I was watching a video (specifically, it was about Adult ADHD and Patient perspectives and treaments). But the doctor made some universal statements that really resonated with me. It applies to all mental health discussions and I would love to find a psychiatrist who adopted his mentality and approach to help. I think the baseline of his topic is what attracts people to medicine on a intrinsic level. Just to sum up some of his comments that just really made me feel seen and heard.



1) "This is close to my heart because over the years I have learned that psychiatric disorders describe the symptoms of the condition but not the genuine suffering of the condition."

-- I was absolutely captivated after this statement. It's something I think is often left out especially since most prescribers these days don't also do therapy. The underlying theme here is no one wants to suffer, and we do the best we can with the resources given. We have to genuinely understand our patient to genuinely help treat their condition.

2) How often do we blame the patient for when the healthcare system fails them? Especially when it comes to self-treatments like substance abuse? He said he feels its a much more shared fault than anything else-- because we don't get to know our patients. (Also, personality disorders, Bipolar, depression and anxiety disorders are highly associated as a co-morbidity with ADHD).

Two things here , the more general of the two is how symptoms overlap and sometimes the approach depends on the condition labeled. If someone suffers from depression and anxiety, for example, and their current medicine only tackles depression, you're not really working towards the best quality of life for that person. Point being, addressing all symptoms for best results is the key goal -- not just partial remission or some symptoms.



Second part -- I never really thought about the amount of "trouble " we can get ourselves into, especially in terms of Bipolar disorder. In certain states we can really make a mess. But a caring, competent, provider would be able to recognize that and best assess how to help, with less judgement and a better treatment plan to get us to where we need to be. In therapy, I have had a hard time opening up about some mistakes I've made while in certain phases of my illness -- but I've learned a good therapist realizes I am more than my mistakes. My current therapist makes it clear to me all the time I do the best I know how in the moment-- a bad moment doesn't make me a bad person.

3) Non-pharmacological interventions are helpful and should never be overlooked -- therapy, as well as at-home things.


This is really quite pertinent to ADHD and some other psychiatric disorders-- but all of them in a general sense. How many of us benefit from a routine? How many of us try to combat depression with non-pharmacological methods like being in the sun, or a small amount of dark chocolate a day? We have to take all our resources to best serve the patient's needs.



and the final consideration is that there are limited number of psychiatrists in the US (and I'm sure around the world) and this kind of relationship is hard to attain due to the sheer lack of numbers and amount of patients. The limitations are endless in a way, but I think if every doctor took the time to re-align themselves to this goal, the benefit would be astronomical as well.