ceneri

PCP - primary care physician

I am appalled at how often people feel tentative, ashamed, or intimidated by their doc. You, as the patient, are the customer. They are the service provider relying on you for an income. They could be viewed as your partner in getting & keeping you healthy. If you feel you can't be totally honest and open with questions or concerns, if your doc isn't open to choices that are up to you...find a new one! He/She should also welcome requests for referrals to specialists or therapists. There are too many good ones to put up with an inadequate one. If you aren't sure how to find a good one, ask for names from someone you know & trust. I realize insurance causes some restrictions, but you should still have a choice.

I've been really lucky throughout my life with good docs. It makes me kind of nuts to hear people's horror stories and stuff they put up with, or worse fear.

1undone

I agree! You know yourself better than anyone and if your doc won't listen to you then he/she is not doing their job. And yes, you are paying them for their services. If they are not good stop paying them and go to someone else. Most doctors are rated on the internet these days so look them up before deciding on them!!!!

Bamboozle

Sometimes a person doesn't realize that she's/he's in a bad situation because of a therapist or doctor. Most people simply don't know what makes treatment good or bad. I am one of those people. Turns out my former therapist (I'm NOT going back) is a major douche bag. It took me a long time to realize this--I wasted two years of my life on her B.S. therapy.

Should I have been able to know better? I don't think so. I never had anyone teach me what to look out for when picking a therapist. The process was so unfamiliar to me. I was desperate for help--I wanted to die and I knew this was my last hope. Here was this person who, in my mind, was going to help me because no one else could. It's what I had to rely on to keep me living. When a person is doing everything he/she can to keep living and to get out of a nightmare, objectivity is nonexistent. I was able to notice that some things were 'off' about therapy, but I waved it away--I told myself 'she's just a little unconventional.'

Here's what I've learned:

--A therapist is NOT supposed to act like a friend
--A therapist is NOT supposed to give you rides home
--A therapist is NOT supposed to answer the phone to text or talk
--A therapist is NEVER to say, after breaking down crying over a personal matter, 'Your problems aren't so bad right now, right?' and then ask (me) to tell jokes to make the therapist feel better on the client's time and money.

All those things happened--the last one was a deal breaker. I ranted a bit in the Mental Health section...and I felt better. I feel better right now...and in a way I'm glad that last bit of turd-filled nonsense happened. If it hadn't, who knows how long I would have kept going to sessions that, obvious to me now, were not helping me.

The only good thing I got out of therapy is my cat. Yes, my therapist gave me a cat...it came from her neighbor's farm. Good thing my cat is nothing like my therapist. My cat is f**king awesome!

There needs to be more awareness of what makes treatment good or bad. Listing examples of the good vs. the bad helps tons.

eJoshua

A very good point. You could say the same thing about support groups. I hated AA for a while because I just had bad luck with the groups I was visiting.