incompetent "professionals"

not sure if this belongs in the anti-psych forum or not, so if not, please excuse the mis-post.

anyway, i've been seeing a psychiatrist for the past few weeks or so and the dude should have retired decades ago.

he's literally in his 80's (or 70's) and the guy thinks he's a psychologist. he's running a racket and it's sad. the sessions are 60 minutes long (45 minutes too long in my book) and he talks about his past like some old grandpa suffering from dementia for about 95% of the session. his secretary, who is his friend and just as old as him, does all his paperwork. he never knows how much medication to give or even what he should be giving me. he asked me what he thought my diagnosis should be and when i told him i've been diagnosed with PTSD and major depression by my last psychiatrist (i've moved), he tells me he'll put down that i suffer just from anxiety. this is after he hasn't even heard my story or the things i've been through. he also is deaf so i'm shouting all of the time as i'm crying. and since he can't hear me or comprehend things well, he'll ask me the same question 2 minutes later. then he'll go off on a tangent about how he was in the service and how he raised a raccoon and other looney things.

the reason i'm so angry now is because i've been living with this PTSD and major depression for so long (over 8 years now) and i've finally given up and am trying to get disability. this nut is letting his secretary make the decision and sent back the paperwork to the state and totally is screwing me over b/c the woman has some sort of personal vendetta against me or something. she lied to me saying that she never received the paperwork to be filled out, and implied that i'm just "unhappy" and "lazy" and that her job is very stressful and she "puts up with it" so, i guess, why shouldn't i since i'm younger than her. i call the state after my appointment to see if they really did receive the paperwork or not and found out that the secretary was lying and she (under the guise of the doctor) sent it back saying that they couldn't make a decision regarding my disability.

i swear to god i'm sick of everybody. people just suck. i should have pulled the trigger back in 2006 when i had the chance. the ONE person i was counting on to be my advocate and he's incompetent and just stealing insurance money and using patients as his own therapy session, reliving his golden years. and then some old coot secretary is being passive-aggressive and telling me in so few words that i should just suck it up and depression, in her mind, equals just being "unhappy."

omfg. i'm tried of waiting for things to get better. they never do. i don't know why people think i like sitting around in my nightgown all day, crying, cutting myself, and dreaming of how i will kill myself over and over again because i find no joy in life and people just make me sick.

ftw.

The secratary in a psych office is often a bitch cause the psych drugs she takes for free ruined her sex drive.

Mabey use that anger and fight back energy to 'cure' yourself ?

"It is what it is" the battle cry of failure and hopelessness everywhere. I hate that saying.

Copy_Cat wrote:The secratary in a psych office is often a bitch cause the psych drugs she takes for free ruined her sex drive.

Get a new psychiatrist. It's obvious this one is incompetent. I'm sorry that they just sent back your disability paperwork. You can always get your records for yourself from the psychiatrist and send them in. They are required to release their records to you. You may have to pay a small fee for the paperwork involved (something like .25 a page after the first 25 pages is what I had to pay)

Cheze2 wrote:Get a new psychiatrist. It's obvious this one is incompetent. I'm sorry that they just sent back your disability paperwork. You can always get your records for yourself from the psychiatrist and send them in. They are required to release their records to you. You may have to pay a small fee for the paperwork involved (something like .25 a page after the first 25 pages is what I had to pay)

thanks. it sounds like, however, that the man doing my case wants them to send in the records (i guess they're afraid people are going to forge/tamper with the paperwork). it's really a shame. i've been suffering with PTSD and major depression for so long now. i've really tried so hard to make things work and function like a "normal" person. in the past 8 years i've had over 10 different jobs due to my condition. my life is miserable, yet there are people who are immediately "jealous" (oddly enough) that i'm trying to get disability and think i'm just trying to have it made in the shade or something... like i'm going to get thousands of dollars of month and buy mansions and sports cars with it or something. most of these people would have killed themselves long ago if they had to live my life, yet they constantly compare theirs to mine and think i'm lying or it's not as bad as what they go through-- yet they have no clue as to what i've been through and how each day is torture for me. and now i have to deal with a psychiatrist and his "sidekick" who are incredibly incompetent and ruining my chances for survival because they are screwed up themselves?

i wouldn't wish what i go through every day on my worst enemy. to want to die every day and finding no joy in things but desperately scrambling to do so is a horrible way to live-- no wait, a horrible way to "exist" is more like it. sadly, the potential money and health care benefits still will not make me happy, but only afford me to keep my head above water, yet people judge me and think i should not be entitled to it, even though i know of so many stories of people who lie and make up illnesses and get it and go spend the money on drugs or at the casinos or what have you. it's just ridiculous.

i'm trying to hold out and stay strong, but this was my last shred of hope. i refuse to keep getting job after job only to quit because i'm having a mental breakdown. i have 2 master degrees from fine universities, yet i can't seem to function at any job i get, and have been working below my capacity because i can't function. do people think i just want to "pretend" not to be able to work? do they really think i'm just "lazy" and am "faking it?" it disgusts me how cruel this world is.

my claim will probably get rejected the first time and i will have to hire a lawyer for the 2nd try. but at this point, i don't want to fight for it anymore. i fight each day to make a choice just to stay alive. i don't even want to be here. yet i'm looking for some hope and help and am being given such a hard time from the doctors who have to send back paperwork in because they are afraid they are going to get in trouble with the federal government or something... lol. i'm asking for MY records, yet nearly every single one of them is running around trying to avoid doing their job. i just don't get it.

if this doesn't work out, i'm just done with it all. i'll take my chances with what lies beyond this world, because obviously i'm too broken for this already broken world.

