Do you think your counselor is sincere, or a drug pusher?

[Deja Q]

Poll question: Do you think your counselor is sincere, or a drug pusher?

Seriously.

I have yet to find a counselor who doens't latch on to what is interpreted as a big symptom of some known disorder and then follow up, more often than not in a hawkish tone, about other symptoms that would convince them to write up a condition to give to the psychiatrist?

I believe my psychiatrist is sincere, but I am under the impression that my counselor is hot to trot on finding something they can give me a drug for.

Given that it was a drug that had me lose consciousness for a few hours and then was related to a fainting spell, never mind 15 previous years of dealing with people who seem more interested in fitting a trapezoid peg into a triangle hole, I'm somewhat skeptical. I'm not so readily trusting and I get boiling livid when I get the impression that they will not even listen to me, let alone humor me. Just because I have an emotional disorder does not mean I am completely crackers and am therefore always wrong with them always being right.

While they may have a legitimate point (not to mention a degree on the wall), it's insulting that they prefer to find a quick illness to then get me popping pills for (that generally do no good or make things worse) without even listening to me. While many of their clients apparently don't give a fuck, I do. I've researched conditions. I know which ones make perfect sense. Which make some sense. And which make no sense. Especially as it seems I am the only person who will take pre-adult issues with any seriousnes they deserve.

[DemExpat]

1. I was fortunate, or stubborn enough, to seek out those who

did not push meds - this after a ten year period of less than successful treatment with therapy and drugs....

Now I use my Homeopath for remedies and good talks. :-)

I hope you find good support soon to help you deal with the problems with meds alongside your personal problems.

My experience has taught me to be polite, but questioning and assertive. If that fails to get a better response for you - leave and find someone else. IMHO. But find support - don't try it on your own.

DemEx

[jdots]

2. The last shrinks have been real good.

but there are some scum bags out there that should be working in the camping department of Wall-Mart.
The one that had the gold pen that said "Lilly" on it and always said (150$ ) Jay how are the meds doing ? instead of how are you doing was typical of most of the dr. feelgood types.
Docs are like lawyers now about 3 % are into the job for the right reasons and the rest want a stepford mate,house in a gated community,a fuck me car and to be published.
here is a dopey story i went to a shrink once who ate 2 pencils when i poured my guts out,i should have billed them.

[Droopy]

3. Psychologists don't have a stake in pushing drugs

They can turn over their findings to a psychiatrist, but it's the psychiatrist who writes the prescription and picks the drug to use.

If you think you have a disorder that needs medicating then you should see a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist and then referred to a counselor for talk therapy. Psychiatrists can do talk therapy, too, but they'll charge you about $250 an hour.

It sounds like your counselor is trying to pin a label on you to make things simpler. Mental illness is very tough to diagnose with varying degrees of each illness. I've been misdiagnosed with depression, depression with psychosis, and bipolar. Well they were correct to a certain degree. All those illnesses are aspects of the illness that I really have. They just weren't seeing the whole picture which is tough to do in just a few sessions an hour at a time. Unfortunately, it can take years to get the correct diagnosis and thus the proper treatment.

I understand your frustration, Hypnotoad. It's possible that you may have a better idea of what is wrong with you than your counselor. When I was in the psych ward of the hospital one time they told me I had bipolar. I was given a desription of the illness and thought that it didn't quite sound right. I asked the desk nurse for a dictionary and I looked up schizophrenia and thought, "Dammit, THAT'S what I've got!" And later it turned out that I was a lot closer than the doctor that diagnosed me as bipolar.

If you have researched illnesses and have a good idea of what you might have, then don't hesitate to tell your therapist what the deal is. Tell them you know what you are feeling and this illness that you looked up seems to describe it best. They should at least be willing to consider it if they are worth going to see.

[qb]

5. Psychologists can work for a clinic that pushes drugs.

That was the case with my former clinic - SSRI's were seemingly automatically prescribed for a variety of disorders, and talk therapy was limited to several sessions. That is fortunately not the case with my psych clinic. My therapist is very cautious about recommending drug therapy. He reluctantly suggested I see the psychiatrist about taking an antidepressant/antianxiety med in the short term to get me through some very difficult family problems.

[mdmc]

4. 1

kick

[redqueen]

6. Other: I see a psychologist ...

because both I and my doctor think my depression is more due to past trauma than a chemical imbalance.

[mopinko]

7. i think that they want to do their jobs but

if they feel there is something that could be righted with medication, they feel like they are working to do something that is difficult, if not impossible, without a solid foundation. iow, wasting their time working on something that could be fixed medically. if you want the therapy to be successful, you should get the obstacles that can be gotten out of the way, out of the way.
good luck. i know you have a tremendous struggle on your hands. use the tools that are available. take care.

[mopinko]

8. also would like to add that this is not limited to mental health issues

my daughter has crohn's disease, and has refused to take maintenance meds. fortunately, she has been steady. but the doc and nurse who take care of her just tear their hair out that she is not taking meds that they think are important. if she ended up needing surgery, they would make a lot of money. but they honestly get upset that they cannot do what they see as their job- keeping her healthy.

[Ladyhawk]

9. I don't think any of them have a clue what the fuck they're doing.

All of it is soft science at best and they play with our minds because they don't know what else to do.

[TZ]

10. Thats complete bullshit

I have a relative who would have DIED years ago without a comptent psychiatrist. Is there some pseudoscience out there? Yes.
But there is ALOT of evidence based medicine..hell they've even found SPECIFIC GENES associated with certain illnesses.
One should not assume based on one's personal experiences that a whole field is fraudulent.