Ir's 3 am and I cannot sleep.

This story while totally eerily familiar broke my heart. I wish this poor woman the best pdoc, wish her luck on the road to recovery.

Thank you for reporting it, Philip.

I would be interested in knowing how this story turns out - thank you for bringing it out in the open.

Phillip,

Good to see you back on your game. This kind of thing is so common these days. As we all know, if you went to a psychiatrist in the 80's or 90's you were depressed if you were an adult, adhd if a little boy - I don't know what they called the little girls then, bpd maybe. There was a brief OCD trend what with that Jack Nicholson flick and Monk, but now everyone who goes to a pshrink is bipolar. Imagine if every one who is in debt is bipolar, no don't.

I forgot to blog about Karadzic, the psychiatrist who got indicted on genocide recently somewhere in former Yugoslavia.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/marcus-tanner-karadzic-the-psychiatrist-who-became-a-genocidal-madman-873856.html

I fear for her, going back to that pdoc. Given the doc's pathological (and I'm not using that term lightly) tunnel vision this could only get worse. This doesn't sound as if the doc was merely having a bad day. She has a well constructed, intricate world view and isn't likely to give it up. Going back again could backfire badly for this woman, especially given the tendency for medical professionals to lie on paper (I've read a lot of records in my time). At the very least, I hope you advise the patient to bring a witness (a good one) and/or record the session. At the very least.
Sherry

Whoah! That's some spooky shit. And this person is a professional, and (by tacit agreement), above criticism by her peers? Fuck me!

Matt

Susan,

I am so sorry you're still having so much trouble sleeping.

I hate to tell you that Socialized Medicine in Canada, I'm afraid, is not always all it's cracked up to be. Waiting times are a major problem this country – in all specialties.

Also, I often hear horror stories about how people are treated by psychiatrists here. It isn't true across the board. There are exceptions. The saddest part is psychologists and social workers are not covered by our socialized healthcare system and not licensed to prescribe, yet they are usually more qualified as therapists than psychiatrists, who mainly dispense drugs and are not trained well as therapists.

Some people work with both, a psychiatrist and a psychologist, but they have to pay the psychologist $150 an hour – out of pocket – unless they have private insurance. It's not common unless you're quite wealthy or your workplace covers you and then there's a maximum amount of money you're covered for... maybe eight visits.

You need a diagnosis to get coverage, too! This may vary from province to province, but not that much.

There are some small towns and cities with no psychiatrists. General Practitioners fill in as best they can. And in some very small towns, there are no GPs.

As to how this psychiatrist behaved towards this woman?

First, it sounds like she was in a hurry, unwilling to really listen and take a proper history. No excuse. She's probably oversubscribed, still no excuse on a first visit. It's bad practice, but with only three shrinks in town, this psychiatrist can get away with it, I guess. This whole scenario is all too common. Very few people I know get a 50-minute hour – even in big cities. Most get 10 minutes and a prescription.

This shrink's diagnostic method is deplorable and should be reported to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, but if that happened, I suspect this woman might not get an appointment with the other two shrinks in town, either, for 100 years. It's possible. Doctors can be a tight fraternity. This woman's hands may be tied, unless she's prepared to move. Or commute to another city for to see a psychiatrist.

That may not be possible.

Her situation makes me furious. This is why I am leery about psychiatric labelling and the predominance of the biomedical (or neuropsychiatric) approach to mental and emotional health. It's joined at the hip with Big Pharma and tied to the DSM, a dubious diagnostic tool. It's the only approach covered in the mainstream press. Most people have no idea that there are other approaches, other ways to find help and support.

Government funded Community Mental Health Centres can be effective and more Recovery-oriented. They offer additional help through peer support groups which have proven to be effective. Still, in this woman's small city, who knows if such a centre exists.

Medicine can be prescribed by a GP if necessary. You don't need to seek help only from a psychiatrist... unless the psychiatrist is willing to listen and hear you, instead of putting false words in your mouth and utterly ridiculous ideas in your head.

My heart goes out to this woman. I'm afraid she may be hurt more than helped by this psychiatrist.

Sandy Naiman, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

This is scary...and I am torn between use of meds or not. I know some cases where it really has helped but I know when my GP here in the states prescribed the 'womens' version of prozac...remember that? It was supposed to treat the emotional stuff around your monthly cycle. And I feel like ever since I've never been quite right.

