[critterlady]

Has anyone else noticed their family doctor treating them differently once you're diagnosed and start getting treatment for a mental health problem?

I found out today that the neck pain I've had for nearly a year is from a ruptured disk. I started talking to my family doctor about it right after it started. She spent most of the year telling me to get massages and do neck stretches. A couple of months ago, I finally got her to prescribe physical therapy and refer me than orthopedist. The ortho ordered an MRI and they found the problem.

That's just one example, but it seems to me that since I became depressed and started therapy and anti-depressants she doesn't take my physical complaints as seriously. She actually told me once that she thought one problem I was having was psychosomatic.

It's annoying.

[photostotake]

Yes, but that's because I have somatoform disorder as well as my ED. In my case, I have to have positive test results, of any kind, before they will take me seriously. Or at least that was the case at my old clinic. Now that I am working with my T and new medical doctors at his clinic, that is no longer the case. They take me seriously the moment I walk in the door as he is working directly with them on my behalf. Of course, now that I've been diagnosed with SD, I've vowed to never go into the doctor unless I'm 110% sure there is something actually wrong with me.

I don't think my doctors take me seriously the moment they read my Rx.

Sorry to hear how your doctor has treated you Critterlady- that just infuriates me that doctors are so quick to dismiss. Maybe it is jusy a coincidence that has has treated you like this since your diagnoses. I know most medical doctors do not condone "The talking therapy" just as those in "The talking therapy business" do not have much faith in medicine. I hope that you will confront her about her serious lack of treatment to your injury- it needs addressing.

[CantExplain]

Originally Posted by critterlady

Has anyone else noticed their family doctor treating them differently once you're diagnosed and start getting treatment for a mental health problem?

I found out today that the neck pain I've had for nearly a year is from a ruptured disk. I started talking to my family doctor about it right after it started. She spent most of the year telling me to get massages and do neck stretches. A couple of months ago, I finally got her to prescribe physical therapy and refer me than orthopedist. The ortho ordered an MRI and they found the problem.

That's just one example, but it seems to me that since I became depressed and started therapy and anti-depressants she doesn't take my physical complaints as seriously. She actually told me once that she thought one problem I was having was psychosomatic.

It's annoying.

((CritterLady))

Doctors make mistakes. But if she really doesn't take you seriously, you need to switch.

[elliemay]

Oh yeah. I got a huge kick out of it. One of them said that I was high functioning. Insulting, but also totally utterly hilarious.

I think most docs are good caring people, but honestly, I'm not sure you can train the idiot out of someone.

[feralkittymom]

Originally Posted by button30

Sorry to hear how your doctor has treated you Critterlady- that just infuriates me that doctors are so quick to dismiss. Maybe it is jusy a coincidence that has has treated you like this since your diagnoses. I know most medical doctors do not condone "The talking therapy" just as those in "The talking therapy business" do not have much faith in medicine. I hope that you will confront her about her serious lack of treatment to your injury- it needs addressing.

This has not been my experience with multiple combinations of mental/medical specialists. Perhaps this is a cultural perception?

[Eliza Jane]

No offense to any family docs reading, but I think part of the issue might be just a general lack of competence among many family docs. I think sometimes they fail to recognize when they are out of their league and need to refer you to a specialist. I have heard similar stories from friends and family members both with and without psych issues.

In any case, I'm sorry you experienced this.

EJ

[CantExplain]

Originally Posted by button30

I know most medical doctors do not condone "The talking therapy" just as those in "The talking therapy business" do not have much faith in medicine.

I've heard of this. It is something of a cliché that psychiatrists and psychotherapists view each other with suspicion, hatred and contempt.

But while I've heard of this, I haven't actually experienced it first-hand. I thought my T was against medication but she insists I misunderstood her.

She did, however, suggest that getting me off Prozac was a good long-term objective. And we achieved that. Score one for the T!

PS:

There was one instance when GP said I was depressed and T said I was not depressed. No two ways about it, one of them was wrong.

