Worse Psych Advice you've had:

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I am just wondering if those who are younger have to put up with what those of us who are later DXed had to.

I've had such bad psych advice!

Worst for me was a group home where we lived with persons of the opposite gender and they foced us to eat things like gluten foods- no exception for anyone. THe guys were having relations with the women, of course. Treatment was ONLY the 12 step AA model which is like telling a diabetic to control blood sugar with 12 step.

ANy kind of objection like the food was making you sick was "an excuse."


Of course, madness ensued.

Probably to swear at people.

Apparently, all my social problems would be magically resolved if I became a foul mouth. I had to practice shouting F*CK OFF! at the psychologist because I was too reluctant (swearing was abhorrent to me).

And this all happened before I was officially diagnosed at age 11! (so I guess even being diagnosed young is not necessarily a home run; I had to go through a heck of a lot of quacks and nutjobs through my childhood before somebody finally figured out what could be wrong with me and sent me to an AS specialist).

Psych: "You have ADHD, OCD, Bipolar 1 disorder, and possibly Schizo-affective disorder, and here's an Rx for antipsychotic called Rispidal, some Klonopin for anxiety and insomnia, a stimulant called Concerta to keep you focused and a drug called Depakote to keep you stable in case the stimulant makes you even more psychotic"

Me: "Are you sure I need all that? I was dx'ed with classic autism when I was 3. I didn't speak until I was 5, needed occupational and speech therapy and was in special ed until I was 11, then in alternative school until I was 13. Do you think the ADHD and OCD and schizo symptoms are just part of the autism thing, can't I just medicate for the Bipolar thing?"

Psych: "You probably aren't autistic at all. You have ADHD, OCD, Bipolar 1 with psychotic features, all can be managed with the right medications"

Me: "Um...I didn't talk until I was 5"

Psych: "Autism is a trendy diagnosis, you probably weren't autistic at all, a traumatic early childhood or hyperlexia could explain the speech delay."

Me: "Um, okay (autism was "trendy" in 1985??)."

I walked out of that office with a stack of prescriptions for psychotropic meds, kinda pissed that I'd wasted my time and a $30 copay, and I did not receive an updated diagnosis at all like I had intended to, but instead I was told that I was misdiagnosed in childhood.....and I really had a laundry list of afflictions that obviously began to affect me shortly after birth.

"You should drink a little. It might help you mellow out."

Uhh... no. Just no.

The one time I did go, he thought I was depressed because I didn't have alot of friends or much of a social life. He didn't offer me any solutions though, other than to tell me a story about another lonely patient of his who would go to casinos in the middle of the night when she was lonely and ran up thousands in debts because of it.

"Explore the possibility that you were sexually assaulted as a child".

That bastard hypnotized me and focused on this theme for weeks. This was about 15 years ago. Never found evidence for it and I wasn't about to go stir things up in my family when there was absolutely no memory of anything remotely suspect.

I have since learned a lot (through working with law enforcement) and NOBODY in my family comes close to fitting the profile of a sexual predator.

It really screwed me up. He planted that little bit of doubt that's still there. I will never go to a male therapist again. Seemed like he was getting his jollies more than looking for a cause to my depression.

"Feeling depressed? Here, take this prozac."

"You don't think the prozac is working? Getting bad side effects? You just need to take it for a few more months."

"You think the pills are making you feel suicidal? That's not right. You just need to up your dose."

"Not working yet? Here, try this Abilify too."

"No, it's not the Abilify that's making you vomit. You need to stick with it a while longer."

Yeah that's about the time I got off drugs, and quit going to her.

My academic performance in grades 1 and 2 were always satisfactory, but teachers always yelled at me to pay attention. In grade 3, I was put on Ritalin, and in grade 4, my academic performance crashed, and my dosage was UPPED. That's like fighting alcoholism with alcohol. I was on no such drugs in college, and my GPA was higher than it ever was.

Being put on antidepressants at various times were also the worst things to ever happen to me. If anything, they only numbed the emotions behind my issues, allowing me to be basically psychopathic.

That's what I get for trying to seek help from individuals who are driven by kickbacks from big pharmaceuticals. I'm taking diddly squat now and doing better than I ever was during those times.

Well, first the nut drugs, starting with family doctors. "You look depressed. Try this." Hey, maybe I am crying for a legitimate reason, a$$holes. Way to invalidate me with your chemical technology.

Then there was the time I heard about borderline personality disorder and saw some of my problems written in the description. Told the psych I thought maybe I had it. He said casually, "You probably do." With no further exploration or analysis, it ended up in some psych summary medical papers I got as one of the damn axes, ffs. Sorry, but just, no.

Then there was the genius who thought the way I chose to dress was an issue. I'm not terribly feminine, you see. "What are you going to look like when you're 40?" was how he pressed his concern. "Like myself," I said. Shortly thereafter he went on to become the local expert in gender reassignment. Sheesh. Way to project, dude.

Useless, all of them, and the worst is the constant pressure from doctors and amateurs alike to use nut drugs. Solution: bury my feelings and don't get harassed.

A hospital helpline doctor, in the mid 1980s -

"Sexually assaulted? Well, you must have enjoyed at least SOME of it? Why don't you just get a boyfriend and get married and just forget about all that. Things will be fine. I don't see a need for any anti-anxiety medication. Just suck it up and get on with your life." [More or less - that last line is verbatim.] When told I WAS talking about my husband, I was told "There's no such thing as spousal rape. You signed on for anything-goes when you got married. Why don' t you ask your pastor for counseling on how to be a better wife." (I'm not a member of any religious faith.) "Well, that's the REAL problem here, isn't it? You need to get onto the right path in life through salvation by accepting Jesus." [It was a male on the phone, by the way.]

Yep. Really.


another doctor, back in the 1970s


"I'd like you to go to this workshop in Los Angeles." [I lived in the midwest at the time and was working for minimum wage, barely making the rent each month.] "Just quit your job and go, you'll get so much out of it." [Right. Trendy, psychobabble, new-age workshop on how one doesn't really need money.] "You're just depressed because the sexist Capitalist Pigs [or something along that line, I can't remember exactly] have had you under their control for too long." Like I could just put my food, airline ticket, and etc. on a platinum mastercard (they didn't exist back then anyway, those plastic money cards)!