Jealous doctors?

I have been puzzling about something today.

It seems to me that the medical professionals in my life take it very personally if I want to see other medical professionals, even if they are not in the same field. Has anyone else experienced this?

Let me explain:

I currently have a therapist. I have been seeing her for a couple of months now. She has a bachelors of social work and no other mental health education. She is unqualified to provide mental health testing, dispense medication, or make diagnoses.

Last time I saw her, I asked her if she thought I should speak to a doctor about my mental health issues, just to cover my bases. It was something my fiance had brought up with me. He was concerned that I would be short-changing myself by only going one route.

She very quickly told me that I should NOT speak to a doctor. A doctor would just give me drugs and I don't need drugs to recover. I should just continue my therapy and forget about all of that. I was surprised and a little put off by her vehemence.

When I told my fiance about her reaction, he disagreed with her and made an appointment for me with a local doctor.

Yesterday, I went to see this doctor. I gave him a list of my symptoms and I told him that, after doing some research, I was hoping for a referral to a psychologist. They seemed to be the doctors in charge of mental health assessment, which was something I thought I could benefit from.

I told him that I had been seeing my therapist for a few months now and before that I had been seeing her predecessor.

The doctor started by saying that he was glad that I had spoken to him. Seeing a doctor about mental health problems is a good idea! He didn't know my current therapist, but my previous therapist wasn't even a REAL mental health professional.

Still, he was hesitant to give me a referral. Why didn't I want to see him? I made the appointment and I didn't even want to see him?

In the end, after talking to my fiance, he agreed to send a referral but he still seemed kind of sore that I didn't want a consultation from him.

What is up with this? Is this sort of pissing contest common among medical professionals? Whatever happened to doing what was in the best interest of the patient?

I just found the whole experience uncomfortable and strange. It's hard enough for people to speak up and try to be a champion for their own health without doctors acting like jealous children fighting over a toy.

Hello, kallinite. I am glad you stuck to your guns.

Good luck.

I've encountered a lot of bias from therapy professionals and GP's against seeing others who prescribe psych meds b/c they are against medication therapy. They believe whole-heartedly in therapy or against having too many drugs in one's system. This debate goes on all the time. For me with depression early on treated by only therapy that didn't help, I needed the medication to begin to come out of it and then therapy helped. Then diagnosed with BP in my 20's, I cannot function w/out the meds. So I have this debate often with professionals. I do currently have a GP who is hesitant about meds but has only seen me functioning on them; but helps keep the pdoc in check.

The other times there has been a disgruntled doc or therapist, as you mentioned, have been by asking to see someone else, either for second opinions or additional treatment. I know sometimes they see you asking to see someone else as questioning their judgement or that you see them as failing you in some way. It isn't professional on their part but a personal issue; it can be discussed to better explain your position and that it is nothing personal and if they still don't understand to ignore it. Your health is what matters most.

It is good you are seeking help and do what works for you. Best wishes.

In the 10+ yrs I have been trying to find a way to cope w/ my issues I have seen many many people. Most all of them agree w/ my dx, some diagree and some have seem alittle upset I wanted different docs point of veiw. I think the more docs you see the better. Also research your dx as much as you can. Always research your meds too, alot more than just the pharm. print out. You should never be told you can't/shouldn't go for a second opinion.

I think your 1st therapist didn't want you to get a doctors opinion, because it would prove you need a more qualified therapist. Basically she didn't want to lose money but she should be concerned about you getting the best treatment not her money. Ultimately it's YOUR'S along with your fiance's decision, who is best for you.

I do think that's strange. Although I've only been in to see my t a few times, she's brought up the idea of seeing a pdoc each time to varying degrees. We finally scheduled an appointment. I was the one who was iffy about drugs and she was the one assuring me that it was just an evaluation and I didn't have to take anything.

I've had similar experiences with counselors and medical doctors over the years. They realize something deeper is going on or that there may be another cause for my symptoms, so refer me to a professional in that area. It's just what's done in the medical field. I could understand your t claiming she currently believes your problems can be handled through talk therapy, but completely denouncing the entire field of psychiatry sounds unprofessional.

