What is it with the superiority complex doctors have?

Anyone noticed doctors (mainly mental health, GPs are alright) have this superiority complex about them? Always seems as if they're talking down to you, and that they are perfect and their way of life is right.

Seriously, can't stand mental health professionals. How are you supposed to trust somebody with your most secret problems if they're condescending w*nkers?

In my experience with GP's, psychiatrists/therapists and social workers I've never had that problem where I felt they were doing that... if anything they seemed sympathetic, understanding and wanting to help.

It could be the individuals mind coming up with that then what the actual doctor is doing in some cases.

They're not all patronizing. Although I do object to being told I am delusional. The good ones are the ones that listen without judgement.

420star wrote:Anyone noticed doctors (mainly mental health, GPs are alright) have this superiority complex about them? Always seems as if they're talking down to you, and that they are perfect and their way of life is right.

Seriously, can't stand mental health professionals. How are you supposed to trust somebody with your most secret problems if they're condescending w*nkers?

Yeah I agree with that. Many but not all do indeed have this problem. Once I was in a psych unit and I had become friends with this girl patient and we both had the same doctor. One day we we were clowning around me and her. It was late in the afternoon and around the time for the professionals to leave and go home. Well, our doctor proceeded to leave and after the door closed me and my friend went over to the door and looked out the small window to see what was out there. Well when we looked we saw our doctor standing there waiting for the elevator to open and she glanced over at us, and we must have been grinning because we were just having fun...but we were not doing anything on purpose to antagonize the doctor. Well to make a long story short she looked at us and saw us and then came storming back onto the unit and proceeded to the front desk to tell the nurses and other doctors that we were trying to intimidate her and scare her by staring at her. Can you imagine that? Pretty amazing right? I imagine she has some sort of paranoia disorder. Well we were reported but nothing else really happened because we really were not doing what she insisted we were doing and we defended our selves openly to the staff.

That's not exactly the same as trying to feel comfortable with a doctor when trying to talk to them and feeling them to be a bit to critical or condescending. However it is funny as hell to look back on this.

killuminati wrote:

420star wrote:Anyone noticed doctors (mainly mental health, GPs are alright) have this superiority complex about them? Always seems as if they're talking down to you, and that they are perfect and their way of life is right.

Seriously, can't stand mental health professionals. How are you supposed to trust somebody with your most secret problems if they're condescending w*nkers?

Yeah I agree with that. Many but not all do indeed have this problem. Once I was in a psych unit and I had become friends with this girl patient and we both had the same doctor. One day we we were clowning around me and her. It was late in the afternoon and around the time for the professionals to leave and go home. Well, our doctor proceeded to leave and after the door closed me and my friend went over to the door and looked out the small window to see what was out there. Well when we looked we saw our doctor standing there waiting for the elevator to open and she glanced over at us, and we must have been grinning because we were just having fun...but we were not doing anything on purpose to antagonize the doctor. Well to make a long story short she looked at us and saw us and then came storming back onto the unit and proceeded to the front desk to tell the nurses and other doctors that we were trying to intimidate her and scare her by staring at her. Can you imagine that? Pretty amazing right? I imagine she has some sort of paranoia disorder. Well we were reported but nothing else really happened because we really were not doing what she insisted we were doing and we defended our selves openly to the staff.

That's not exactly the same as trying to feel comfortable with a doctor when trying to talk to them and feeling them to be a bit to critical or condescending. However it is funny as hell to look back on this.

Thats a good one. I don't think any Pdocs would admit being diagnosed with a mental illness. It would ruin their superior image they have of themselves.

Sometimes people get into the medical profession for the wrong reasons. You just have to smile and nod sometimes. I work in the medical field and have worked with doctors for a long time. I can say that there are some good doctors, some bad doctors but most of them are just average.

I don't think that earning an MD, PhD or PsyD make you a good person or a good therapist. You have earned your degree but to earn my respect have to demonstrate that there is something that makes you better than the average doctor. If you go into the relationship thinking that it really sets the tone and keeps thing going in a good direction.

Every human being deserves a basic amount of respect but not everyone deserves admiration.

If I spent 4-8 years (depending on the degree; PsyD = ~5-6, Ph.D. ~6, M.D. & D.O. = 4) and > $50,000 going to graduate school and acquiring a doctorate (which only a very small percentage of the population has), I'd have a superiority complex too xD .

Swamp56 wrote:If I spent 4-8 years (depending on the degree; PsyD = ~5-6, Ph.D. ~6, M.D. & D.O. = 4) and > $50,000 going to graduate school and acquiring a doctorate (which only a very small percentage of the population has), I'd have a superiority complex too xD .

Maybe another way to look at it is, an advanced degree is like a form of brain damage. You've been beaten down, "initiated", into prescribed patterns of thought. Your brain has been cauterized. Certain avenues of thought have been closed off to you.

So you see yourself as superior because you're literally unable to perceive your own faults. That's part of the programming.

jeremystalked wrote:

Swamp56 wrote:If I spent 4-8 years (depending on the degree; PsyD = ~5-6, Ph.D. ~6, M.D. & D.O. = 4) and > $50,000 going to graduate school and acquiring a doctorate (which only a very small percentage of the population has), I'd have a superiority complex too xD .

Maybe another way to look at it is, an advanced degree is like a form of brain damage. You've been beaten down, "initiated", into prescribed patterns of thought. Your brain has been cauterized. Certain avenues of thought have been closed off to you.

So you see yourself as superior because you're literally unable to perceive your own faults. That's part of the programming.

You could make that case for anyone who has any form of education.

It's not a superiority thing...
It's they're job. You're they're job.
You trust them because you're paying them, otherwise you'd just talk to a friend.
Both my shrinks aren't so bad. One is,.... less human... and actually I like it that way.
All business, no #######4.

If you think your shrink is condescending, get a new shrink.
Humanistic shrinks would work best for someone like you.