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Have any of you gotten incompetent mental health treatment?

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senzuri
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23 Aug 2007, 11:26 pm

I'm almost certain that I have some sort of ASD disorder (and yes, in my case, it is definitely a disorder), but I have never been diagnosed to this day. When I first began to suspect that I might be autistic a few years back, I went to seek professional mental health assistance to see if they could shed some light on my issues and possibly diagnose me. Wow, did I ever get a major letdown. In a nutshell, the treatment they gave me was essentially the equivalent of a band-aid on a stab or gunshot wound.

I didn't have insurance so I had to go through a city-funded mental health program, and they set me up with a psychiatrist and a therapist separately. Between the two of them, neither would try to diagnose my condition.

The psychiatrist absolutely refused to do anything other than prescribe meds. My sessions with him entirely were about how the meds were working for me, and he had no interest in addressing whatever deeper-rooted issues I might have -- it was like he thought he could use medication as a substitute for doing any real work on his own part.

As for psychotherapy, the therapist was not a doctor and was in no position to make a professional diagnosis -- and for that matter, he really did little more than act as a sounding board for my bitching, and didn't give a whole lot of his own feedback. It also didn't help that he was very much the classic Freudian who thought everything could be boiled down to what happened in your childhood, and I had to make him understand that there was a much more congenital aspect to my problem (as in, I learned to speak relatively late).

The clinic did not even make the slightest effort to address the root of the problems I was dealing with. It was almost as if the program as a whole was deliberately set up to give nothing more than band-aid treatment and not genuine mental-health treatment. Now, it was a city-funded clinic, but I've heard it's not always much better even if you have do health insurance.

What have been your own experiences with mental health folks? Have you also had problems getting a proper diagnosis and/or adequate service from psychiatrists and mental health facilities?



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24 Aug 2007, 1:26 am

The problem I personally had with the mental health system was that my psychiatrist mis-diagnosed me so many times. I was put on medication so many times and later found out that it wasn't even needed.

The psychologist I see now is really judgemental and doesn't think I am expressing my feelings enough and keeps telling me to open up. Which is hard because I have trouble expressing my emotions in face-to-face conversations.

When Mother wanted my diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome be written on my medical record, she told my psychiatrist and she said that it wasn't necessary. But it is necessary in todays nation, because without it written in writing, I can't get accurate support.
But now she has finally put it on my medical record which is good.


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24 Aug 2007, 1:39 am

I had a similar psychiatrist who saw you just long enough to fill out a prescription. The worst thing that I had was when I made the mistake of mentioning a family history of bipolar disorder, and got a prescription for Zyprexa. That drug made me so tired that I could barely function with my college studies, in fact I even slept through an 11am class. The only symptom I had was depression, and I told this quack that I couldn't handle the side effects, so he never renewed that prescription.

After that incident, I learned the hard way to be very careful of what psychiatrists give, as you never know what those drugs will do. I do have some anxiety, but I'm trying other ways to treat it without medication. IF I ever decide to see a psychiatrist, I'm going to make sure that this person is not just a legal drug dealer and is actually concerned with how I'm doing.


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24 Aug 2007, 7:24 am

Yes, plenty. I suppose the "best" or "worst" one (whichever way you look at it) is when I saw a psychiatrist and spent an hour telling him what was bothering me and then he said "come back when you can tell me what's wrong". I thought he obviously hadn't listened to a word I'd said and that he was supposed to tell me what was wrong as he was the one who'd trained for years and was being paid the big bucks.


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24 Aug 2007, 8:22 am

senzuri wrote:
I'm almost certain that I have some sort of ASD disorder (and yes, in my case, it is definitely a disorder), but I have never been diagnosed to this day. When I first began to suspect that I might be autistic a few years back, I went to seek professional mental health assistance to see if they could shed some light on my issues and possibly diagnose me. Wow, did I ever get a major letdown. In a nutshell, the treatment they gave me was essentially the equivalent of a band-aid on a stab or gunshot wound.

