What's your pdoc like?

I've seen 2 different pdocs, and they are so different from each other!

The one I've seen the most is pretty stoic most of the time and he expresses very little interest or emotion in things that aren't directly related to your mood and meds. He's asked about school (in the regular adult way), and that's really about it. He's also just very to the point. I would honestly wait longer to see him than I would spend in his office. If I was lucky it would be a 5 minute wait to see him and a 5-10 minute appointment, but usually it would be a 15-20 minute wait fora 5-10 minute appointment.

The one I'm seeing now (and saw when I spent a semester at home) is completely different. She'll spend time talking with you and getting to know you and is also very interested in what you want out of treatment not just what she thinks is best. For example, today we spent a good 15 minutes talking about my ED which is something that I never even told my other pdoc about, mainly because at that point in time I was still denying it, but also because if it wasn't a symptom of what he had diagnosed, it didn't matter to him.

I'm so glad I switched. I was planning on switching anyway since my old pdoc had been getting on my nerves for the past few months. It's just strange to me that there's such a huge difference.

What's your pdoc like?

My psychiatrist is friendly and very expressive. She is different from most, because she reveals her human side and is a free thinker. Labels don't matter to her nor does she consider medications a cure all. She also puts up with my stubbornness, questions and obsessions. I really appreciate this.

When I first met her, I knew she was special.

I've had quite a few because some of them were on short term placements. One wore sunglasses indoors when he was speaking to me and said 'the problems something sexual isn't it?' (!!!) which was totally off base.

One told me I had a ruminative disorder because I took a notepad in with me and had written down a couple of things I wanted to ask him about.

The last one kept shutting his eyes very strangely ... I almost wondered if he was trying to hypnotise me?!!

I do wonder if some of them ought to be taking the meds that they prescribe.

The 3 I've had have all been pretty similar, probably because they were for the same service (early intervention in psychosis).

First they see what symptoms you're having, then if you're a danger to yourself or others and after that they'll talk about stress triggers, how is school going, how are my relationships and then send me on the way.

The 3 I've had have all been pretty similar, probably because they were for the same service (early intervention in psychosis).

First they see what symptoms you're having, then if you're a danger to yourself or others and after that they'll talk about stress triggers, how is school going, how are my relationships and then send me on the way.

My last pdoc was a nice man, but you were in and out of his office with the latest prescription and I had to do all the follow up. I just started with a new pdoc now, and she wants to touch base with me every day to see how I'm doing and what we're going to do with the meds each day. Needless to say, I really like her and really feel like I'm being taken care of.

That's basically how I felt about my old pdoc and how I feel about my current one.

Every Psychiatrist that I've been open and honest with has been great. They aren't mind readers and if you omit things, they can't help you very well. When I've been less than forthcoming, they didn't have much time for me.

If your car had problems and you brought it to a mechanic and just said fix it, where would he begin? You have to let them know what isn't right. You wouldn't just want them randomly changing parts.

Hahaha!! That's exactly how my psychiatrist is. At the moment he doesn't care about getting me officially diagnosed for ADHD but is still skeptical for putting me on stimulant medication. He is completely anti-benzo and doesn't want me taking them anymore but has me as an exception. And trust me, i usually have a LOT of questions and obsessions that he kind of puts up with. It's nice.

She's very calm and collected. A giggler too which I like, as it reveals her human side.

It is just a job to them you are a file on a computer, forgotten has the door shuts on your way out, NEXT PLEASE

I'm sorry that yours feels that way but mine actually gets irritated with me if I don't call in between sessions. He seems to really care about me.

He's always upbeat which is amazing since he is a schizophrenia specialist and all of his patients are dealing with such awful stuff. I get a full 30 minutes and we talk about everything because he wants to make sure I'm not losing socialization. He also sort of acts like a therapist in some ways, he asks about goals etc.

Its ok im just ranting , my shrinks are NHS you don't get the same one twice.

I had the same one for several years and he was quite good. Although he had a good dash of undiagnosed Asperger's. Some people thought he was uncaring but be just didn't overly express it, he did care. Also he had an amazing memory for patients even though he had his patients plus the patients of two other docs that got sacked. He was really good with meds, he could predict well what med would suit someone. Of course he had downsides too, like he had "his spot" like Sheldon Cooper and I once got him into a silent panic by almost taking his chair. Also he was terribly HARD to manipulate. Part of it good memory part of it he was very non-narcissistic so you couldn't butter up.

Since he got a better job with what I hope less pressure I do not have a psychiatrist. We have very few psychiatrists at the clinic and I guess the steady ones have the more unreliable cases more in need of support. I'm low maintenance so when they by law have to see me they rent a doctor from another clinic to see all the patients that has to be seen. We get to see the rental once a year.

We get refills over the Internet and any doctor available just refills looking at what you had last time. On the up side you get about 50 minutes with the rental doc, so if you really have a problem you have the time bringing it up. Downside is you have to never have a crisis inbwteen.

What? If you can't build a trusting relationship with your psychiatrist how is he or she supposed to help? I don't get it, even if that doctor is in the medication management business.

I have a Pdoc and I am from England too mine is fantastic and always listens to me, He says if ever I need him is to phone him, Also he sees me every 8-10 weeks, Maybe you just haven't been given the right Pdoc yet.

I have also had my Pdoc for 5 years

I don't ever get to see the same one twice either. It's just life.