A lot has happened in life in that time frame, loss (family members passing, relationships ending), a somewhat serious illness and loads of meds, sleeping medications and treatments for alcohol addiction...All of those might have been on my plate regardless of the meds, but a part of me can't help but wonder because things went really down hill when I started taking the medications. My behaviour became more erratic and more extreme..chicken or the egg? I took ambien for a period and I don't know if I was one of those people that did some of the crazy things because of that or because maybe I'm a little crazy.

I'll never know, but it's important to follow your instinct and stick up for yourself in these matters. It's scary stuff and it's scary to have a 'professional' treat someone that way.

I'm wishing this person the best,
m

Sally, from first hand experience, I went to my first pdoc in 9th grade so I must have been 14 . I was very moody, and almost got suspended for two things, 1. Reading Sylvia Plath during study all, and 2. Doing the morning announcements and playing "I'm fixing to die rag" by Country Joe and the Fish because I wanted to find out what the principal would do when he heard the F word.

The pdoc was referred by my pediatrician. He told my mother there was nothing wrong with me other than I had an eating disorder. I was 5 feet tall and 90 lbs. I was so skinny my mom would take me to Micky D's and order fries and shakes. He also told my mother all my problems stemmed from the fact I was an early developer and I left his office with a script for the pill.

I wasn't active, I still thought boys had cooties. Nevertheless, that script was not filled.

My best friend in high school saw the same shrink when her mother, my spanish teacher died very suddenly. She lost so much weight, she went down to 60 lbs and developed anorexia.

There was nothing wrong with her according to the doctor, even though I could count every rib and every bone in her body, she lost every curve and stopped menstruating. She wouldn't even lick a postage stamp in fear it had calories.

She died a few months later.

The only good thing is this pdoc had his license taken away after a long lengthy law suit brought on by the surviving members of her family.

I cannot imagine what they tell teenager girls now, back then in the late 70's no one knew what eating disorders were, not like today. Iam so glad I am not a teenage girl.

I know there are good pdocs out there. I just have never met one, much to my chagrin.

I can only imagine that the second doc wouldn't see her because it's a "smallish big city" and it would probably look like he was moving in on the first psychiatrist's territory.

Hammer, Meet nail.

There is no good debt. This really opens the market for Big Pharma. Even better than the recent study of antidepressants for post-stroke patients, to prevent depression (Dr. Robinson, escitalopram, JAMA).

There is no good debt. Tell that to the U.S. trained docs, who are complaining about stu loan debt.

Wow, I almost can't believe this...but, sadly, part of me can. I wonder how much other patients took this p.doc's words to heart without question.

Phillip --

I agree with so many others that it's good to see you have stuck it out. I don't always agree with you, but your honesty and thoroughness are so welcome. Well, the simple journalistic quality of your postings, too. The other thing to remember is that a few divisive comments down the page somewhere aren't necessarily a big deal to those of us tuning in mainly to hear from you.

Anyway, I do want to respond to the "Socialized Medicine" accusation. I live in Canada, and it's utterly true that the psychiatrists are just as f&#%ked here as they are in the U.S. However, in Canada one can choose one's GP freely -- if there are any to choose from -- and there's no rule whatsoever that you have no choice but to see a specific specialist.

Doctors are private professionals, with the government insurance plan paying their fees. So it's really a government insurance plan.

I'm not sure I want to be seen as defending private medicine of any stripe, but I can say that I know people here in Canada -- close family members among them -- who would be dead now if they had lived in the states, and from when I lived in the U.S., Americans -- close family members among them -- who were saddled with enormous, life-long debts from unexpected and unavoidable medical tragedies.

Yes, there are long waiting times for some procedures, and yes, if you don't like the specialist your GP has sent you too it's a real hassle. But do you know what a relief it is to know you'll never have to worry about paying for medical care?

susan, you said: "Doing the morning announcements and playing "I'm fixing to die rag" by Country Joe and the Fish"

I love you. Really. I always look forward to your comments and hope things improve for you as you hang in.

Best wishes.

