Worst thing a Psychiatrist/Therapist etc. has told you.

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When I was young and a tween, Dr. Dwyer, the "best child psychiatrist in the Pittsburgh area" told me repeatedly that "I couldn't have used quality education". Unfortunately, I believed it and stayed in a bad school and messed up any hope of a decent career.

Later, I was in college and a psychologist name Roger Morris told me that I lied about Dr. Dwyer and I had badmouthed him and lied about him and I "hurt Rogers' feelings" and he dumped me and told my parents I was a "bad person", this is when I was in my 20s and it was none of their business.

When these people go to graduate school, don't they learn to not do things like this?
Oh, and now, I'm not afraid to name names.

Therapist I was attending to before I realized I might have Aspergers:
"How do you feel about it?"

Me: This room smells bad. I can't stand it. Do we really have to stay here?
She: What does the smell reminds you of?
Me: It smells like a dirty old man that drinks a lot of alcohol that you can sometimes met on street.
She: How do you feel about it?

Me: My dad got angry with me again.
She: What happened?
Me: I had no idea he is home so I didn't prepare the dinner on 2pm because I always prepare it on 3:30PM unless he says otherwise a day before.
She: How do you feel about it?

Me: In fact I could get a job and move out of my house. I can imagine myself working and living somewhere else. But I can't stand the change. I wish I could just wake up one day and realize it happened some time ago and I am already used to living this way.
She: How do you feel about it?

Me: I just want to know what is wrong with me!
She: What do you think is wrong with you?
Me: Well... You know,that I can't get any boyfriend, that I never had any close friend, that I prefer to be alone, that I can't find a job, that I spend all my days in the computer game and don't consider real life interesting... I already told you about all of those!
She: How do you feel about it?

It was like talking to a robot. Apparently she was asking me this question whenever she had no idea what to say. Which was often. I guess she wasn't a good therapist. She wasn't listening to me at all. And I have no idea what to asnwer so most of the time I was answering "I don't know" or telling again what is my point (but then the question was repeated).
At least the service was free...

I had one tell me I was too messed up for her to help (not her exact words) and that I need to see someone else.

When I was a teenager undergoing behavior modification in a University hospital program, a doctor told me when I died they could dissect my brain, and it would be much different from a typical brain.

That was a long time ago, now they could just test it with an MRI, no need to die..

Worst - that my children history of severe abuse had nothing to do with my depression, (he said the only cause was that my brain was innately defective) and that I was probably schizophrenic because I avoided eye contact. Didn't stop him from sexually propositioning me though.

When I challenged him he puffed himself up, shouted at me "I AM A SCIENTIST!" And I replied: "I think you are Dr Death". He lost his temper and threatened to commit me.

Seeing him was a terrible move for me - a friend arranged it thinking it would "help". It was psychological abuse from a psychiatrist of the worst kind. Have never and will never forget it, would never trust those a-holes again.

Posting on WP has helped me many times more than talking to any shrink that I've had to deal with. I know why their clients say they're shrinks. They like to make us feel small.

One thing I have noticed with therapists is that they are first to tell you they have a Ph.D. and rub it in your face. When you have a hard time in school, and some of the problems you have happened in school, that is really hurtful to hear, because I guess school was wonderful for them or they would not be there. I have also noticed that I don't get this so much from doctors (physicians) and dentists, even though medical and dental school has to be harder than graduate school for psychology (for one thing, I don't think graduate students have to be up all night like medical residents do). In fact, I don't get this "rubbing in face" from college professors either!

Oh, and never say that some of your problems occurred when you were in HS or college, they really get upset if you "badmouth" a school that way.

My first therapist called me weak. I am a very strong person who has persevered through a lot. She felt that I was weak because I'm very sensitive but sensitivity is not a weakness.

My past therapist was like that too, although her version of it was: "What did you feel when it was happening?" when I was telling her about something unpleasant in my life. All I could think was: "If you don't know how someone feels in that situation, then how the hell did you become a psychologist?!". (Well, I'm not sure which exactly degree she had, but it's all semantics.) Either way, she kept pushing me for answers about feelings. And every time I gave them, she'd say "No, that's not how you really felt; try again". Or "That's thinking; what did you feel?". The worst one was when, out of frustration, I told a complete lie about how I felt in some situation, and she said: "Thank you for being honest with me."

