[East17]

I met with new Psych on Friday. MH advocate was with me and also the CPN. We established with psych that the meeting was just going to be about the medication. She had read through my notes and didn't see the need to go through everything from scratch again. So I thought it would be ok.

However, the appointment about meds, options, best way forward etc, soon turned into an intrusive questioning session which I was extremely uncomfortable with, but felt obliged to answer - it would have been hard enough if it had just been 1:1 but having the CPN and MH advocate there as well, was just excruciating.*

I felt backed into a corner, embarrassed,
ashamed, upset, powerless, manipulated.

I just never ******* learn!!

[Miss Laura]

Was your CPN not able to step in?

[East17]

Originally Posted by Miss Laura

Was your CPN not able to step in?

Advocate was there because of ongoing issues I've had with MH team. CPN was there against my wishes. So it was having them both sitting listening to it that was the problem.

[Miss Laura]

Ah I see sorry about that. Was the advocate able to talk to you afterwards so you could tell them your concerns and worries?

[East17]

Originally Posted by Miss Laura

Ah I see sorry about that. Was the advocate able to talk to you afterwards so you could tell them your concerns and worries?

CPN invited herself to that discussion too.
Advocate is now on holiday for a week, so I've sent her an email explaining how the appointment made me feel.
Total waste of time of course, it's done and too late to do anything about it now, but I guess it helped a little writing how I felt about it.

[Miss Laura]

Sorry you had a bad experience with it all. I wish I had words for you.

[lost_lover]

I am never sorry that you had to have that experience. When I was in the public health system I had my share of highly unprofessional doctor visits. If you do not hear back from your advocate once they get back from leave I would be the squeaky wheel. It took me a long time to realize if I wanted acceptable care I had to really take control and just be the biggest pain in the ***. I know when you are struggling that standing up for yourself is almost insurmountable, but if you can do nothing else that has to be what you do. Even once I was insured and seeing private doctors I still ended up in offices with terrible doctors, my previous one ranking high on the list of the worst.

I feel like a lot of the people who work in mental health care don't even understand it, let alone want to work in it. From research I have done I know that psychiatry is one of the easiest specialty residancies for medical school graduates to get. I would imagine that carries over to all the other professions involved in mental health, that they are easier to get into to other medical specialties.

I am very passionate about this issue, I am back in school getting a masters degree in health administration so that I can help stop these types of things from happening. The way I have been treated, I could fill a novel with stories. If you ever have questions about if what is going on with your doctor if following the legal guidelines for proper medical care please contact me. If I do not know I have access to people who can given answers to those questions.

[-jimi-]

Originally Posted by East17

I felt backed into a corner, embarrassed,
ashamed, upset, powerless, manipulated.

I just never ******* learn!!

Feel ya. I never learn either. I finally left the abusive system we have here where every doctor's visit is like going to trial to be treated like a criminal!!!

I haven't had trauma in my life except the abuse brought on by health care and it made me a wreck. It's not supposed to do that.

It seems like health care abused you before. It is horrible but it seems to happen quite a bit.

I hope these people have something happening to them so they end up under health care and abused the same as they did others. Yes, I am that mean. They made me bitter and vengeful.

Being helpless does that to a person.

If you can enter another type of care, if it is even possible there, consider it. I don't have anything political against tax paid care, BUT if it creates a system that abuses patients, and where there is no transparency and where they can make up stories and that is now "truth", I'd rather leave such system. Abuse happens in any closed group, being it religious, sports etc, because its where those bastards get away with it.