Hey in 2003 when I was moving from one house to another due to financial crisis #1 out of pocket expenses paying for my mis-diagnosed OCD>Bipolar at age 11 in 1999 within 5 min of seeing a psych daughter-- my GP(PCP)gave me Prozac, increased Xanax,Trazedone increase and Zyprexa telling me "now everything will just roll off of your back" (the anxiety he was dx'ing)not only was I flat on my face unable to function, by Dec 06 I had the Bipolar2 dx replace the anxiety dx by a psych.

The psych is working with me to remove all meds, after much discussion and picking apart my life and situations, and he saying he doens't want to medicate away my personality. A true gem of a pdoc no doubt about it.(he's willing and ready to remove the label, and he's working with me tapering my meds and taking notes on withdrawals too.)

When my daughter, at age 17 fired her pdoc, he held the files for 2 weeks, unwilling to give her file up to a new pdoc; it was only when I called and threatened to sue that the files were finally sent to the new one.

I wish the woman in Canada well. Unfortunately within a small town, this often happens where everyone in any agency is in each other's back pocket, so I hate to say it: she's screwed.

She'd be wise to travel a great distance to find someone competent! Or better yet, become a proactive patient, and not allow the doc to pressure her into taking any med she doesnt feel comfortable with.

Bipolar disorder II is all the fad now. It was fueled by the massive increase in the number of people taking SSRIs after the introduction of Prozac in Dec. 1987.

There have been other fads in psychiatry - such as lobotomy and even, during the eugenics movement, sterilization.

During the 1980's there was the fad of being diagnosed with Multilpe Personality Disorder or else Dissasociative Disorder. As we progressed into the 1990's, we saw the rise of Borderline Personality Disorder.

But then, Prozac! and suddenly every one was bipolar.

www.SSRIstories.com has many cases of ordinary citizens who started on Prozac to give them a "lift". Suddenly, there were school shootings [www.SSRIstories.com now has 46 school shootings/incidents in its index] woman teachers having affairs with minor boy students, road rage, air rage and all sorts of strange criminal acts that might signal the start of a "new" type of mental disorder or rather a new type of criminal act.

One of the cases on SSRI Stories that bears repeating because it is so poignant [without being violent] is the case of the football player who "missed the Superbowl". He was misdiagnosed, according to the newspaper acccount, with social anxiety disorder and given an antidepressant. He had a breakdown on the SSRI the night before the Superbowl and skipped town - going to Mexico. Then, suddenly, he is diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder - as they all are. Here is his story: http://www.ssristories.com/show.php?item=395

The Bipolar Disorder fad is really a National Tragedy. Enough said.

I still don't know what does it means to be diagnosed bipolar 2.
The 1 i believe it's the Psychoses maniac-depressive.
2 - any kind of thing that can receive any kind of drug.

Poor woman!

Lilly knew that Prozac (fluoxetine 1, or whatever number) triggered mania in certain individuals as far back as June 1986.
See Item 5.
"What Did Eli Lilly Know About Prozac Induced Violence & Suicidality?
Sunday, 02 July 2006
For almost two decades Eli Lilly has denied that evidence exists demonstrating that its antidepressant Prozac
induced violence and suicidality.
Below the law firm Baum Hedlund reproduces the time-line presented to the jury in the Forsyth v. Eli Lilly Trial during
closing arguments by the plaintiffs. The time-linei emerges from Lilly's internal documents. The plaintiffs alleged that
the documents show that Lilly knew about Prozac-induced suicidality and violence (even before Prozac was
approved for marketing in the United States) and that this vital information was withheld from clinicians and the
public.
1. Aug. 1978 - Team Meeting Minutes - "There have been a fairly large number of reports of adverse reactions . . .
Another depressed patient developed psychosis . . . Akathisia and restlessness were reported in some patients."
Exhibit 30 (2nd page, end of 2nd paragraph)
2. May 1984 - BGA Comments - "During the treatment with the preparation (Prozac) 16 suicide attempts were
made, 2 of these with success. As patients with a risk of suicide were excluded from the studies, it is probable that
this high proportion can be attributed to an action of the preparation (Prozac) . . ." Exhibit 42 (page 3, 6th paragraph)
3. Jan. 1985 - Lilly receives reasons why the BGA will reject Lilly registration, one of which was because of
"SUICIDAL RISK." With instructions for "IMMEDIATE FOLLOW-UP ON ALL KEY OPINION LEADERS ON THE BGA
COMMISSION FOR SELECTED VISITATION NEXT WEEK." Exhibit 53
4. March 29, 1985 - "Benefit/Risk Considerations" - "The incidence rate (suicide) under fluoxetine (Prozac)
therefore purely mathematically is 5.6 times higher than under the other active medication imipramine." . . . "The
benefits vs. risks considerations for fluoxetine (Prozac) currently does not fall clearly in favor of the benefits.
Therefore, it is of the greatest importance that it be determined whether there is a particular subgroup of patients
who respond better to fluoxetine (Prozac) than to imipramine, so that the higher incidence of suicide attempts may
be tolerable." Exhibit 58 (pages 18 & 22)
5. June 1986 - Draft of Proposed PRECAUTIONS and ADVERSE REACTIONS Sections of the Prozac Package
Insert - "Mania and psychosis may be precipitated in susceptible patients by antidepressant therapy." Exhibit 5 (1st
page) (never included in actual inserts)" Source:
http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/275/29/