Wow. I can't imagine only see a pdoc once and then moving on to the next one. You can't build a relationship way, the pdoc only sees you in one state and not in multiple ones so s/he can't properly diagnose or treat you. Plus you then have to remember every med you've been on and every side effect you've had because there is often little communication between doctors. For example, I'm currently coming down from hypomania, and when I saw pdoc yesterday she could see that I had come down a bit from when she saw me last week. But if she had only seen me once, it could have been my normal, and maybe not hypo at all because that's just how I am. (I have a friend that's like that -- totally spastic, energetic, over the top etc. but it's just her being herself).

I am not sure I like her yet... it's been less than a year with this one. The counseling place is so busy that I only get to see her every 4-6 weeks. I have been at the same counseling center for a LONG time. So she has my records in front of her, but she expects ME to remember what it was like on some med I was on 7 yrs ago "did it work, did it have side effects.. why did you stop taking it ?" How the heck am I supposed to remember those kinds of things! arghhhhhhh want to scream at her "look at my da mn chart b**ch"

The first pdoc I had was really caring......went through a lot with him being very suidical & having many attempts during the time I was seeing him. He would actually hold my meds & I would have to come in every few days to get the ones for the next couple of days. He tried a lot of different meds on me but the side effects were so horrible. He would end up putting me in the hospital when trying to change or make med adjustments......think I was in the hospital more with him than out......when I had a bad time, he would expect a call & would end up getting you admitted rather than letting it go to an OD. He was also the one that got me into an ED treatment center....but what he didn't understand was that it was the Prozac in the first place that triggered the anorexia....along with the desire to not want to continue living. Had one serious OD that landed me on a breathing tube in ICU while I was being discharged from the psych ward.....but after so many OD's he refused to see me any longer.

I ended up in another hospital after an OD & was assigned a new pdoc....one that specialized in trials & medications & unusual treatments which really worked for me much better. At first I fought being assigned to him.....but the second day when we had a chance to really talk & I started to get to know him & felt that he was getting to know me rather than just shove meds at me, we came to a much better understanding. We tried alternative treatments trying the light box & finally came up with the Omega 3 EPA before I left 6 years ago. He would end up putting me in the hospital during his tries with other meds because I always had horrible side effects even with him......& I was having some pretty bad times at home with abuse by that time.....turned out he became my H's pdoc also & my T ended up being the T my H went to while we sort of did some marriage counseling through him....it was basically useless.....& they supported my leaving when I finally got out. Only bad thing I can say was that he didn't understand the trauma I was going through with the home care person when my mother was dying of cancer.....& tried to excuse what was happening away to the fact I was loosing weight & having anorexia problems again....but that was because of the stress I was going through with the trauma & the fact that I had been really sick a few months prior with asthma from the smoke of a forest fire.......I didn't get the support I really needed through the trauma.....he just didn't get it....but I was struggling to figure out what was happening also.....so I can't totally blame him.....it was a frightening situation I was in & so not something that normally happens to people.....but all in all, me was pretty good in most ways & did try to listen.

Sing, it is not always easy. We can get more appointments and more stick with the same doctor if we are in the beginning of a severe mental illness and if we are young. If we are not in for med changes we don't really get top priority and also if we are a bit older there is not the same effort since we might not be able to pay back to society and have to be on disability.

I am lucky to have been a patient from before the most severe cutbacks, because they made it impossible to get to a psychiatrist if you didn't have something like bipolar type 1 or schizophrenia. The clinic I go to, most patients are really psychotic. If you "only" have depression or anxiety no matter how bad it gets really, you get a GP. GP's are more plentiful but they also move around a heck of a lot. So it is the same problem there, different docs a lot.

We have a health care in a deep crisis. Mental health gets cut first. They are cutting in the somatic care as well. Just a decade ago we didn't have much waiting lists, they finally got dealt with but now we are back to very long waiting lists. Like I waited 6 months to have my thyroid tested and one year to be tested for lupus. Hip replacement is average a waiting list of 2 years and I can't imagine the pain those patients must be in waiting so long.

At least you have healthcare. We're working on it over here, but it's still in need of A LOT of fixing.

Yea, I'm glad for that but also worried because with the cutbacks there isn't going to be anything left. We had a whole team of nurses at the local hospital quit in protest of being overworked and understaffed and patients already die that aren't all that sick because some sort of get screened out. It feels sick and repulsive already. If it just stayed like this I wouldn't be as upset but it is getting worse and worse.

I've seen like... four different pdocs since the beginning of this year.

My current pdoc is not my permanent one. She is being transferred to another clinic/hospital or something.

She's really nice, though. I've only seen her a few times, but she really values what I have to say. She's been one of the only pdocs who wasn't out to diagnose me, she just wanted to help me with my meds and managing them. If I say that I want to come off my meds, she won't just scold me and tell me that I will never be able to come off my meds ever. She would say, "I think you should continue a little longer, and if you're still doing well, we can consider taking you off your medication". She has told me that she would recommend me staying on my medication indefinitely, just because of my symptoms, but she's at least willing to compromise with me. She always listens to what I have to say and she takes what I have to say into consideration.

JIMI JIMI , You just made a statement , that old patients may get less help because they wont be able to pay back to society How do you work that out , im 65 and payed in like most older patients a lifetime of NATIONAL INSURANCE , my own is in the region of £90,000 since I started working do you think I payed back enough. Half the new young patients will never pay a penny , because the screwed the brains on heroin, skunk , ketamine, ect ect and finished up with Scits, permanent brain cell damage and the rest . A generation has been on WELFARE and payed S F A , Now we have thousands of mentally ill immigrants all being treated for free. Its us old guys money paying for every bodies treatment. they must have treated 50 free on my contribution alone .