One of my best friends, intelligent and knowledgeable when it comes to psychological stuff, went to the doctor today. Something serious happened in her family and this has obviously affected her in very real ways. We have talked about her life for years. All I asked was for the doctor to prescribe something for anxiety. She has a history of anxiety. I know her extremely well, we’ve known each other close to 20 years. We talk literally every day. Just give her the damn meds.
It took him less than ten minutes to diagnose her with depression and take out his big bad prescription pad, intent on giving her serious medications. Ten minutes.
You frigging moron.
Nevermind the obvious fact that I am a clinical therapist and have spent literally hundreds of hours with this person, and know her story almost as well as my own. Nevermind that we have put in the hard time talking about her deepest secrets for years, and she is a psychological rockstar. Dust off your Psych 101 class and go ahead, change a life forever. Wrap that person up in SSRI’s and side-effects and perhaps generations of spiraling mental health issues.
Insult all the people who actually need the medication because of real medical and psychological struggles; and hand that stuff out like Tic Tacs. Diminish the struggle of courageous individuals who have been to hell and back, over and over, while people like you vastly over-diagnose a malady which is both complex and profoundly life-altering; so that the actual victims are minimized and misunderstood.
Just get them in and get your Lexus and finish your 50 so you can max out the billing and hit the golf course before the real estate guys. Shame on you.
I have worked with doctors for years and spent a great deal of time commuting to work with a fantastic diagnostician. All doctors are not this idiot. Many understand that they are very talented in a specific area and that is perfectly ok. For five years 100% of my private work came from one doctor, and a few other South Africans every once in a while. I’ve known doctors who were qualified to assess mental health issues and others who were wise enough to be a part of a multi-disciplinary team. Just because I know a little bit about psychology does not make me qualified to operate on your kidney…
Some doctors work incredibly hard and they are usually not on salary. They are accustomed to a higher standard of living than most Canadians and that’s ok, they bust their humps. I have great respect for a few doctors I know and have worked with, and they are cool people. Some are, however, extremely arrogant and often elitist. Your doctor isn’t a god and they have crap going down in their lives as well, and that is the real world. There are doctors who battle with addiction and yell at their spouses and get depression, just like the rest of us. Some are brilliant, others are so uninformed about emotional wisdom or psychology or being a normal human being it is staggering. I know a few doctors who put Sheldon from Big Bang Theory to shame with their stunning inability to recognize humanity; and are so arrogant it would blow your mind. Those I respect the most realize that they don’t have to be an ass in order to be respected. These wonderful people don’t need to pretend they know everything. If you are a doctor please believe me, it’s ok to be you. I know some very cool doctors.
You didn’t know what were talking about and if you had, you would have realized that only a rookie would diagnose a stranger in ten minutes. What you did, or tried to do, was to spit in the faces of people who spent 300 or 400 hours to your bloody ten bloody bloody minutes. Only an idiot would label someone (when you are a walk-in doctor who has never met this person before in your life) without putting in the requisite time and effort. There is something seriously wrong with a system that would allow people to say garbage like this without being punched in the crotch.
I’ve said it before, you would be shocked if you knew how often your professionals are in the next room Googling an answer.
scott-williams.ca 
I agree with “andanotherthing99” “onlyme”. I got what Scott was trying to say big time, and I think it’s a very important point that many of us still put our doctors up on pedestals, or feel unable or uncomfortable to ask questions in that ‘extravagant’ ten minute appointment we get these days. I have felt like that and am glad that my doctor also tries to educate his patients about their illnesses and provide them with tools to help themselves in spite of all the problems that get in the way of doing that.
Yep, I’ve had a 10 min diagnosis like that many years ago …. but what did I know at the time? You make so much sense …….
Not the best way to handle it. You complain about how other people practice, but what have you done that’s any better? So, just getting on a blog page and ranting is going to make things better? Patients need to learn to be proactive. If you’re not happy with how your case is being handled, then tell the one handling it, or get someone else! If you don’t like what they’re doing, then tell them!
