are you a good patient?

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts. Personally my answer is no, I've not been a good patient.

No

I go on/off my meds all the time and I think my therapist+pdoc are frustrated with me. But hey, at least I'm honest with them about it. I could lie and pretend I did no wrong, but I know that wouldn't get me anywhere, so there's no point in trying to hide it. I don't know why they can't look at it that way.

My Pdoc and I decide on my treatment together.

So I guess I’m a good patient

I've been told that I am a model patient. I take my medication and I go to therapy when I need it. I practice all the skills I've learned and I take my mental health very seriously. I mostly think that I do this because I hate chaos, I hate disorder. It's odd to have an illness that pretty much is disorder in definition and hate disorder. My control issues are what saves me I think, and my husband who is completely supportive and is pro therapy, medication, and treatment. He's talked me out of some really bad ideas and talked me into better ones.

Its not to say I don't have questions of going off medication, dropping therapist etc and I have had angry outbursts in the past but generally now I would say I'm a good patient.

Probably not...

I’m generally a good patient but I will adjust meds if I have to. If I can’t get in to see pdoc sooner. I also lie about my alcohol use. I drink 6-8 drinks every weekend but I never tell my treatment team that because I’m afraid they will say I have addiction issues, which I do not think I do.

I do my best to follow our plans and we make decisions together so I think so

Well, in terms of trying medications prescribed and sticking with them to give them a fair shot, I've been a very patient and good. In the earliest days I did go off my meds cold turkey twice as a rebellion, but I only did so because I was manic and thought I could control myself again (or wanted to drink again or who knows). I ended up in the psych hospital within only a week both times. That sort of taught me a lesson. My episodes worsened as a result, and that was very horrible! Psychosis, just horrible!

One of the stubborn (or difficult) things about me in the beginning was that I had major alcohol cravings. I would generally not drink (after my detox), but occasionally have slips and they made things exponentially worse. Then I went through a period when I tried to drink in moderation. That period I managed to stay out of the hospital, but just barely. In the end the drinking had to stop! When it did (or became so little that it was insignificant) my moods improved a lot.

I'm very tolerant of side effects. I've tolerated many that most people wouldn't have. Not to say that I didn't reach a point where I finally said "Stop!", but usually only after the side effects were too extreme.

I had doctors trying to push me into ECT a few times. I did resist the first two times, but then gave in. My first treatment was pretty scary. Normally it wouldn't/shouldn't have been, but the anesthesiologist underestimated the amount of anesthesia I needed and I woke up before the muscle relaxant wore off. Not being able to move, open your eyes, or feel you could breath is frightening beyond belief. The anesthesiologist interviewed me after I told the story and apologized profusely. Perhaps some people would have made a bigger deal about it than me or stopped the ECT, but I continued it. The remaining treatments went OK.

I'm a very good patient now. I barely drink and communicate a lot with my psychiatrist and therapist. Unlike in the early days I actually work on using coping skills. I've found a psychiatrist and therapist that I trust and respect and have been with them for years, unlike in my early days when I changed therapists like socks.

Nope, it's to hard explaining what goes on with me so the dr.'s have to guess. They're not good at asking the right questions. So my meds are all mixed up. I wont take pills accept desolvable ones. I don't deal well with therapists so I no longer have one. I'm just a mess and I don't see a way to fix it.

Somewhat.

When I am really depressed, I am very good at taking my meds and going to therapy. I think it's because it's easier to tell something is "wrong" when I'm primarily depressed. When I am manic I won't take meds as prescribed, I stop and start meds all the time, and my therapist might as well be talking to a brick wall when I am manic and engaging in impulsive behavior.

So it depends. My ability to be a good patient is just about as chaotic as I am.

I'm not sure I am. Sometimes I think I know more than my doctor because I check things on the internet. But I have found some major drug interactions that she didn't bother to check for or just missed. So sometimes I change dosages on a med or stop taking it altogether. I don't stop all my meds, just the ones that I think are causing a problem. So yes, I guess making these decisions without consulting her would make me a bad patient. As far as therapists I've gone through a lot of those too. Honestly I have found that it didn't help me much and it always seems like a waste of time and money. But my doctor keeps nagging me to go, so I do, but not very often. Again, I just haven't gotten much out of therapy.

