[laplace]

I read lots of mental disease material previously by books, mostly online after I was hospitalized (about 20 days), many of which was written by psychiatrists. It was mean and scary. Those psychiatrists enjoyed themselves depicting "patients" as weird, bizarre, not understandable, dangerous...I was scared about the image and prognosis of "mental patients", and being categorized into this "patient" category. I suffered intense anxiety after reading those psychiatrists' subjective claims. Moreover, some psychiatrists "defined" patients who are scared of seeing psychiatrists or against them are real mental patients, patients who refuse their "disease" are real patients because they are "lack of cognition, judgement".. So it seems I have to accept whatever psychiatrists say and accept the system of psychiatry no matter how ugly it acts. That left me continuously painful stress or anxiety.

I read some criteria of DSM after being release from hospital, and found the symptoms of my diagnosis were not true. Back then I had a very bad relationship with my parents. They told the psychiatrist I smelled rotten rat in my room, and it seemed they didn't mention they smelled it as well. The psychiatrist considered it as my hallucination. But the smell was true. Later my parents found the rotten rat on the root above my room. When I was little, a few adults, who were my relatives and neighbours, deceived me that I was not born by my parents. I believed it somehow. My parents told the situation to the psychiatrist. During my detention in the hospital the psychiatrist told me that I have “non-descent delusion" that I don't believe I was born by my parents, and the bad relationship with my parents was due to this delusion. I explained to her that I was told by other adults when I was young, and I don't care about it. The bad relationship was because of conflicts happened between me and my parents during daily lives, nothing to do with whether I was born by my parents or not. The psychiatrist was angry to hear that , and said "No! all the bad relationship between you and your parents is because you think you was not born by your parents!" I ask her to allow me to have a DNA test. She told me, "Don't do it. The DNA test is expensive."...After being released, I asked my parents to do the DNA test with me. They agreed. Later I received the result I was born by my parents. I totally accepted it. But the relationship between me and my parents became even worse.

My parents found a psychologist doctor for me. I told her what happened previously and the diagnosing symptoms. Later I found she happened to be the vice director of mental hospital I was in. She was angry about my parents, and told them that I was misdiagnosed. I suffered depression previously.

[sideblinded]

Wow, I read your story and you had quite a bad experience. I also believe that psychiatry is not what it is cracked up to be. I don't believe that there is enough science to back up their claims that they put in those DSM's. It is basically a collaboration of signs and behaviors that these doctors decide to put a name to. They then can use it and it can be billed for. Sick, I think. Sorry you had to go through all of that. If our diagnoses are merely observations, think of all the misconstrued data that gets put into those diagnostic manuals even worse that we get diagnosed based on mere observation. I was misdiagnosed as well.

Thanks for sharing this.

[cool09]

was mean and scary. Those psychiatrists enjoyed themselves depicting "patients" as weird, bizarre, not understandable, dangerous.

What you read about mental illness is most likely fact. What psychiatrists put into books are objective and not meant to be personal. (Organic or substance-induced) psychosis and psychosis disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar, etc.) can produce very odd or abnormal thoughts and can effect the parts of the brain that regulate thinking, speech, organization, concentration, rationalization just to name a few.

And it's easy to misdiagnose someone suffering from a severe mental illness a lot of the time. The best you can do is to tell doctors what you are feeling and thinking in order for them to make an accurate diagnosis and provide you with proper treatment.

Hi Iaplace,

I'm sorry that you were, basically, tortured.

Psychiatry, like any other profession, has individuals who put self-interest above all else. However, because of the nature of the profession, psychiatrists should be held to high ethical standards.

Psychology has raised its ethical standards. If B.F. Skinner were alive today, he would lose his license if he put his daughter in a box simply to see her reaction. Likewise, Zapata would lose his license if he put people in jail simply to see their reaction. Those kind of "experiments" are no longer considered ethical.

Psychiatry has come a long way in regards to ethics; psychiatrists are no longer drilling holes in the heads of people with mental illness. Nevertheless, psychiatry's ethical standards are still not high enough, in my opinion. A strong, independent, ethical board must exist in psychiatry, for it is the only thing that will protect the patient from a psychiatrist with less-than-noble motivations.

[BubonicPlague]

I have been given several diagnoses. I was misdiagnosed the last time (and I think they did it just to sum it all up) I was hospitalized. My therapist and my mother couldn't even recognize the diagnosis they gave me though because they thought it didn't really fit me.

Psychiatry cannot give you an accurate diagnosis. However, the medications they give you treat the symptoms that you have.

