A year ago I would have answered this differently. I used to believe in giving any doctor as much info as possible about myself. Not now.

I was referred to someone about my neck pain, related to 2 deteriorated discs. He seemed to be minimalizing it. I said that I was having a lot of anxiety about the problem. When I said that, he smiled broadly and nodded and said something that sounded like he thought that was my main problem. I was very disappointed.

I tend to be anxious about anything wrong that I can't fix. I do have a low pain threshhold. But my neck problem is not in my mind. An X-ray and an MRI show degenerative change. Supposedly, the images do not show anything horribly alarming, but I've heard (from a resident) that doctors can't really tell how bad pain is by what shows up on images.

I will never mention anxiety to any doctor, other than a psychiatrist. Even with my PCP-MD, I now maintain a purposefully calm demeanor and hide my emotions about anything I discuss with him. The past year has convinced me that doctors absolutely do discount symptoms when they know of a history of anxiety. Unfortunately, all my doctors are in the same system and can electronically read each others notes (I think.) So I don't expect an unbiased response.

Next year, when I qualify for Medicare, I will go to another system of providers. I plan to not discuss my psych issues with anyone, other than to tell them what meds I am on so they can reorder them. Maybe trust will evolve, but I don't count on that.

I think fibromyalgia is met with a variety of attitudes. I once heard a pdoc in a facility where I was employed explain to staff that it was a "waste basket diagnosis." It seems to me that each generation of doctors believes that they belong to the final generation that has figured out everything. I think they should be a lot more humble about things they don't understand well, especially given the history of the medical profession having so many lame ideas.