Therapist wants me to see a psychiatrist?

I have been on so many already, the psychiatrist would put me on the same ones right?

You won't know until you go. Often they will do blood work to make sure none of your symptoms are because of something physically.

Oh god, I don't mind blood work but they aren't going to do anything else are they? I hate being touched, and I don't need a physical, like I literally cannot stand people touching me or being examined, I know it may be needed to get medicine but I don't want anyone touching me.

Actually, it sounds a bit like your GP has just been throwing meds at you in hopes that one sticks. A pdoc will probably back up and start fresh with you. There are literally dozens of med options, in classes of meds your GP hasn't (and probably wouldn't) try, and there are endless combinations of different classes of meds that each work uniquely. There is no way my GP would have even attempted to work with the meds that my pdoc is entirely familiar with, because GP's just don't have that specialized knowledge.

That sounds awful. I think you're hurting yourself by not going to a psychiatrist after all of these years. I'm really surprised your GP would even treat you for depression if s/he knew your history.

About your other concerns-they usually don't touch you or do a physical exam. It's to your benefit to tell the psychiatrist about all of your issues, but you don't have to disclose everything (e.g., sexual abuse). They focus more on your symptoms.

People with axis ii disorders can be more difficult to treat, but the psychiatrist could try a whole new class-such as ADD medications, the 2 main older classes of antidepressants you may not have tried, etc. But yes, it will still be trial and error, but with someone with more specialized knowledge about the trials.

It's possible that you could have a different diagnosis. A psychiatrist's mental health diagnosis would be more accurate than a GPs. If you've never been to a psychiatrist, how would you know for sure what your diagnosis even is? Depression can be a 'symptom' of many disorders, including many medical problems. After 12 years, I'd want them to look at more than just my thyroid.

I went to psychiatrists and other specialists for years, tried multiple meds like you and was depressed for over 4 years. It turned out I had 2 underlying medical problems that were not found by anyone until I switched GPs. Having a fresh set of eyes can make a difference. Now that the medical problems have been treated, I feel 10 times better now.

There is still plenty of hope for you. Maybe when you are feeling better, you could also seek out a new therapist. Best of luck to you.

eta - I think I was misdiagnosed mostly because I had an incompetent internist.