That woman's experience was horrible.

But I believe from personal experience that the bipolar 2 diagnosis is as real as a heart attack (as they say). Philip, I would be interested in your accumulated reporting about why bipolar 2 isn't real -- and then where that would place me, since I clearly have a major mood disorder that is neither unipolar nor bipolar 1. Schizoaffective?

I have so much to say about psychiatrists and the psych industry. I won't say it here, though, because I don't have all night, and I'm so tired, so very tired of saying it. Of course, here, it might be listened to; so many people I tell my views to dismiss them or tell me I'm wrong. Look at TV, how the media acts like psychiatrists and psychologists are all experts and know what they're talking about. Joy Behar on The View is one of them; she's mentioned how some people need a psychiatrist and medication, in a sense that these doctors are, for the most part, good and qualified. That has not been my experience.

Right now, I'm looking for yet another psych doc, because mine is MIA. She may be very ill (I think I posted details previously, but she looked frail the last time I saw her), and I have tried for weeks (about a month and a half) to get in touch with her, and when I get the receptionist, I'm told she doesn't know when the pdoc will be back. I'm going to try to reach her this week, because my boyfriend's (who I live with) is going away, and I have no transportation, and will need more meds. This is ridiculous!

I have lots of thoughts on meds, too, and I'm going through lots of depression about my life, the OCD and panic, the meds, the losses I've had, and things others don't understand. People judge me without knowing what it's like from my side.

Like this woman, I've seen pdocs and psychologists who make quick opinions (in as little as five minutes) and whip out the prescription pad. I've been on so many psych drugs, and despite the fact that most disagree with me, I think they have made me worse, to the point that I need them, despite the harm I believe they cause, and the side effects, and the reduction in life quality, and still, they're not doing anything for me. I can barely function. I've seen every pdoc in my area who takes Medicare. It's all about the money.

Phillip, I've seen patients who were diagnosed as bipolar by the psychiatrist because of impulsive spending of money. When I see them, I want to find out why that was occuring. Were you depressed or very happy when you were spending money? A lot of times I'll get the response, "I was depressed. I was trying to make myself feel better." Now does that sound manic? Apparently if you don't ask more questions.

Larry,
The problem with the term "bipolar 2" is that it covers too many conditions that has nothing in common.
I don't know your age but I would like to know what was your diagnose when "bipolarity" was not used.
I have already said that people who are treating addiction from street-drugs are being called bipolar.
Depressed people: bipolar.
These are the questions.
It seems to me that "schizoaffective" is used by psychologists or psychoanalysts and not too much by psychiatrists.
All I know is that "bipolarity" means a huge amount of conditions.
Even people who has no affective disorder are being called bipolar.
Some people "become" bipolar after loosing a dear person.
And it goes on and on...
The problem is not what people think about.
The problem is the criteria used to diagnose bipolarity.

My psych told me I was off the charts depressed and therefore BP2 and gave me Lamictal saying that helped w/the depressive part. If that helps anyone in explanation of BP2 dx. It didn't take long for us to dig deeper (with more appts) to pick apart where I was reacting to my life events (which have been several enormous ones)--my doc though talks more like a therapist I think than most.