I guess one can't factor out human nature, but I'd still feel awkward experiencing this behavior from professionals. Professional opinion is one thing, but taking personal slights from wanting a well rounded medical approach to your issues is another.

What qualifies someone as a real mental health professional? My therapist has a master's in social work and she's wonderful. I think it depends on the therapist more than the degree - if you find one that works for you, stick with them.

From what I've heard over the past several years, the mental health industry has, like many others, become far more competitive and less remunerative than it has been in the past. Health insurance companies in particular have made life much harder for all professionals in the field, reducing their fees and intrusively supervising the treatment worked out for each patient. My own personal conclusions from that and from personal experience are that things are hard not only for the "proletariat" of the industry (LMFT's, LCSW's, counsellors, family therapists, etc.), but also for the elite: the M.D. psychiatrists and the Ph.D. psychologists. So some pros are really having to fight for clients, while other, more elite pros have sufficient business to find it easier to write off a client who really wants to consult someone else.

I simply can't believe that these kinds of problems don't have an effect on how patients are treated, particularly those with the kinds of requests that kallinite says she presented to her professionals. As I see it (I have fifty [50] years of therapy behind me, with a variety of professionals), the more professional of the professionals tend to cluster at the top, where you find the M.D.'s and Ph.D's. Of course, none of this should be happening at all. No one's treatment or advice should ever be affected by the economic concerns of the professional. And I'm sure that 99.99% of them would deny that it is. But they are humans, too. And many humans are subject to influences they would rather not acknowledge.

As of course you know, you are entirely entitled to consult different professionals, change professionals, criticize and/or evaluate professionals and take meds or not take meds. These are all your choices, decisions to be made by yourself, not by your professionals. It is courteous to listen to and seriously consider their advice on any such issue, but the ultimate decision is yours and if they try too hard to affect your decision then something is wrong. In presenting these issues to your pros, do not feel, or let them make you feel, as if you are some weirdo trying to do things that no other patient would ever consider. The issues you present are not only perfectly valid but are quite normal and frequent among the patient population of the entire country.

Good luck and take care!

I think it's a money thing, if you don't see em they lose some pennies.
Ya know?

I don't really know what qualifies someone as a "real" mental heath worker. It was my doctor's assertion that my previous therapist was not "real". I see that was not clear in my post. Sorry for the confusion.

When I think about it, I believe that my doctor had some problems with my old therapist because she was a staunch misandrogynist. He was probably letting his personal issues with her colour his professional opinion about her.

((Kallinite)) Being a nurse and working with Doctors for 23 years, I can answer your question with the utmost confidence. Yes, it is a [pissing competition]quote - amongst some Doctors. A couple of weeks ago a Dr told me that he thought that psychiatrists were quacks and not real doctors. Unbelievable. I wonder if he had a child suffering from mental illness if he would still think that way. Probably so. Some Drs are very competitive, even to the detriment of their patients. Be very careful of seeing any Dr with that mindset.

I don't know anything about Canadian mental health training and certification and would probably go to see someone affiliated with the Provincial Health Services Authority and see what was what. I don't know if it's money or "organization" but I think often professionals, not just doctors, get territorial and/or believe one is in danger (and sometimes that's true) of doing too much shopping around instead of in-depth/consistent work on something. It does sound like, to me, you aren't quite content with your therapy and are looking around to see if there's something more/better and, either way, that can cause problems as just "learning" about one's problems and not deciding on and committing to a program isn't good but neither is the feeling that you don't know enough and/or may be trying to use a tool not suited for you.

I hope you find something that works for you.

People feel threatened, their authority is questioned when someone who is a patient states they think they need another opinion or would like to try a different therapy.

A GP should assess you before he refers you on, the consult is to nut out the issues so he or she can write an appropriate intro to the pdoc or mental health team.

But it sounds to me as if the therapist who reacted first is someone who really objects to meds, as well as feels threatened about losing your business,

Rhi