How come mental health providers never diagnose the same thing twice?

[Deja Q]

I've seen mental health "professionals" for 15 years.

I've never been diagnosed with anything twice.

Except, maybe, depression and, after a shitload of convincing, ADD (though despite takng enough tests which say I have ADD, not ADHD, they think I have ADHD).

Otherwise they'd go find a book, paint the sections with the corresponding numbers, have me waste 2 hours filling out a MMPI2 test and get carpal tunnel, and then say I've got some disorder.

Even my latest shrink is a more likely candidate for needing brain-altering drugs than I am as I went to him for help and he instead got on my case about wanting to go golfing instead...

Okay, I do have an mood disorder.

I do have a learning disorder.

I am thin-skinned and take everything personally.

I do have ADD.

I can't remember or instantly grasp what I read.

It's amazing I am thriving as well as I am in this backwards smelly dung we call a society.

Why is it I can't get a proper diagnosis from these overpaid lunatics?

I was even 15 at the time and had to take 2 significant anti-psychotic meds and lithium because the quack thought I was delusional, paranoid, and was hearing and seeing things (I wasn't). x( I still think to this day those drugs fucked me up for life. Possibly, possibly not. A coworker who has experience in this field says I am none of those things and that I shouldn't even be on the med I am on now (risperdal), though I did tell her risperdal has helped me maintain my emotional well being (live is still shit but at least I can cope with it).

I hate the industry. Just hate it.

And I haven't said a word about the ridiculous cost of these "services".

What can I do to change the system? It's bullshit that our society creates the problems and then persuades people to pop pills to compensate. Change the system to work WITH people instead of being against people. Better be careful before I digress into a broader topic...

[Demobrat]

1. Screw the drugs.

Spend your money on talk therapy instead. It hurts like hell but it's worth it to feel better for the rest of your life.

[Warpy]

2. Talk therapy won't compensate

...for longterm, faulty brain chemistry, which is what I suspect most severe mental illness is.

We're in the earliest stages of understanding brain chemistry and what the various "pumps" and neurotransmitters do in various areas of the brain. Until we have a better grasp of disturbances in brain chemistry, we'll keep getting a different label from each practitioner, and our drug therapy will do almost as much harm as good.

The study of brain chemistry was held back, by the way, thanks to the efforts of Freud and others to describe and blame attendant behaviors on things like poor parenting or unresolved infantile love, concepts that seem pretty laughable now, especially when reading how Freud dismissed real depression arising from incest as "fantasy," because he couldn't believe one of his colleagues was capable of raping his daughters.

Talk therapy can be wonderful for situational depressions. Major depression requires the addition of drugs and even shock therapy in extreme cases. Talk therapy is of limited or no value in other disorders like schizophrenia.

Getting different labels is no surprise. We've barely scratched the surface of what is really awry in the human brain.

[roughsatori]

11. Thanks for posting, I had the same thoughts

The idea of telling a stranger on a message board to "stop" taking medication, is as reckless as advising a stranger to "take medication."

[Snow]

3. I'd hafta agree -

psychiatry has discovered that chemical affect behavior, so they figure chemical fiddling is the way to go all the time, and only that. Well, the meds have their uses, but everyone's different. SOmetimes docs have trouble with the one-size-fits-all idea. I'd agree with some talk stuff - not freudian, that guy was nuts - but cognitive therapy is often very helpful - and maybe just for the hell of it, give a try to acupuncture. Who knows, it might help, and it usually doesn't cost an arm and a leg nor a long committment to see if it works. Try to find an Asian practitioner, trained in Asia.

Also, remember what I told you last week - get yer butt out to Eden Prairie, score some Fireside apples and cider. That'll get your mood up.

[Deja Q]

6. Talk has helped me far more than the legal dope... but...

My counselor, who I found out is a very good one in the TC area, wants to get rid of me. On my last visit, he didn't say that directly but he did tell me to think of the future, goals, why I should be seeing him again... Damn, if I could remember his exact words, you'd be more likely to believe me.

As I'm about to report the psychiatrist quack to the AMA or whoever, it's best I cut ties with their location entirely anyway.

A pity, I do like my counselor... but he's 35 miles away and I'm sure I'd be able to find one who is closer to home.

[DuctapeFatwa]

4. If you have insurance, it might be for that

Insurance that covers mental health care at all is usually very limited, and won't accept a 2nd claim for the same condition.

[Deja Q]

7. Different health "care" providers, both insurance and "doctors"

throughout these 17 years. Oh, I've seen lots of folks. Even my parents disagreed with most of them. (I'm excluding the doc who'd seen me at age 7 who thought I had ADHD as there was a 8 year break between him and my remaining history.)