I didn't have insurance so I had to go through a city-funded mental health program, and they set me up with a psychiatrist and a therapist separately. Between the two of them, neither would try to diagnose my condition.

The psychiatrist absolutely refused to do anything other than prescribe meds. My sessions with him entirely were about how the meds were working for me, and he had no interest in addressing whatever deeper-rooted issues I might have -- it was like he thought he could use medication as a substitute for doing any real work on his own part.

As for psychotherapy, the therapist was not a doctor and was in no position to make a professional diagnosis -- and for that matter, he really did little more than act as a sounding board for my bitching, and didn't give a whole lot of his own feedback. It also didn't help that he was very much the classic Freudian who thought everything could be boiled down to what happened in your childhood, and I had to make him understand that there was a much more congenital aspect to my problem (as in, I learned to speak relatively late).

The clinic did not even make the slightest effort to address the root of the problems I was dealing with. It was almost as if the program as a whole was deliberately set up to give nothing more than band-aid treatment and not genuine mental-health treatment. Now, it was a city-funded clinic, but I've heard it's not always much better even if you have do health insurance.

What have been your own experiences with mental health folks? Have you also had problems getting a proper diagnosis and/or adequate service from psychiatrists and mental health facilities?



Try to understand that when there is no magic bullet, they really don't care to treat you. When they know you don't have insurance, they are not invested in being enthusiastic, and they know they can't do anything for you anyway. Sorry, but they can't. I have watched more therapy and help on these threads on WP than I have ever seen in mental health care professionals offices.

I know of no insurance in the US that covers Autism or AS. From what I hear, no medication or even dietetic approach 'works' either. Usually it is the CoMorbids that the medication works for (depression, ADHD, ADD, OCD and the alphabet soup of the rest of them).

I am so sorry you were disappointed by the system. I was too. They are fallible, even though that same system has told me from child hood to 'get with the program!' I have found in my 50's I am not 'getting with the program' any time soon. :lol:

You are your own best advocate, and I know that is why this forum has been started and is here for us. Do your therapy and growing here, and may the powers that be give you rest.

your friend,
Merle



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24 Aug 2007, 1:27 pm

My first experiences with psychiatrists were not good ones. I was AS but undiagnosed at the time, and having mental issues due to PTSD. The first "team" kept using me as a drug guinea pig and dosed me incorrectly, and didn't even really address my issues in the correct manner. They lacked insight and just did everything by the book. We were paying for these services - a lot of money, too.

The second team I saw was better but too abrasive and I didn't feel like I could talk to them seriously. We were also paying them $$$.

I saw a therapist in college for free through the campus counseling program, and though she was nice and empathetic, she didn't really help me that much.

Recently I wrote a letter to the President of my state's Autism board seeking help, and she happens to live in my area so she agreed to meet me for free. She gave me a free AS evaluation and met with my boyfriend. She determined that I do have AS. She was nice, understanding and intelligent so when she referred me to a psychologist who specializes in Autism, I decided to go. I think out of all my therapists I have the best one now, and since I am a Katrina victim I am getting free services at the moment. She is very insightful and has already helped me open up and see things I never noticed about myself before.

For me it was hit or miss. It can be extremely difficult to find a decent psychiatrist and I got very lucky with the one I have now. I wish you the best of luck!



senzuri
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25 Aug 2007, 11:28 am

kittenfluffies wrote:
Recently I wrote a letter to the President of my state's Autism board seeking help, and she happens to live in my area so she agreed to meet me for free. She gave me a free AS evaluation and met with my boyfriend. She determined that I do have AS.

So you had to go to an autism specialist to get a professional confirmation that you have AS, which means you'd already started to figure out you might have AS on your own without any assistance from the professionals you'd seen beforehand.

That's pretty much how it's gone for me. I came to these folks seeking answers and didn't get any. I began to realize that autism might be a factor on my own, no thanks to any of the hacks I saw.

