Trying To Get Better, Non Supportive Mental Health Care Provider

[Ian Shiel]

Hi Somethingiswrong

While I am not a police officer , I have been a volunteer fire fighter for 10 years, during which time I had been to fatal car incidents and a few fires where some one died, with little to no Emotional effect on my life, how ever I was not prepared for the Emotional Overload and after shocks of the Black Saturday fire storm that killed 173 people on my watch.

I can imagine that you have witnessed many situations of Emotional Overload and after shocks in others, you may not have let them effect you , so you could stay at a safe emotional distance from these events , as you undertook your job as a police officer.

I believe you have suffered an emotional event or many events at some stage in your career that you are now having to deal with , I use an earthquake analogy to try to understand the experience i had in the firestorm , the stress builds up in the plates of the earth and is released as an earthquake , with after shocks , the size of the quake varies and the time they happen is unpredictable , but they are a release of energy. Some are just a small vibration and volcanoes can release some of the build up pressure , however the fault lines are the points that are at most risk , emergency workers including police live there lives on the human fault line of emotions, even if you didn't have a very dramatic event you could have absorbed the energy from the dramatic events of others.

So I have learnt to recognize these emotional shockwaves, i have had since the fire storm as they build and by applying basic breathing control technics to slow the reaction down, i can stay at an acceptable emotional state to deal with the thoughts i am having about the people we lost in the fires .

Hope this has been of some help to you :)

 

[Ian Shiel]

Hi Somethingiswrong

I forgot to mention an emotional tsunami , while this is triggered by the original emotional shock wave ( earthquake) it travels to other parts and can be as or more devastating than the original emotional shock wave. I all so think as it can be unseen and may take some time to travel, it may be the cause of depression in some people .
I don't feel I have depression from the firestorm emotional shock wave but I do have a very strong dose of " Crusading "

"Crusading" is one of the most positive ways to release the energy pass to you , many things have been done to make us safer by crusaders who have been energised by a devastating event in their lives and have changed things for the better. I have a large work folder of the things that I saw that need to be addressed before the next firestorm hits in my part of the world . A warning system that measures the fire index in local areas and alerts the residents to the potential of a firestorm , to name just 1 . While I understand I cant fix all of the issues we face , the process of writing them down helped me , it got them out of my immediate thoughts with out the risk of losing the information , so i can review and continue to work on them.

I'm sure you can find similar events in your life and may have already done some "Crusading" of your own .

Again, I hope thIs helps .

 

[mamachick]

If we all received and accurate diagnosis on the first visit-ptsd could still not be fixed. I think there are several factors that prevent a quick diagnosis. First off-people lie to therapist, they exaggerate or minimize. Even on forms, people will write they have 2 drinks per week and often only after trust is developed which can be weeks or months will a client admit that ( well, I use to drink 2 drinks per week but for the past... or since.... Ive been drinking almost everyday....) Often even at the therapist or physicians office, people in general have a difficult time in exposing the whole truth. Its self protection.

Secondly, often when people get to the therapist, its because of problems such as relationship or legal and they want to tell what is bringing them there-not share traumumatic incidences from childhood and even recent. Its not unusual that they are there because their spouse is doing xyz, or their children, or suffering from job problems, etc. A trained therapist knows how to ask questions and keep the client on track to gain a clearer picture. They can address inconsistencies and behaviors but also balance building a rapport with clients.

A trained therapist also knows that these records will stay with their client and show up at anytime during the clients life. Therefore, it is better to start with a less severe diagnosis and move upward, because you cannot take a diagnosis away. So if a client has some changes in their life (new job, kids left for college), may be diagnosed with an adjustment disorder and R/O mood disorder. That means that they are not confirming a mood disorder, but it is covering themselves in that they are not ignoring the symptoms.

As the client returns for future visits it becomes evident that there is so much more to deal with. The state in which I live-you cannot be a police officer if you are diagnosed as bi-polar. That means that some police officers minimize their symptoms so that they are not diagnosed and put on medications. Some police officers wives have been reluctant to share husbands behavior and it becomes a family secret until it is very much out of control It also means that there are bi-polar officers who are unmedicated having episodes of mania and depression.

Therapist do not prefer to over-diagnose because it can have consequences on the clients life. The stigma attached to mental illness is still the norm in many ways and damaging for everyone. Unfortunately, people use the diagnosis against others at times. Even people who love us will sometimes blame ptsd or another disorder rather than admit their own mistakes.

On some level, we are still treating the symptoms and learning to deal in a new way. I have not heard of anyone who returned from war and was quickly diagnosed and so they quickly recovered.

You can add another half cup of sugar to your lemonade but you can't take it away.