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okiedokie said:
Hi,
Is it possible to project anxiety onto others? I have a copy of the attending psychiatrist's notes from my hospitalization years ago and in it he wrote "appears to project her anxiety onto others so it's not that she asks for Ativan so much as she looks like she needs it." He was referring to the covering weekend psychiatrist prescribing the Ativan and then him having to dc it on Monday when he returned.

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Okie, thanks for sharing your interesting experience. I think it's possible to project any emotion. You know how you get "vibes" from people? That they like you or don't, that they are angry or unhappy, etc.? That's another person projecting their emotions. I was a wall flower and read a couple interesting books that talked about why wall flowers don't get asked to dance and it's because their own "attitude" says, "Don't ask me to dance." You know how when people don't talk and you get the idea they don't "approve" or are "angry" or some other way and it turns out they say they're just shy or don't know what to say? Well, I imagine you made the psychiatrists who saw you nervous/anxious in some way. You "felt" anxious to them and they had trouble containing it in themselves, it made them anxious too and they didn't know what to do about it so prescribed the Ativan. Some people can put others at ease and talk to them and get them talking, etc. but other people aren't good at that and don't know what to say and obviously your Ativan psychiatrist was one of those who didn't know what to say/how to "act" around someone like you and the only thing he could think of to do was prescribe. Psychiatrists/doctors are often good at that.

It's like that expression where people "throw money" at a problem, trying to make it go away because they don't know how to fix something or can't fix it fast enough to make themselves feel better so they give money thinking maybe someone else will be able to use it to fix the problem and they won't have to deal with it. Doctors do a "Here, try this!" approach sometimes when they don't have the time/interest/ability to work with a person or their problem. I'm glad you had the 2nd psychiatrist who wrote in your record and could see what was happening and make the effort ot help you rather than just throw Ativan at you.