When the new DSM comes out, watch out these dx are going to get even more broad spectrum, just what pharma wants to medicate all human conditions and emotions. Which is dangerous for one reason: unnecessary medicating of people who are in fact product of environment/situational life events.

I think all people are products of environment/situational events.

For what it is worth to readers:

Saw a patient tonight who had to see me as the person felt the medication was making things worse, not side effects or impairing function, just making the person more depressed. Since this was my last patient, I met with the person for about 40 minutes and came away with these pearls of info:

The spvr at work retired abruptly recently and the patient acknowledged this was the only true positive resource to the patient;
the job is of little value to the patient even before the spvr left;
marital issues are not much improved, even after a couple of years of therapy; and
the last year has had several deaths of family members that the patient was close to.

So, change the person's meds, or encourage in the next therapy visit (with different provider)in the next couple of days to talk about the spvr's leaving as a loss, and where would the patient be if there were no meds in place. It is not black and white, is it?

That is why we need therapy, folks. Labels, ie diagnoses, can be quick fixes too, so the meds just sell that mentality further. It is biopsychosocial. That is why too many psychiatrists fail these days.

hope this is of interest.

So the patient thought the meds were making him worse! People didn't think along these lines 10 to 15 years ago.

There was no Internet to provide feedback on worsening depression caused by meds. Also, this worsening of depression was not listed as a side effect in the insert. The patient didn't have a clue and neither did the doc.

99.9% of the people I spoke to through the Prozac Survivors Support Group in the 1990's said they blamed everyone and everything except the Prozac.
These drugs are very subtle. The person doesn't even stop to consider that their problem might be the drug because the drug has caused their thinking to become abnormal and they truly believe that they are feeling worse for various reasons. But after they discontinue the drug and recover some semblance of rationality, they are astounded at the number of symptoms they had while on the Prozac that they now knew were Prozac induced rather than psychosocially induced.

For instance, a 16 year old boy in prison who killed someone while on Prozac throught, prior to the murder, that he was feeling violent because his parents had divorced and his girlfriend was abandoning him. Several years later, when he was totally off all medication, he realized that his parents had divorced 6 years before he began feeling violent and his girlfriend had left him in the lurch one year before he began feeling violent. It was only after starting on the Prozac that he felt violent but he never made the connection. Instead, the abnormal thinking caused by the Prozac made him delusionally positive that his parents divorce and his girlfriend's abandonment were what was making him feel violent.

So sometimes there is black and white, but the drug makes the person think the gray areas are what is bothering him/her.

For instance, I spoke at length one time to a woman who deeply loved her husband but divorced him while on Prozac. She had made up a list of his faults while she was on Prozac and several years after the divorce she came across the list. It had crazy items on it like "22 years ago, he failed to attend a picnic with my relatives". She told me that, at the time of the picnic incident, it hadn't bothered her at all so why did it suddenly bother her 22 years later while she was on the Prozac.

Perhaps this patient could cope with the loss of the supervisor, the inability of his marriage to improve and the death of relatives if the drug wasn't making him feel worse. People are resilient and he could have had positive thoughts of liking the new supervisor, hoping for a better marriage, etc. etc., if the drugs/meds weren't giving him negative thoughts.

It is certainly something to ponder.

Saviabella, I wonder if you could request a credit report on this doctor. Probably not, but you have to wonder if he has any debt.

Perhaps the DSM could include a credit range for each purported ailment...a high credit rating could indicate narcissism or ocd, maybe even antisocial personality disorder as sometimes having good credit means having lots of money which means criminal activity which is usually labeled antisocial. Bad credit is of course bipolar.

Hence the money making in psychiatry, all behavior is mental illness if exhibited by a "patient," no behavior is mental illness if exhibited by a "psychiatrist." This represents a terrible paradigm shift by the way. It seems there was a brief period of time when seeking professional help for issues with life was seen as a sign of mental health, but no more, which makes seeking such help usually more harm than it's worth.

It's normal, not pathological for humans to be upset sometimes by troubling events in their lives. This doesn't mean you're mentally ill, though if you chose to speak with a compassionate, empathetic person and they choose to charge you money, you'll often get so labeled, and worse, told you have a mental problem.