[DuctapeFatwa]

8. They might actually be trying to do you a favor

If your records show a disorder that has had multiple treatments and is still there, it could impact your ability to get any insurance at all, or a job.

[Deja Q]

12. OMG, you're kidding!

A JOB?!!!

No wonder I can't even get a job at thw 12+ companies I've tried applying for over the last decade...

Our society is degenerate if it's going to deny people a job - which is required for survival. Absolutely de-fucking-generate. x( x( x(

I know about the insurance scam - er, industry. My parents barely got insurance because of their physical ailments and conditions (none psychological). And when you need to file a claim, they don't take the loss like every other business has to endure. They just raise rates and go to Hawaii for more "management conferences" like what HealthPartners did.

We need to change this society. I'm very lucky to have a job and at least I know how to commit suicide painlessly when the time comes for me to get a job and can't get one... Not all are as lucky and it truly angers me people can't get a job because of a medical condition or history, if they've been bankrupt. Oh, our "society" is cow shit on a stick, make no mistake.

"Society" isn't even the correct term. It's more like "every man for himself corporation" rather than society that only helps and caters the affluent. To me, society is a group of people who help each other and itself to improve itself. America is no society. Not in the slightest.

[DuctapeFatwa]

15. the MIB (Medical Information Bureau)

is kind of like an Equifax for medical/mental health history of a person.

MIB is checked when you apply for insurance, the underwriter gets a little thing like a cash register tape, with little codes. 207X for instance, would be a psychotic disorder active and present, 204 some other letter would be some other nervous disorder with the letter representing the time elapsed since treatment.

Some employers also run an MIB, it is very secret, not a thing that is supposed to be talked about.

[Soopercali]

5. I agree, screw the drugs.

I have ADD, too. I also have narcolepsy. But the drugs can be worse than the reason you're taking them. I went drug-free last year and switched to omega-3 fish oils, which help virtually ANY neurological condition. While I still have some minor problems, they're manageable and I don't feel like shit from the medications.

Just some of the side effects I had from stimulants and anti-depressants: teeth grinding, tremors, fevors, Tourettes symptoms and (my favorite) depression CAUSED by the medications!!!!

Don't take 'em unless you're desperate.

[Deja Q]

10. Narcolepsy...

Sleeping during inappropriate moments? Ido that too... meetings, driving on occasion, at work... I hate it. I'd rather work.

I greatly appreciate the tip, I will look into Omega3. I rarely eat fish as it is, that might help too.

Wellbutrin worked for me until I developed seizures. I stopped the wellbutrin. The seizures (or, rather, facial and leg spasms) eventually came back. :-( You can even see more defined lines on my face where the twitches occur - incontrovertible proof I'm not lying when I tell these crackpots this. Sheesh, even my parents have lamented that we patients know our bodies better than the doctors who have to decide what we're suffering from, so why don't they listen or take us seriously? (for physical problems, for psychological stuff they will NEVER ever listen because we're the crackpots and they're the sane ones. :puke: )

[newyawker99]

17. Hi Scoopercali!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[smallprint]

9. Read Peter Breggin immediately

He's a psychiatrist who exposes the psych/pharma industry-- it's shocking, incredible stuff--

interview:
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/7776/PROZAC1.HTM

he wrote several books, 2 good ones are:
Toxic Psychiatry
and
Your Drug May Be Your Problem

look em up in amazon.


I'm serious about this-- ignore this information at your own risk!!

:scared:

PS. Forgot to say-- I hope you get better!!

[commander bunnypants]

13. Hey Man

Lets PM. I am sorry about what you have gone throuh. But you said Mood Disorder?

I really really would like to talk. I am also not a diagnostician, but a look at my other post regardings TDO. Iwork in the field

Peace

DDQM

[xultar]

14. they wre all guessing...

[Rhiannon12866]

16. Years ago I was given anti-psychotic drugs, as well

I never was delusional, heard voices, hallucinated, displayed any psychotic symptoms. I was just out of school and was depressed because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I recently met a doctor that knows the woman who prescribed for me and he said that this was her drug of choice for most patients, regardless of symptoms. Upsetting to hear, but reassuring at the same time. You have to find the right therapist for you. This does not mean only the methods they use, but whether you connect or not. If this one isn't working out, you owe it to yourself to find one you can relate to. Studies have shown that the most important factor in the helping professions is personality. And I agree that it is expensive. Hang in there. I care.:-)

[Rhiannon12866]

18. I'll say it again, HypnoToad

You just haven't found the right doctor. Mine is the best and I was very fortunate to find him. Sometimes it takes awhile, but please don't give up. Some of them care more than others. I wish you all the best with this.:-)