People dealing with mental health issues, whether it be autism, ADHD, bipolar, whatever, shouldn't have to go through that. They're not trained professionals and it's not their job to diagnose themselves. The job of mental health professionals is to HELP people seeking help, not to jerk them around.



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25 Aug 2007, 12:31 pm

In my opinion, a more pertinent question would be, 'Have any of you ever gotten competent mental health treatment?' :lol: It's a sad fact that most psychiatrists and psychologists don't know a damn thing about AS and make ridiculous assumptions that what works for the majority will work for everybody.



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25 Aug 2007, 12:35 pm

Ignition_Cognition wrote:
In my opinion, a more pertinent question would be, 'Have any of you ever gotten competent mental health treatment?' :lol: It's a sad fact that most psychiatrists and psychologists don't know a damn thing about AS and make ridiculous assumptions that what works for the majority will work for everybody.


That is the first question that came to my mind.



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25 Aug 2007, 12:47 pm

A psychologist once described my "intellectualized speech" and "mathematical way of thinking" as "odd and peculiar, if not psychotic."

That's probably the most insulting thing I've ever read in a report about me. It reeks of greedy capitalism. What do you think of what he said?

Edit: I say it reeks of greedy capitalism because they're trying to perscribe me antipsychotics. I've already taken Risperdal for six months. No effect.


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25 Aug 2007, 12:55 pm

Mike, it sounds like redneck stupidity to me. I doubt if the man can spell or pronounce the long words.



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25 Aug 2007, 1:04 pm

senzuri wrote:
I'm almost certain that I have some sort of ASD disorder (and yes, in my case, it is definitely a disorder), but I have never been diagnosed to this day. When I first began to suspect that I might be autistic a few years back, I went to seek professional mental health assistance to see if they could shed some light on my issues and possibly diagnose me. Wow, did I ever get a major letdown. In a nutshell, the treatment they gave me was essentially the equivalent of a band-aid on a stab or gunshot wound.

I didn't have insurance so I had to go through a city-funded mental health program, and they set me up with a psychiatrist and a therapist separately. Between the two of them, neither would try to diagnose my condition.


A publicly funded mental health program is limited by the funding it recieves from government and charity. What you get out of it is roughly only what public funding sources will allow. Many private practices aren't really much better as they are only being paid what your medical insurance/HMO will allow. -- In other words, what you recieve is what you, and other taxpayers put into it monetarily.

They have a vested interest in making any treatment as quick and as cursorily as possible due to budget constraints. You may encounter therapists who are idealistic, or dedicated to their profession to the point where the financial recompense is secondary to the ethical reward of their practice, and will go to great lengths to help you out, but this is fairly rare.

senzuri wrote:
The psychiatrist absolutely refused to do anything other than prescribe meds. My sessions with him entirely were about how the meds were working for me, and he had no interest in addressing whatever deeper-rooted issues I might have -- it was like he thought he could use medication as a substitute for doing any real work on his own part.


I've said it before in other threads, and I'll say it again. Psychiatrists are Medical Doctors who treat people with the tools the medical profession allows, the Pharmacopaeia, IE, prescpription psych medications. Couples with the above statement, the doctor that you've been seeing doesn't particulaly care about any deep rooted issues you may have, he's not being paid to. --All he want's to know are if the drugs that he prescribed to you are working.

senzuri wrote:
As for psychotherapy, the therapist was not a doctor and was in no position to make a professional diagnosis -- and for that matter, he really did little more than act as a sounding board for my bitching, and didn't give a whole lot of his own feedback. It also didn't help that he was very much the classic Freudian who thought everything could be boiled down to what happened in your childhood, and I had to make him understand that there was a much more congenital aspect to my problem (as in, I learned to speak relatively late).


Freudian therapy may have been cutting edge therapy in the early 20th century, however it is essentially obsolete due to the larger body of empirical knowledge of human behavior that has accrued since then. --The Freudian therapist that you saw was essentially a waste of time, and it appears as if you know that.

senzuri wrote:
The clinic did not even make the slightest effort to address the root of the problems I was dealing with. It was almost as if the program as a whole was deliberately set up to give nothing more than band-aid treatment and not genuine mental-health treatment. Now, it was a city-funded clinic, but I've heard it's not always much better even if you have do health insurance.

