Over the last 17 years, some of the doctors, when they run out of ideas, have suggested that I should consult a psychiatrist. Far too many doctors, without training in psychiatry, are willing to tell patients that they are suffering from a psychiatric illness when the doctor has just run out of ideas. Far too many patients are popping anti-depressants simply because they haven’t found a competent physician. For too many doctors, it’s just an easy way to keep a troublesome customer quiet. By troublesome, I mean that the doctor has run out of ideas but the customer is still asking for help.
I have seen a number of trained, qualified, experienced psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors, at the suggestion of these incompetent doctors. All of these trained mental health specialists tell me that this is a physical illness, not depression, anxiety, stress, emotional disorder, personality disorder, or any somatoform disorder. However, some of these mental health experts have also sold me many “consultations” before telling me that this was not a mental health problem. One fellow kept me going for about 18 months; another told me on just the second visit.
One psychologist, who I was seeing for a formal series of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) sessions, stopped me at about session four, telling me that he was wasting my time and money, that this is a physical illness. He said that I was not displaying any of the thinking patterns associated with depression and normally treated with CBT such as catastrophic thinking, bridging, etc..
Another psychologist was helping me deal with the chronic pain. I was seeing him on and off over a period of about ten years. At least three times I asked him directly if this was really a mental illness and that there was nothing physically wrong with me. His response was always that this was not any form of mental illness, but was a real physical illness.
A few years ago, we had a new pastor at our church. He had heard that I had been unwell and he came to see me at home one day. Although I had been to a number of services since he arrived at our church, this was the first time that we had met face-to-face and talked. He spent nearly two hours with me, and we talked about health problems, employment, family, faith, etc.. When he was leaving, he said something like ”with all of those problems, at least you’re not depressed”. This from a trained counsellor who deals with these problems in a home setting every day.
The first specialist psychiatrist that I saw told me that chronic illness can cause symptoms that mimic depression. The last specialist psychiatrist that I saw told me “this is not depression, this is a physical illness, go back and see your doctor”.
Finally, depression does not cause:
stinging pain in sinuses, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, lips,
tinnitus,
pain and redness inside the mouth,
sore throat, post-nasal drip,
red rash on face, chest, glans and foreskin, around anus, and on legs,
orange discolouration of all finger-nails and all toe-nails,
elevated PSA,
tears with a pH of 8.5 or higher.
“Doctors not fully trained and qualified in psychiatry should not be allowed to diagnose psychiatric illness and should certainly not be allowed to prescribe psychiatric medications. A one-semester extension course, or a bit of informal advice from a senior doctor on how to deal with “difficult” patients, does not qualify anyone to practice psychiatry.” Stephen Thompson
“We’ve seen a marked increase in antidepressant use among individuals with no psychiatric diagnosis. Nearly four out of every five antidepressant prescriptions are written by non-psychiatrist providers.”
Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, MPH, an associate professor with the Bloomberg School’s Department of Mental Health.
Antidepressants Increasing among those with no Psychiatric Diagnosis
Thu, 04 Aug 2011
This is a study based in the US but, in my experience, non-psychiatrists in Australia are also too willing to prescribe psychiatric medications without a psychiatric diagnosis.