That is what I've learned over time. Just focus on the treatment of the symptoms, not the label as a whole.

[Swabbingred]

Psychiatry is social quackery and my ex shrink mind controlled me to have sex with him. I can't say it wasn't enjoyable. But the point is they are head shamans

[Down.and.out]

Sometimes a likely diagnosis must be written into your care plan as a means of obtaining reimbursement. Providing care for a patient, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, etc is expensive and time consuming. Insurance requires that a diagnosis be made for payment. Observation, therapy, counseling, etc...these are not diagnosis'...they are treatments aimed at eventually obtaining wellness. I believe the good intentions are there. However, the rush to diagnose so that treatment can continue is often a necessary evil. In time, you will know a lot more about what symptoms you exhibit and likely diagnosis. Just remember that not every patient has every symptom and that every symptom is not necessary to have a definitive diagnosis. What's most important is that you are able to receive needed treatment so that you can get better. Thinking of you.

[martamiriam]

Originally Posted by laplace

I read lots of mental disease material previously by books, mostly online after I was hospitalized (about 20 days), many of which was written by psychiatrists. It was mean and scary. Those psychiatrists enjoyed themselves depicting "patients" as weird, bizarre, not understandable, dangerous...I was scared about the image and prognosis of "mental patients", and being categorized into this "patient" category. I suffered intense anxiety after reading those psychiatrists' subjective claims. Moreover, some psychiatrists "defined" patients who are scared of seeing psychiatrists or against them are real mental patients, patients who refuse their "disease" are real patients because they are "lack of cognition, judgement".. So it seems I have to accept whatever psychiatrists say and accept the system of psychiatry no matter how ugly it acts. That left me continuously painful stress or anxiety.

I read some criteria of DSM after being release from hospital, and found the symptoms of my diagnosis were not true. Back then I had a very bad relationship with my parents. They told the psychiatrist I smelled rotten rat in my room, and it seemed they didn't mention they smelled it as well. The psychiatrist considered it as my hallucination. But the smell was true. Later my parents found the rotten rat on the root above my room. When I was little, a few adults, who were my relatives and neighbours, deceived me that I was not born by my parents. I believed it somehow. My parents told the situation to the psychiatrist. During my detention in the hospital the psychiatrist told me that I have “non-descent delusion" that I don't believe I was born by my parents, and the bad relationship with my parents was due to this delusion. I explained to her that I was told by other adults when I was young, and I don't care about it. The bad relationship was because of conflicts happened between me and my parents during daily lives, nothing to do with whether I was born by my parents or not. The psychiatrist was angry to hear that , and said "No! all the bad relationship between you and your parents is because you think you was not born by your parents!" I ask her to allow me to have a DNA test. She told me, "Don't do it. The DNA test is expensive."...After being released, I asked my parents to do the DNA test with me. They agreed. Later I received the result I was born by my parents. I totally accepted it. But the relationship between me and my parents became even worse.

My parents found a psychologist doctor for me. I told her what happened previously and the diagnosing symptoms. Later I found she happened to be the vice director of mental hospital I was in. She was angry about my parents, and told them that I was misdiagnosed. I suffered depression previously.

I agree totally. I was diagnosed with DELUSIONAL DISORDER because I still believed that my schizophrenic boyfriend still loved me...those psych nurses were really scary and bad...I am so much pain due to his having abandoned us two days after he told me how deeply in love with me he was..I became suicidally depressed and all I do all day is cry and lie in bed..I cannot walk without a lot of pain anyway....I have been on both sides of the aisle as a psychiatric social worker and am not sure why they diagnosed me with that...I have no idea what he is doing now or what he feels about me but to call me delusional is a kick in the head....

[bronzeowl]

Psychiatrists, just like all people, are human. It's important to remember that. Just like most professions, psychiatry will have its share of people who are not the best of people. I think the thing that is majorly different between psychiatry and psychology is that the former tends to see less of the patients, which often results in them not seeing them as humans... but rather, as a diagnosis and a prescription. Psychologists, on the other hand, tend to interact with patients more. And can form an opinion of them based on the person, not the diagnosis. Of course, I am speaking merely from my own experience - having been through a few psychiatrists and psychologists. Someone else may have a different experience. Most of the time, the diagnoses I received that seemed the most bizarre and farfetched were from... psychiatrists. And heaven forbid I questioned them. Then I was even more mentally ill in their eyes. Because insight is not something we can have... But not all psychiatrists are so out of touch with their patients. I am sure there are many out there who do care, and got into the profession because they do. I have found, though, that it is a field where it is easy to see the patient as a diagnosis.