I think mostly yes. There have been a couple times when I have gone off my medicine, once because I was hypomanic (which was caused by the medicine I was taking anyway) and once because I truly felt my doctor was not listening to me and I was tired of paying for medicine that didn't work. I stopped seeing that doctor and I don't regret it.
As for therapy, I think I am an ok patient. When she asks me direct questions, I am always honest. I've tried to be brave and bring up scary things that I could have easily kept hidden. But I sometimes fail to mention things like when my drinking gets worse or when I relapse with my ED. I've never told her about the drugs I abuse (11 days clean btw... woo). I suppose that's the nature of addiction, I don't want to tell her because I don't want to stop. Even though I know it's better to tell.

I have very strong feelings about what's right, and what isn't.

sso if I don't agree with something, or I don't want to take something, I'm the type to threaten the staff with the nearest object I can find

and that even extends to regular treatment.. I remember once trying to escape the ward, and I still had that thing in my arm giving me fluids

anyone who's had one of those knows you can't really get far because it's all attached to wires, but I had a good go at the staff who tried to stop me

oh...

and despite protests from the nurses, telling me it was a bad idea, they did take it out because they were

"worried about my safety"

another thing I tend to do in hospital in not tell the full story

like.. all those times I've tried to take my life- I'd just make up some excuse of why.

I'd hardly tell them it was an overdose, because then i'd have my means taken away

oh yeah.

1 doctor I had even refused to be my doctor anymore after I kept refusing to see them

I think I'm a good patient. I do whatever the **** they want me to do so my six month commitment won't be extended and my husband won't leave me.

No, not really. I go on and off my medication and lie to people about that. I have snapped at my psych nurse and acted like a kid sometimes.

I don't take my meds as I'm told to, usually I don't want help or take any advice, but oh yeah, when the depression hits, I suddenly want all the help I can get. Routines and regular sleeping schedule sounds boring to me and I guess that's why I never stay stable for long.

Sometimes I do well but I have gone off my meds before

I am a good patient. I see my pdoc for 45 min to an hour once a month or bi-monthly. We discuss factors that could assist wellness and decide on a treatment plan. I am mostly compliant although I will decrease or increase dosages as needed (and let my pdoc know that day).

I am mostly good. But I sometimes go off the rails. Mainly it's about the fact that I drink and my pdoc wants me to stop drinking altogether.
I'm also not suppose to use or have Clonazepam, but I do, and I do use it as I please. Yes, sometimes maybe a bit too much

Nope, very bad patient. I go off my meds all the time and drink with or without them as well. I'm stubborn and don't listen, either. I'm sure my pdoc and counselor love me

Pretty good.
Not great. Not terrible. Pretty good.
Follow-through can be weak. But I take my meds pretty solidly and do coping strategies. Weak bits are breaking negative thought patterns and some kinds of self care.

OK'ish, and learning. I don't diverge from my meds, nor drink alcohol.

otoh, I'm not terribly open with my pdoc and use a bucket ton of effort to look and sound normal during an appointment. I hate that anyone might see me out of control, paranoid, or irrational. I should learn not to do that, she needs to see what I feel in order to continue to keep me stable. Though apparently bucket ton wasn't enough to hide the mania at the beginning of the year so maybe its not a big deal...

I'm a bad patient.

I constantly forget or skip appointments with my therapist and psychiatrist. But I don't go on and off my meds though. Recently I've come to terms that my therapist never did anything for me.

Totally a "model" patient in terms of taking medication. Also in terms of having low-side effects and a better prognosis than most.

But I also think and worry too much for my own good, and have a bad habit of complaining about things.

Weirdly, the only time I stop taking it too seriously is when I'm symptomatic - which is great on the surface, but I actually don't seek help when I really need it...

so it's complicated