Today I was reading an article written by a Czech about how foreigners are shocked by Czech doctors being cold and terse, UNLIKE American and British doctors. My reaction? Um...Plenty of American doctors are cold and terse, too. Many American doctors see you as a number, or more accurately a dollar sign, and feel the more patients they can get in and out of the office, the more moolah they can make. In any case, I have already found a most lovely psychiatrist in Czech Republic. I'm sure there are far from lovely ones. I've had far from lovely ones in the US, as well as a couple true gems. It does seem that older doctors in the US tend to be a bit more giving and intuitive than the younger ones, with exceptions. It may be true that some older Czech doctors are not as friendly, perhaps given the past communist times. In the end, I think it is an individual issue. You've got caring types and not so caring types everywhere.

My suggestion to anyone looking for a new psychiatrist is to do online research on them. Obviously online reviews can sometimes lean to the negative, because often only disgruntled types review. However, sometimes patients of true gems review, too. I found my current Czech psychiatrist by seeing glowing reviews with keywords like "caring", "sad he moved", etc.

I don't know where you live, but I realize some areas of the world (including in the US) have limited doctor options. And then insurance exacerbates that, since there are so many providers and doctors pick and choose which ones they accept. That truly must change! There's actually a little issue with that where I now am, but not nearly to the degree as in the US.