[anilam]

Sadly yes- I've been seriously physically ill for 4 years now and at the beginning when the docs didn't know what was wrong with me they tend to tell me it must be psychosomatic and to get ADs...it was such a relieve when they finally figured out what was wrong.
I'm not really mentally ill- that doesn't sound right- what I meant to say is that I don't suffer from any real mental disease (no dx for me) but due to stg that had happened to me I was suicidal and end up in mental hospital. I still have the scars and some docs (and ppl too) just look at them and start treating me differently.

[Perna]

Originally Posted by Eliza Jane

No offense to any family docs reading, but I think part of the issue might be just a general lack of competence among many family docs.

I don't think it's lack of competence, just that they are trained to deal with a whole bunch of things and do the first line of defense with non-intrusive and less expensive trials of things.

I have recently diagnosed arthritis in my shoulders and was shocked when my doctor (an internist) had me get a simple x-ray. But then I read up on the problems I was having and arthritis of the shoulder, etc. and found that's the first thing they do! I had to smile because after he confirmed it, he rattled off the "standard" 3-4 choices of treatment and asked me what I wanted to do. At the time I didn't have the time for physical therapy but I'll probably ask for that when I get back home in March and see him in April, just so I get the "right" exercises and get in the habit of them, etc.

But insurance companies and individuals are in direct opposition to the cost of testing with a zillion expensive tests (an MRI is very expensive) which doctors would like to do sometimes to make sure they can say they "tried" everything. It just all depends. In the end, the individual is responsible for their own health care, the doctor is just there to help. You study up on whatever symptoms you're having, keep good personal notes on time/degree of pain/handicap, etc. and narrow down the possible causes to two or three likely ones and then you explain all you have done and why and what you would like to test for and you have a dialogue with the doctor about why that may/may not be a good idea, how much it will cost, what the findings could mean, etc.

Psychosomatic is not a dirty word! It is very valid; people who are depressed have physical symptoms, we know that and the symptoms are part of the depression. That's just an obvious correlation with depression, I'm sure most other mental illnesses have their physical components; someone diagnosed with anxiety/panic attacks does not die of heart attacks very often even if they go to ER's feeling like they have one! If you are diagnosed with any illness, physical or mental, a doctor is going to look and see if the symptoms you are now having could be related to what is known you already have. It's not personal, mean, or because they feel you are a mental case wasting their time.

I look at some people here with multiple diagnoses and sometimes feel sorry for them because having a zillion diagnoses isn't very useful in many ways for treatment. I think it's almost better to have a single wrong diagnosis and treat and find the diagnosis is wrong because the treatment doesn't work and then try something else than to assume you have the "correct" 4-5 that conflict and leave one feeling confused and helpless.

The doctor did refer you to specialists and that's what a family care or primary care doctor is supposed to do after making sure all the lesser treatments don't work and "easier"/time-limited diagnoses aren't correct.

I have my T and Primary talk to each other this way I have 2 people looking out for me. Sorry your Primary didn't believe you. Glad you figured out the issue and are getting it addressed.

[critterlady]

Originally Posted by Perna

The doctor did refer you to specialists and that's what a family care or primary care doctor is supposed to do after making sure all the lesser treatments don't work and "easier"/time-limited diagnoses aren't correct.

Yes, she did finally refer me after 10 months of pain. But it took a lot of pushing on my part. Even during the office visit where I finally got her to write me a script for PT and the referral, I got the impression she was basically doing it to shut me up and get me out of her exam room. And she didn't want to follow up with me for 3 months, which is really long for her.

Oh well, I generally like her. I'll talk to her about it and give her another chance. It's just annoying.

[stopdog]

I think you are being quite generous towards her.
Good luck with it.

[velcro003]

My doctor pleaded w me to go to therapy. And clapped her hands with joy, excited i actually did it. She has treated me exactly the same before and since

[pbutton]

My doctor thinks it is great I'm in therapy. She was THRILLED to hear that I was going to try going to pdoc. She's a keeper for sure.

[velcro003]

Mine too, pbutton! Esp since i have a phobia of people in the medical profession; she keeps me calm and somehow gets me to do anything she wants