I don't understand why more questions aren't asked about the personal lives of mental health professionals. It's a troubling double standard. If a patient doesn't like his or her job and complains about it, s/he's mentally ill. If a psychiatrist doesn't like his or her job, he's normal and the job, or maybe even the entire profession is the problem. If a psychiatrist gets a home equity loan to remodel his kitchen, it's a good business decision, but a patient, well they're crazy. Scary stuff.

The entire point of advertising is to cause "impulsive spending of money." Impulsive spending of money is the bedrock of US society (sorry, I know you're Canadian). Our president recently issued the stupid stimulus checks instructing us to blow the 600 bucks on consumer goods regardless of our financial situation, however if you follow his orders, you're bipolar, but then his dad was on the board of Eli Lilly so it all works out.

Nonetheless, I think you'd be justified in requesting a credit report from your "doctor" since he's decided spending is a symptom of a brain disorder. Still, he'd likely punitively label you for asking. These guys just have too much power.

I too am Canadaian and understand the woman's dilemma about finding a psychiatrist to treat her. The first psychiatrist who treated me for major clinical depression in 1990 (and hospitalised me) was unable to find a treatment that worked. Because I couldn't identify what had caused me to become depressed he (and the social worker on the psych unit) believed I was keeping something from him and told me he could give me sodium amytal (truth serum) so that I would be comfortable sharing. I was totally freaked out but I so desperately wanted to know what was wrong with me, I consented. He never brought it up again. (Scare tactic?) After 3 months in hospital he admitted he'd run into a brick wall and would welcome a second opinion. My husband found a psychiatrist in a city 90 minutes away and I was transferred to her care (and a different hospital). Ironically, doctor #1 ended up becoming president of the Canadian Psyciatric Association several years later!

Doctor #2 was amazing. Nothing like the one Saviabella describes. Some medications did cause me to become hypomanic but my doctor assured me this was a side effect of the drug. I was never diagnosed as bipolar. Incidentally, one of the drugs Saviabella mentions as being problematic (Wellbutrin) nearly drove me crazy (and to suicide).

The more stories like Saviabella's I hear, the more convinced I am that my psychiatrist (#2) was a gifr from God. It sounds to me like the psychiatrist Saviabella is seeing is the one who needs help...serious control issues, hostility, and maybe some narcissism to deal with!

If I were Saviabella, I'd be looking for a doctor in another city. Though in many ways I'm a big fan of our health care system in Canada (I could never have afforded to pay for 80 weeks in hospital and nine years of bi-weekly visits to the psychiatrist) it's a tragedy that hurting people often have to take what they can get when it comes to doctors, even when the doctor is obviously not qualified to help them.

I just need to correct something - there are more than three psychiatrists in my city. Sorry if that wasn't clear in my emails to Phil.

The majority of the psychiatrists work at the mental health clinic downtown (with Doc #1), and once you've seen a pdoc there, the others won't see you because it's a conflict of interest.

The two psychiatrists that my family doctor tried to refer me to (yes, it wasn't just one, but two) actually work in private offices outside the mental health clinic, but they rejected me for the same reason.

So, I did go back to PDoc #1 for my second appointment this Tuesday, because it's not as though anyone else would take me. It was six months after the first appointment. And the weirdest thing happened.

She was nice. She smiled, she laughed, she was friendly and helpful.

It was like she had switched personalities since the last time I saw her. This was the woman my doctor had described when she referred me to a psychiatrist. This is the woman I wish I had had during my first psych appointment when I was scared and vulnerable.

Maybe she has some kind of personality disorder?

I told her I had gone off the Wellbutrin, started taking fish oil, and started a mood log, as she had suggested. She was really pleased.

We looked at my mood graph together and she agreed that there was no hypomania there and I reminded her that the only time in my life that I've ever felt hypomanic was when the Effexor made me wonky and again with a high dose of Wellbutrin.

She hasn't deviated from the initial diagnosis as far as I can tell, but she was much better to deal with this time, and didn't push any additional drugs on me, just said we'd monitor it and only respond if something changes. She didn't try to get me to go off the Celexa either.

So, while the situation isn't ideal, I think I can work with this woman, particularly if I only have to see her once every six months.

I don't think I can ever fully trust her, though, because I will never forget the things she said/did during the first appointment and the horrible way she made me feel.

