Mental illness: have you ever experienced misbelieve by your doctors?

[Tescosfinestmilk]

First off - please excuse my English. English isn't my main language and I'm still learning! So please bear with me :-)

For a school project about mental illnesses/disorders.

QUESTION:

Have you ever experienced that your own family doctor didn't believe in your symptons? (have you experienced doubt and your doctor thinking it's mental, when it's not?)

Please explain in comment - everybody will be anon :-)

Yes = please explain

No

Not sure = please explain

Updates

+1 y

It's meant to be understood as when you already have a diagnose on the papers! Do you receive a lack of "interest" from your doctors side - does he/she blame the mental illness?

[sjoes006]

GP's aren't qualified to diagnose mental illness neither are many therapists with an MS background in social work. You need a clinician with either a PhD in Clinical Psych or PsyD.

That said while there are DSM criteria for mental disorders many doctors are beginning to shy away from labeling patients with this criteria. Healthcare Insurers medical billing requires them to check a box coding the reason for the visit for billing purposes and determine coverages but people don't fit neatly into a box from one visit and a lot of times people who seek counseling may not fit the diagnostic criteria for any DSM diagnosis. They are simply needing counseling to get through a life challenge or marital challenge.

[Tescosfinestmilk]

It's more when you already have a diagnose - I think I should have been more clear aha

[sjoes006]

Well again if your family doctor has know. If your family physician has known you a long time and finds the diagnosis inconsistent with his observance of you he is right to feel skeptical. But mind you if he does in my experience it is him coming from a place of protecting you as your primary care provider.

Mine went to MIT for undergrad then Baylor Medicine and he is an excellent Physician. I travel across country to see him no matter where I'm living once a year. He keeps my records and he has once or twice over decades asked for my specialists name and conferred with other specialists in that field to make sure he diagnosis and treatment was above board.

Diagnosing a mental illness isn't quite as straightforward as diagnosing cancer and having a mental illness can come with a certain stigma. For instance there has been much controversy around men and women exhibiting similar behavior getting different diagnosises.

[sjoes006]

Men presenting with the same behavior as women get diagnosed as Bipolar while women more typically get diagnosed as borderline personal disorder.

[sjoes006]

Bipolar is a chemical imbalance and 'not your fault' whereas being diagnosed with BPD might as well be the kiss of death because personality disorders aren't treatable with medicine and once you have that diagnosis you might as well be wearing a Scarlet Letter because no Psychologist will treat you. Only 2% of the APA is 'qualified' to treat BPD as this population is often very treatment adverse and combative with the psychologist.

But further studies show the psychologists also play a role in this without knowing it due to their preconceived beliefs about BPD.

Bottom line is that the Psychiatric community is trying to move further away from labels and more towards treatment and counseling patient focused care. Once you tell someone they're an egg they think, okay that's it I'm an egg. I'll always be an egg.

You can have depression, PRSD and other disorders that aren't chronic and it shouldn't define who you are. It is a moment in time.

[Possible_Mate]

actually my younger sister and i went switched to a regular doctor, (rather than a pediatrician) and she was very nice and open, and was asking us not just about our physical health, but mental health too, and how things have been over the last couple years. which i thought was really cool, because i didn't expect her to be asking about mental health.

[26ukdude]

No I haven't, not from the doctors. Before I wsa diagnosed with depression I did have a couple of people tell me to try harder, stop being pathetic, just get more sleep etc. I think they felt guilty when they realised what was wrong and it had been diagnosed, I was off sick from work for 6 months, on medication and having counselling it was that bad

[Waffles731]

No thank fucking god,
I hear that in east Asian cultures like Japan and korea, Its common that they don't believe in mental illness and that those who have it are really just weak.
In Japan suicide is still often considered the honorable way out.
Its majorly fucked up