I feel really strongly about this. And came to understand it the hard way. I was originally misdiagnosed by a GP, and mismedicated accordingly. It was 3 years of hell before I truly understood that she was in over her head. And worse, she "felt comfortable" prescribing psych meds. So many psychological things are very complicated. How on earth could someone who needs to keep on up with everything keep on top of such an intricate specialty?

And then there's just the general problem of not acknowledging the complexities of mental issues and forging ahead like it's no big deal, and requires only the most cursory of diagnostics. For example... my GP just quickly ran down "the list" and prescribed. Her "screening" for BP? THREE WORDS. "So, no highs?" I thought she was talking about drugs, and was in no state of mind to even realize that that wasn't it. So guess who got put on straight ADs? Let the chaos begin. And boy did they taking me for a ride! I responded in a BIG way by the SECOND DAY. If she'd known anything, she'd have recognized that as a BIG clue. Before you know it, I'm dancing on the countertops cleaning the cabinets in the middle of the night, singing at the top of my lungs to the radio and shouting out, "OMG! They've got my whole college record collection!" Alternate this with suicidal depressions complete with physical hallucinations (being pushed into traffic). Could BP be more obvious? Apparently not. She just kept adding more, changing dosages, never acknowleging she was out of her depth. It damn near cost me my life.

You might wonder why I never made the connection. A) I really knew nothing of BP, so it never even occured to me to think of it. B) All my prior symptoms had been going on for soooo long, to me they were "normal", no matter how messed up they obviously were, I had no insight. So having this go into over-drive felt more like a personal failing on my part. I'm "obviously" a hopeless case, so just be patient and let her keep trying, right? FINALLY (when the physical hallucinations were going on), I thought, "Something is majorly ****** up here." Asked for a Pdoc recommendation. My proper dx could hardly have been easier for the Pdoc. A history of over 25 years worth of completely obvious classic textbook symptoms, that anyone who knew anything about BP would easily recognize. Clear cut. It wasn't even complicated. Sooooo, my point is, with that obvious of a case, the GP had not a clue, what of more complicated cases?! I shudder to think.

I realize there are situations where there's not much choice, but, I can't stress strongly enough... proceed with extreme caution.

(Yup, roxiesmom... the darkest places EVER. And that's saying something. And darkest wasn't even the physical hallucinations -- it was just that they were so bizarre it got my attention.)