have it effect your driver's license makes me steam! That's outrageous! I hope that you know you have support and are not alone with this. I'm grateful you have medical and documented backing.

Hang in there!
Rain

 

[timetorecover]

I hear so many suspicious stories about some Dr's in particular, from other patients at the Hospital where I see my Trauma Therapist. They all have the same diagnosis and medication, short follow up appointments and huge bills to the Insurance Company.
Also, my therapist who specialises is Trauma and has a Holistic approach has implied that some of the Doctors are "Pill Pushers" and that the Private Hospital is a "Business" and is out to make money.
Be Wary!!

 

[simplekindofgirl]

Timetorecover actually has a point. I have a friend in which I used to be quite close to. We were discussing ethics at one point, and I became very irritated with him when he told me that he should not admit it out loud though he assumed everyone knew it, that he received a financial 'kick back' from specific pharma companies for writing out x number of prescribed medications from the pharma company.

I asked him if it was a conflict of interest to do this, but he argued over symantics, well the patient is sick anyways and could benefit so is there any harm in prescribing something that they could potentially benefit from?- but of course this could 'potentially' lead to over prescribing. I looked at him and gave him the "Do you think?" response. He agreed, there are definitely doctors that over prescribe. Which may (I use this term loosely) also be a cause to over diagnose.

In the states, I have seen errors go both ways, a lack of medical care for people who are either hard working or unable to care for themselves and can not afford quality care, and an over prescribing for patients who have the benefit of insurances that will pay.

 

[Kb3]

You have had a long history in being taught to second guess your reality.

Yes, that was what held me back from accepting that I am NOT bipolar for so long, or even mentally ill, except in the sense of living with a heavy, and unresolved trauma load.

I was a pretty easy mark really - my own thoughts and feelings have been invalidated since childhood. "Everybody else" was always right before I was. I gave all my power away to whoever wanted it, and it just so happened that I walked into the wrong doctor's office, and she took it.:cry:

It's frightening to have that kind of medical power hanging over you

It is, and it has led to some pretty paranoid speculation on my part(as in "is eat0429's bipolar disorder causing her not to be a good parent? Should we have child services look in on her?")Arrrrgh. The paranoid nightmares that roll in my head about that one in particular are not even worth going into.

The other thing that still completely pisses me off is that I will have that DX on my records forever which means that I have to deal with anyone's reaction who sees my records. Medical staff don't usually roll out the red carpet when they have a "bipolar patient" coming through the door! That in itself is enough to drive me insane. Even getting my flipping teeth cleaned!!:mad:...:whistling:

I hope that you know you have support and are not alone with this.

Thank you, lovely Rain. ((((((((hugs for that))))))))You know, it's funny, my husband has NEVER believed that I am bipolar - just crazy for taking all those meds, and he felt so helpless all the years that I was on them. He just didn't know what was really wrong, or how to get me the right help. :( God bless him, he never gave up on me though.

Hang in there!

The rant officially ends here so that I can give you thanks (and it will never be enough) for the incredible support and validation you give me on this subject. It means so much to me. Thank you, thank you.:)[/quote]

 

[Kb3]

I hear so many suspicious stories about some Dr's in particular, from other patients at the Hospital where I see my Trauma Therapist. They all have the same diagnosis and medication, short follow up appointments and huge bills to the Insurance Company.

"Welcome to hell Dr Freud, may I please have the keys to your mercedes now.":devilish:

Be Wary!!

Yes, let the buyer beware!

 

[Kb3]

Article about the over diagnosing of bipolar. Frighteningly familiar for me unfortunately.

[DLMURL]http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1485-bipolar-bamboozle-a-mix-of-pharma-greed-and-psychiatry-ambition/page__p__13873__hl__seroquel__fromsearch__1#entry13873[/DLMURL]