I've been doing this for almost 40 years, so I'll stick to my last two pdocs. I swore by the last pdoc I had. She was very caring & listened to me intently. She really went out of her way to help me. Despite these factors, I later came to realize I was severely over-medicated. It semed that whenever I had an episode she'd add another med to my cocktail. When things changed, she'd never replace that med with something else, but just add another med instead...by the time she left her practice I was on about 10-12 different psych meds. So, she was great as far as the inter-personal relationship went, but I'm afraid I became a walking zombie & developed physical issues as a result.

My current pdoc was shocked when he reviewed the meds I was taking & he cut them back dramatically. I'm now on one small dose of AP, a major dose of a mood stabilizer, an AD when needed, & klonopin when needed. He trusts me to play a major role in my treatment...& I almost dose myself with his input. I'm much less of a zombie being on fewer meds now. I've come to realize that I suffer from physical problems (shaking, facial tics) due to being over-medicated by my previous pdoc. My current pdoc spends a lot more time looking into his computer than my last pdoc did, but he's really a peaceful, almost Gandhi-like Indian dude (not to sound racist). I now realize that less is sometimes more where meds are concerned. My doses rise & fall as needed to address my symptoms. The key now is to survive with the least amount of meds necessary.