from their prospective.

We frequently discuss doing internet research on doctors and Ts. Over the last week this topic has come up a few times. For those who don't know I work on a hospital psych hospital. So thought I would give their prospective.

~~ psych nurse practitioner changed her name on facebook to be a variation of her first name without her last name. She is a new np and didn't realize how many people would look her up. She has young child and posts a lot of pictured.

~~one of our patients looked up on one of our clinicians She does not have facebook, or any other type of social media as years ago she was stalked by a patient. So doesn't post anything. However somehow a patient recently realized that a friend of hers was related to my co-worker. Based on information that was obtained through the friend she was able to find out a lot of information including where she lived, her last name, etc. So my co-worker is afraid.

~~Recently a patient told another co-worker information she found out about one or doctors. Again her doesn't use any type of social media. Patient knew where he lived, his wife's name, and his middle name. This guy is very private. I didn't know any of this information and I have worked with him for 8 years. By the look on his face he was upset. He said that this patient is very sick. He didn't say anything else but his facial expression said it all

Hello, nottrustin. Thank you for the perspective.

Safety concerns are not limited to doctors and Ts. Before retiring and moving, I was threatened and stalked several times. I was easy to find. Use of the internet was not involved.

I get that they don't have to be on social media to get information the consensus here seems to be that if it is on social media or such it is fair game. However on 2 of the situations information that was found was not pie out the by the providers or his family. It was through other sources that the don't have control over.

I recently looked up my home address. I found a real estate agent has a guided tour of my house. It from was before we bought our house 6 years ago. I have been able to get one sight to take it down but not the other.

People have far too much time on their hands

I was stalked by client's family members when I was a public defender. Just recently a family member of someone I represent in a mental health proceeding came to my house and stood outside shouting (This was NOT the person who is allegedly mentally ill but a family member upset at my defense of the AMI person).
I have no social media connections. Therapists and psych workers are in no different position than other people.

I research people all the time. I've looked up ex-T, T, Pdoc, my advocate, and even my primary. It's mostly curiosity. I do not use any information I find against them. But because I research every aspect of them, I often find their home address. I ALWAYS tell them when I find their home address and where I found it. I do not want any harm to come to them, and if I can find it, so could others. I think it's the least I can do.

nottrustin, please don't be offended when I say that I am more concerned about the safety of those in a psych hospital than that of the staff. Privacy issues and safety concerns are big for everyone.

Was once stalked by a student who was a heroin addict. That was fun. Although my university at the time was not supposed to give out faculty home addresses, they did to this guy.

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I don't think it's wise of anybody to post public pictures on Facebook, particularly of children. All of my posts are set to friends only. I don't use a profile pic either. Years ago I had a creepy former coworker look me up and try to 'get back in touch'. That was enough to wise me up.
And it is too easy to get home addresses on the Internet. A PO box is not a bad idea for a psych professional. It's not foolproof, but it'll help.

Since mine suddenly started appearing as "People you may know" on Facebook, I assume my T searched for me so I clicked his profile. The only other thing I've done is looked at reviews on him but that was it.

My best friends mom works at my now old doctors office. She told me one day that her mom had looked at my records and said you know your friend she has problems

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I would be furious and she should lose her job. I am fortunate that because I work for the "system" my files are private in the office. Within the office the only people who can access my file are the ones that absolutely need to.

Oh I know but this forum is about them and it is something we frequently discuss.

I agree privacy and safety concerns are HUGE for patients. We are huge on that. We have zero tolerance when it comes to that.

The first thing I did when I met my T, was to research my arse off on him! I did everything I could think of to find out as much as I could about him. I knew that I would find out very little about him in sessions, and I have massive trust issues, and this is my life! My head! Im not going to put myself in such a vulnerable position with someone I know nothing about.

Within a week or two I knew enough about him to understand the good sides, and the (what I perceive to be) negative sides of him. He was more honest in sessions than I expected, and I have done zero research on him since then (over a year later)- there was no need.

However, it turns out Im a complete freak - quite far along the dissociative spectrum. I've been researching for months about DID, therapy, psychology etc. And I keep reading over and over about DID patients turning in to psychos on their T's, how DID patients are likely to stalk (and worse) their T's. I can see in him that he has these fears of me becoming like that too. Its left me absolutely desperate to prove Im not that kind of person, that I would never do that. I've had a stalker and I know how utterly terrifying it is, and I would NEVER do any thing like that to someone else. I've become quite paranoid about my T, and anyone else, thinking Im that kind of psycho- its limiting what I do. I feel like I have to ask permission if Im going within three miles of his house (outside of sessions - which are held there). Because of that feeling, I just constantly avoid that whole area. I feel ashamed if I have to get a bus that goes through his area. Its really such a big worry for me. I don't blame T's in the slightest for being scared of their patients. The stuff I've read - Jeez. If I ever become a T (pipe dream), I would be scared of them too!