I appreciate what Northchild has to say (as well as all the other posters). I DO think our doctors are doing the best they can under the circumstances, and I feel certain that their motivations are benevolent. I mean, why would they have chosen to practice medicine otherwise?

This may be a little off-topic, but I have another concern regarding following doctors' orders in a specialty that's so subjective. It seems to me that everyone works closely with their pdocs to carefully tweak their cocktails (hate that word -- makes me think of bourbon). Maybe it's just MY pdoc, but he probably sees 200 patients a week. I seriously question whether he even remembers me from appointment to appointment -- not that I don't try to be as witty and personable as possible, but for the 10 minutes I see him every month he's mostly typing anyway so it's not like we're engaged in any kind of "therapeutic alliance." I think it's this relationship (or lack thereof) that causes me to question the whole system as well as the medicalization of common human emotions.

Some months ago, I left a message for him asking that he call me. "I'm not treating you on the phone," he stated; "my recommendation is that, if you feel your meds need to be adjusted, you should present to the ER immediately." "I appreciate your recommendation but don't feel that my symptoms warrant that kind of action," I said. "Well, I've made my recommendation and you've decided to ignore it, so I can't be responsible for the outcome," he replied.

Just kind of frustrated these days and feeling chemically challenged.