In self-defense, I started fabricating conditions I knew well about, and could easily give "correct" answers, that I knew she'd want to hear. The best one I faked was "text anxiety". Every time a test, or---oh, no!--- a final exam was coming up, I'd pretend to get really worked up over it, when that was rarely true. I gave all sorts of emotional, crocodile-tears spiel about it, how I felt "out of control", "afraid of failing", "frustrated with my efforts going to waste", etc. Enough to give a Spanish soap opera a run for its money. She'd give me some words of sympathy and encouragement, which were insightful and even mildly intriguing at times, but nothing beneficial to me. Toward the end of the session, I'd put on a smile and say how I feel more relaxed now. She was none the wiser.

After a year or so of this, my parents (who were paying for the sessions) caught on to this, and ended the therapy. While I missed the conversations me and this therapist got sidetracked into at times, I didn't find the therapy itself very helpful to begin with. Fabricating conditions, or making up my fantasy worlds to ask for comments about, just to evade "feelings" questions was starting to get old.

Last edited by Aspie1 on 02 Jul 2014, 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

I don't think they've said anything out of order, but I feel I am brushed aside and sent packing with medication. I wish they'd actually treat me properly then I wouldn't mind what they said to me. 10 years now with depression and still not got to the bottom of it.

When I had my stint with therapy as a teenager, I would have sold my soul and 20 years of my life to be sent packing with medication. I hinted at and directly asked that therapist to be given some antidepressants (which I described as "sadness removers" back then, due to not knowing the term "antidepressants", and the therapist never told it to me). She only kept talking about "teaching me to deal with things without sadness removers". The truth is: the only "bottom" of depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain. You need "happy chemicals" in the brain to keep you from jumping off a cliff out of misery with life (preventing suicide). You need "sad chemicals" in the brain to keep you from jumping off a cliff because you believe you can actually fly (preventing self-endangerment). Both are for one thing and one thing only, driven by evolution: to make sure you survive long enough to produce and raise healthy offspring.

When I saw a therapist as an adult, two years ago, it was like night and day! He was a psychiatrist. I came to see him due to an abusive situation at my job. He asked me factual, not feelings, questions about what was going on at work, and prescribed me a pill. He explained to me why he giving me an anti-anxiety pill, rather than an anti-depressant, and I was very satisfied with the explanation. The relaxation I got from taking my first dose was amazing! Once I felt good enough, I grabbed the bull by the horns, hired a labor attorney, and got two well-respected but abusive managers at my work fired! Then I was massively slacking off at work, and the upper management did nothing about it. It's a BIG different from the old "No, that's not how you really felt; try again".

Wow. They must have had a shock when were fired. Good on you

I do agree that medication is needed, for me and for others in some cases. But when I speak to my doctor it's as if she's seen it a thousand times before and follows protocol. She doesn't ask how I feel, or go deeper into it. The psychiatrist did, but my meetings with them are few and far between. In the meantime I have to be seen by my doctor who doesn't even read my notes.

Luckily I have an appointment with psychiatrist in 7 days so I'm actually looking forward to this one.

Therapist -- "Patients are a lot easier to work with when they're taking antidepressants, so I can't really help you unless you start taking something."

Note: I don't suffer from clinical depression -- just get angry or depressed when thinking or talking about things that are upsetting, which is something I thought usually occurs in a therapy situation. I manage to be happy or at least content quite often despite often negative circumstances. When I've taken antidepressants in the past, they always dulled my positive emotions too much and actually caused more depression. I told her about that, and she still said, "Well, there's a study that shows combining drugs and therapy produces the best outcomes."

Psychiatrist: "You don't have Aspergers, just the fact that you're curious to know if you have it tells me that you don't have it"

Since then, I've been officially diagnosed with ASD by another clinician.

Worst: "Narcissus looked self-infatuated at his own image in the water" and "I don´t want to speak with you anymore" (after my long, written attempts to make him understand, that I was trying to understand myself and preserve some form of positive identity, - not admire or highten myself).
He didn´t know anything about ASD, and luckily he accepted the explanation, the psychologist gave him.
I have been called weak by another psychiatrist, because telling about my mothers cancer and my own broken education made me cry.

I have had antidepressants before, and I have had real depressions, but I´ve discovered, that the prevailing undercurrent of sadness probably has to do with my life, or maybe even with ASD itself (so it seems, when I read posts in here).
It has been there since a very young age and I have tried to manage it as "my nature" and rubbish like that. Like most people in here, I´ve got scars because of the lack of understanding in the environment. Maybe it´s time for a diary.

Mine pales in comparison to a lot of the horrible experiences on here, but 'my girlfriend has moved out, would you like her room?' is my worse therapy moment. I reported the shmuck. It put me off therapy for a long time, and I had serious trauma issues. I eventually found a great female therapist!