Posted by med_empowered on May 1, 2007, at 3:31:10
So a little over 2 years ago I went to a T who misdiagnosed me with "schizophrenia". I know it was a misdiagnosis b/c after 2 months I stopped taking neuroleptics, went to a psychiatrist, and she quietly admitted that it was probably some bipolar variant. Fun.
Anyway, I've been stressed and depressed and it affected my school work, so I made an appointment with a new T--for the first time in over 2 years--who just happens to work at the same practice as the old one. I didn't go.
My reasons: 1) I kind of doubt in a small town, small office setting that my history would be all that private, so I'd have to bring up the old T's records, some of which contained outright lies (example: patient had a head injury that may explain some symptoms. Problem with that? I've never had a serious head injury--not even a concussion).
2) Over the past 2 years, I've stopped being a patient. I just can't believe anymore that anyone, no matter what their credentials, could know more about my life than I do, or have some special insight into my existence that my friends lack. If I didn't have friends, or if my friends sucked or were inaccessible, maybe I'd go but..I have only a few friends, but they're good friends, solid friends. i don't feel like I need to pay someone to listen to my problems.
3) I don't believe I have a mental illness. 2 years of med-free living have been kind of rough, but well worth it. I now firmly believe that a lot of our problems aren't even *ours* alone, but largely the result of external factors that have internal consequences. That said, I'm all for meds--if they're actually helping.
4) I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't walk into the place where I had been mis-labelled and treated like nothing (for a fee, mind you) and say "hey, I need some help." NO. NO. NO. It just wasn't going to happen.So...instead of going to therapy, I hung out with my friend. I agonized about going/not going, and asked her about it, and when she responded I thought: do I really need an expert, after all?
Then I went out for drinks.Did I do the right thing? Mostly, I feel liberated; I feel like I've taken a stand (by not doing anything, oddly enough) and maintained my independence. But then..therapy can help, right? But so do friendships.
Sigh.
What do you all think?
((Thanks for reading this))
poster:med_empowered
thread:754826
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070419/msgs/754826.html