What have been your own experiences with mental health folks? Have you also had problems getting a proper diagnosis and/or adequate service from psychiatrists and mental health facilities?



My experience with Mental Health pros has been very hit and miss. Mostly miss, to the point where I cringe at the prospect of recieving any more of their 'help'. Details of some of what I went through with them can be found in this thread


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Last edited by Fogman on 25 Aug 2007, 1:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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25 Aug 2007, 1:05 pm

Sorry! That one was inadvertently double posted :oops:


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25 Aug 2007, 1:29 pm

senzuri wrote:
I'm almost certain that I have some sort of ASD disorder (and yes, in my case, it is definitely a disorder), but I have never been diagnosed to this day. When I first began to suspect that I might be autistic a few years back, I went to seek professional mental health assistance to see if they could shed some light on my issues and possibly diagnose me. Wow, did I ever get a major letdown. In a nutshell, the treatment they gave me was essentially the equivalent of a band-aid on a stab or gunshot wound.

I didn't have insurance so I had to go through a city-funded mental health program, and they set me up with a psychiatrist and a therapist separately. Between the two of them, neither would try to diagnose my condition.

The psychiatrist absolutely refused to do anything other than prescribe meds. My sessions with him entirely were about how the meds were working for me, and he had no interest in addressing whatever deeper-rooted issues I might have -- it was like he thought he could use medication as a substitute for doing any real work on his own part.

As for psychotherapy, the therapist was not a doctor and was in no position to make a professional diagnosis -- and for that matter, he really did little more than act as a sounding board for my bitching, and didn't give a whole lot of his own feedback. It also didn't help that he was very much the classic Freudian who thought everything could be boiled down to what happened in your childhood, and I had to make him understand that there was a much more congenital aspect to my problem (as in, I learned to speak relatively late).

The clinic did not even make the slightest effort to address the root of the problems I was dealing with. It was almost as if the program as a whole was deliberately set up to give nothing more than band-aid treatment and not genuine mental-health treatment. Now, it was a city-funded clinic, but I've heard it's not always much better even if you have do health insurance.

What have been your own experiences with mental health folks? Have you also had problems getting a proper diagnosis and/or adequate service from psychiatrists and mental health facilities?

mental health teams=crap for autism spectrum or learning disability diagnosing.

am was originally sent to a mental health pysch. who misdiagnosed am as somewhere else on the spectrum in the first appointment,he was studying ASD as he was with am,he had never dealt with ASD before and he was the best am gp could send am to.
family were not satisified with it,but am had no other option as am could not afford private.
am have an autism specialised speech therapist who am have seen for a long time,and he said am definitely on the autism [kanners] side,am not hf but not lf either,he is not allowed to give am official diagnose as part of who he works for,but am considering saving for private asessment now as staff at am home said the rediagnosis will give am the support am really need.


it is rubbish how there are not enough specialists out there,especially ones who work with adults.
try and change to an autism specialist if possible,and try to see a pyschologist rather than pyschiatrist-it's the pyschiatrists who will give drugs out for everything,but pyschologists cannot prescribe medications.



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25 Aug 2007, 2:05 pm

Most of the so-called professional help I got was simply ineffective.
Among these links you'll find my burblings on the subject:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... ht=#617364
http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... ht=#452181
http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... ht=#452397
http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... ht=#452511
http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... ht=#496788
http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... ht=#512898

Fortunately none of these docs prescribed dangerous meds or therapies.....



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25 Aug 2007, 3:22 pm

senzuri, your original post is pretty much exactly what happened to me when I attempted to get mental health treatment several years ago...and I supposedly had good insurance at the time. I've since learned on my own what my true 'problems' are, but that doesn't really help since I have no clue what to do about them. Being an unemployed, uninsured, unmedicated, depressed, anxious, friendless hermit definitely doesn't help.