My next appointment is in December. Wish me luck. Hopefully, I'll get her nice personality again. If the first personality rears its ugly head again, I am definitely looking for a doctor in another city.

Saviabella,

Carry a tape recorder concealed in your purse, unless of course it's illegal. Tape your sessions without telling your pshrink and on tape politely request a copy of the notes from each session.

And make sure and check her credit, marital, criminal, and medical history. Not that it's bad to do business with someone with a record, but someone with a record who's also a pshrink is suspect, especially if she has personality problems that on the outside chance the paradigm she's treating you under is real, she's not aware of.

Good luck!

It has been interesting finding this web-site and reading views for the first time that are not so distant from my own. Would anyone like to respond to the following questions?

Do you think it is possible for psychiatrists to come to a a false diagnosis due to the lack of objectivity induced from all the family history questions? I personally believe that sometimes,family history data can bias observations! Such as a patient who claims they had an uncle who was schizophrenic, or bi-polar; now the doctor is going to put the puzzle pieces together for that diagnosis.

What happens to a patient who really did not need any medications, but is subjected to one harsh medication after another; new behaviors become 'new symptoms', when they are really side-effects of the medications!?? "new symptoms" get "new drugs to treat them", thereby beginning a cyle of nueronal bombardment: how does one get out of such a trap? How many are suffering in this trap?

Over ten years ago I was trying to care for a boyfriend who had many different personalities, didn't know who I was or even his own name. I was trying to manage behaviours such as his suicidal thoughts, locking himself in our toilet with a kitchen knife and cutting his wrists etc. I had no family support (abusive alcholic mother/ brother/ cousins). We were also in complete poverty and I arranged an appointment for him with a psychiatrist.

His parents (who didn't like me much)came to the appt. After interviewing us all my boyfriend and his father then spent time alone with the psychiatrist. I was then asked to return to talk to the psychiatrist alone and another psychiatrist joined us saying "We just want to help you"
The next thing I knew I was being transported to a psychiatric locked ward for an 'evaluation'. There I was plied with drugs that made me feel very physically ill and mentally vague. I remember insisting that I couldn't have any more medication one evening and was told if i did not I would be straightjacketed and put in a padded cell and the medicine would be injected into me anyway. So I took it, was sick everywhere and passed out.

Fortunately my fathers side of the family (who lived three states away) flew over to get me out. This took around ten days. I went back with them to the other side of the country where I was taken off lithium and told by a different psychiatrist and the psychiatric nurse working with him that they didn't see anything wrong with me. The diagnosis from original psychiatrist was changed multiple times before he settled on 'manic depression without the depression'.

This experience challenged my belief in personal freedom. I have always been a pretty cheery person - now I ask "Oh am I just super happy about something or is it the mania this man once said I had?" I don't know. If I really had it (no-one since has actually confirmed that diagnosis)could I have successfully completed two degrees (one post-grad.) and have been working as a professional nurse for almost ten years without any medication? Its one of those lose-lose situations. One of the criteria for diagnosis I read was 'Denial of the condition'! By the way the boyfriend was allowed to go home with his parents and no further treatment. He later followed me to the eastern states but I had to create some space between us when he started expressing desire to kill a complete stranger. This may not be the right forum for my story but Phew!! I sure feel alot better getting it off my chest.
*Couldn't comment on original artice as unable to access it.

Nicole,

Sorry about your bad experience. It's been my experience that once a diagnosis of bipolar is suggested, if you deny having it, that criteria alone is enough to sustain the diagnosis. And of course the suggestion doesn't have to come from a doctor. Teachers, parents, etc, anyone can make the suggestion and if a pshrink here's it you get the label.

After all the other criteria are all things that are considered normal in people who don't have the label. As you mentioned, a happy person is just cheerful unless they have the label, and sometimes it's normal to be impulsive or unhappy, unless you have the label.

Not all suicides are considered mental illness, but if you've been previoulsy labeled a suicide is considered proof that the "disease" killed you when in fact more often than not it's the label and ensuing treatment that causes suicides in those labeled mentally ill.

With bipolar the accusal is the conviction and the stigma so bad that just the label/conviction is enough to cause the severe emotional distress our society labels depression, which also can be one of the criteria for bipolar. Glad you escaped.