Hey torgo,

I am sorry you are experiencing the lovely side of bureaucracy while trying to work on your disability application. As other posters have mentioned, I believe you are at a point when you need to find another psychiatrist, not only to help you with your paperwork but to also help you with your issues. I believe you would benefit from psychotherapy a lot.

But there is something else I wanted to share with you ... I don’t know if you have ever heard of Dr. Viktor Frankl. He was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived a Holocaust. Since he was Jewish all members of his family (including his wife) were killed by Nazis. Inspired by that whole experience and resilience he built from it, after the WW2 he devoted his life to trying to help people find the meaning of/in life despite sometimes horrible circumstances and feelings that they may face. He even developed one form of therapy that was based on a belief that the desire to find a meaning in life is every person’s primary goal in life – even before recognized. His famous book – Man’s Search for Meaning- can be downloaded for free, even if you just google it.

I am posting one short video of his presentation in Toronto. I ‘ve seen it so many times and it never fails to truly inspire me. Dr. Vik was really unique and had the energy that is therapeutic even from a distance.

(Don’t I remind you now of your crazy psyc- drifting off topic, LOL?)

I wish you all the best!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD1512_XJEw

santorini wrote:Hey torgo,

I am sorry you are experiencing the lovely side of bureaucracy while trying to work on your disability application. As other posters have mentioned, I believe you are at a point when you need to find another psychiatrist, not only to help you with your paperwork but to also help you with your issues. I believe you would benefit from psychotherapy a lot.

But there is something else I wanted to share with you ... I don’t know if you have ever heard of Dr. Viktor Frankl. He was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived a Holocaust. Since he was Jewish all members of his family (including his wife) were killed by Nazis. Inspired by that whole experience and resilience he built from it, after the WW2 he devoted his life to trying to help people find the meaning of/in life despite sometimes horrible circumstances and feelings that they may face. He even developed one form of therapy that was based on a belief that the desire to find a meaning in life is every person’s primary goal in life – even before recognized. His famous book – Man’s Search for Meaning- can be downloaded for free, even if you just google it.

I am posting one short video of his presentation in Toronto. I ‘ve seen it so many times and it never fails to truly inspire me. Dr. Vik was really unique and had the energy that is therapeutic even from a distance.

(Don’t I remind you now of your crazy psyc- drifting off topic, LOL?)

I wish you all the best!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD1512_XJEw

thanks for the kind words and advice, santorini. yes, i've heard of frankl. not a fan of his simply because i feel his optimism is born from a desperate attempt to find meaning in life. it feels forced to me. i dunno. my previous therapist tried to recommend his books to me in a very accusatory way, as if to say that, "you think you have it bad?..."

anyway, i don't think i'm ever going to benefit from psychotherapy. most people in that profession are sicker than the patients, that's why they were attracted to it to begin with (i.e. one of my masters is in that! actually, that is a whole other story in and of itself, but too much of a pain to explain right now.). you don't even know how many psychologists/counselors i've been through trying to find competent ones. it's really distressing.

i really wish i could find joy in life and find a reason to want to stay here. i'm tired of struggling with this idea every day and "giving it one more chance." today my b/f was going to be away for a few hours and i figured this past week, "saturday is the day!" but then i look at the clock and go, "no, he'd find me in time. i need more time. maybe monday."

it's exhausting living like this. the world is just a very ugly, broken place. the difference between me and frankl is that frankl had a vision of his fellow people being on "his side"... a bond was formed and he felt love for them as well as his captors. he saw the beauty in people. you see, it's not like that. at least anymore. people today are different. they're just not the same from generations ago. there's so much corruption and evil nowadays, that sometimes you can't even tell who is the captor.

i know the whole 2012 end of days thing is a bunch of hooey, but i can't help but think how lovely it would be if it were true. just think of all the innocent animals, vegetation, and other lovely sentient beings that would be able to repair themselves and live free again if the human race-- the ones that have ruined their existence-- was wiped out.

OMFG... now my old PCP won't send in my records unless i come in and make an appointment to see him.

IS THAT EVEN LEGAL????

He may request that he go over the records with you, but he still has to show them to you in one form or another. At least that is how it is in the state of MA. I would check the requirements in your state. If you have any questions you can always contact disability rights.

I dunno, I would rather have a senile old coot treating me than a power hungry sadist trying to shove lithium down my throat and thretening to have me locked up.
But I understand the frustration. If you are forced to see this doctor maybe you could use a friends address accross town and get assigned to a new one. Almost everyone gets rejected for dissability the first time. I knew this guy who lost both legs in a car crash. They denied him the first time also.

Its important to take care of yourself too, eat good, nutritious food and avoid outside stresses if you at all can. It does help and you need your strength.