You bet I make sure I get the kind of attention I need. I’ve crossed horns with my caregivers on occasion. He never offers any prescriptions I don’t need. He doesn’t need to Google in the other room. He does have a computer in the room with him, which is usually used to decide what drugs are most compatible with my needs and lays my complete history out. We talk my case over,look together and decide as a team what we should do!
I will say I was a little chagrined the other day. Yesterday, I kept getting reports on all my recent tests and exams. I can say quite truthfully, I have the doctor who would NOT prescribe anything for me without doing a through physical exam on me first! That’;s not always what I want, but how I can I fault him for being a through professional caregiver? I am privy to all their notes, and test results anytime I want. So, if you don’t like the care you’re getting – Let them know it! That’s how I do it always! That’s how you get what you need!
Best regards.
The issue here is that some people DON’T know that they are not receiving proper care and diagnosis. That’s what Scott is highlighting in his rant.
So, you’re saying making making a blog based rant solves the problem, and makes those people aware they are not receiving proper care and diagnosis? That’s interesting. LOL.
rant (rænt)
verb
1. to utter (something) in loud, violent, or bombastic tones
2. (intr) Scot to make merry; frolic
noun
3. loud, declamatory, or extravagant speech; bombast
4. Scot a wild revel
5. Scot an energetic dance or its tune
“So, you’re saying making making a blog based rant solves the problem, and makes those people aware they are not receiving proper care and diagnosis? That’s interesting. LOL.”
In response to this comment, yes I think articles like this CAN lead you to receiving proper care and diagnosis. If only one person reads such an article and it makes a difference in their life ………. then Scott’s article has been worthwhile. However, if you are one of the few who has no need for a diagnosis OR has experienced smooth sailing with any diagnosis and treatment, then the whole article might not mean much to you at all.
I could also go on a rant about how my doctor prescribed SSRi’s for me, which took me over a decade to get off, causing a whole host of health problems. There’s a time and place, and giving a pill for the sake of giving a pill is not the answer.
Wonderfully well said! as usual I can relate and agree. I can’t count how many times I have walked out with a prescription I never filled because I started to tell a doctor what I was going through and he started writing out a prescription.
There are people who need meds, and there are people who are just going through some shit and have every right to be depressed, anxious, or unable to sleep. I find it totally insulting when I am handed drugs to deal with a situation I have every right to be upset about.
It seems like no one is ever allowed to just grieve, or be upset about something they have every right to be upset about. I have a cousin who was widowed 10 years ago and she is still on the same meds she was a week after her husband died. She has gained 100 lbs, and lost all joy in life,her house is a disaster because she is not functioning with a clear mind, she doesn’t get upset about things she should be upset about. Her life is flat lined.
I find that terribly sad.
It seems to me that society in general wants a quick fix, women come into my blog two weeks after leaving an abusive relationship and want to know what;s wrong with them, why can’t they move on. I would worry if they were able to move on after two weeks.
Like I said, some people need meds and I do not profess to know who should get meds and who shouldn’t but my good God, let people feel long enough to learn from the experience and grow, don’t mask all the feelings with drugs.
Personally, the most painful experience of my life was the most rewarding in the end and resulted in me finding an inner peace I never knew possible and I strength I never knew I had, I can’t imagine that happening if I had been medicated into not caring.
Just my opinion for what it is.
Just my opinion for what its worth. ooops typo
Great ‘rant’ Scott. I so agree with what you have to say I said I wish I had said it myself. I have been very lucky to have been placed in the hands of a very good doctor. Even so, it took another very good psychiatrist to finally level me out, change some meds, and help get me feeling like half a normal human being again. I take a crapload of meds right now, and although I would prefer to be taking none, I am grateful for being taken care of by a group of wonderful doctors and counsellors who heard me and got what I needed right. I don’t know where I would be without that help. I think I got a lot lucky and wow! Am I ever happy that my story doesn’t star a doctor who is googling me in the next room!