=>PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND LOVED ONES <=
Hi,
How’s it going?
What’s new?
Hey, good news for me. Yesterday I think that
I randomly found a person who can help me with
a lot of my operations. Things are starting to
grow so fast in so many different
areas it’s really, really hard to keep up.
Actually this is a good lesson. When you
have a problem, and if you ask everyone and
anyone for help, you’ll find the solution.
This is what I did with bipolar disorder back
in the day and this is what I did with my problem
of handing operations AND using these new technological
things that we bought but never use.
I am actually bringing on two more people to
help.
People ask, how can I afford to hire all
these people? It’s not easy at all. Some think
that I am making millions but others know the
truth when they look at my expenses. I am NOT
making millions. But I firmly believe this
is a tremendous good cause and I really enjoy
working in this field so to speak.
NOTE-I am NOT a doctor, lawyer, insurance
agent, or other kind of professional. I am
NOT offering medical, legal or professional
advice.
Anyway, the good news is I finally believe
I have the people in place to help me with
a bunch of technology to speed up the
distribution of new f.ree information that
involves audio and video.
I have wanted to do this for, well forever
but I didn’t know how to do it. Everyone who
currently works for me is way behind in
what they are doing so I couldn’t ask
them. I found some new people who will
be able to help.
I wanted to talk about some signs of a bad
doctor.
I did an interview the other day with a psychiatric
nurse and she said she was amazed how many people
she knew that had bad doctors but stayed with them
for years and years and years. My mom
had a bad doctor and did the same.
I think it’s because people either don’t believe
there are other choices or they don’t know what
a bad doctor is. It’s kind of like a person in
a bad marriage that doesn’t even know it’s
a bad marriage. Ever meet someone like that?
They make excuses that their husband is never
home, drinks all the time and hits them “occasional.”
OR a wife that is totally abusive, controlling
and hits the husband. He says, “well she is
just overly excited a lot.” Know what I mean?
Anyway, if you need help finding a doctor or
therapist and want to sort through a ton of
them you can use the f.ree bonus in my courses/
systems below:
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11
SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net
Now if that’s not your situation, let’s
talk about the signs of a bad doctor.
For the person with bipolar disorder some
of the signs are:
BIG SIGN #1:
The doctor doesn’t listen to you
This happens a lot I hear. You have problems
and you tell the doctor and he/she doesn’t
even listen.
#2:
The doctor doesn’t take notes or remember
what’s going on from visit to visit. Now
we can’t expect a doctor to remember every
single thing you have ever told them over
a super long period of time. But if you
find your doctor forgets lots of stuff they
shouldn’t, that’s a bad sign.
#3:
The doctor is never around for emergencies. Again,
if you call the doctor 5 days a week every month
with an emergency then well they probably won’t
be around. Why? Well because you are kind of abusing
the system so to speak. I know people will get
mad that I said that but doctor’s have lives as well.
Anyway, I am not here to debate that. What I am saying
is, if you call over several months a few times
for an emergency and the doctor doesn’t get back
to you fast or someone in his/her office and this
happens repeatedly, that’s a bad sign.
#4:
The doctor has massive turn over with their
receptionist. This is a huge problem. I know doctors
reading this will think:
“Wow, I was with him until he said this, why he
is saying this? He is out of his mind. He has no
clue what he is talking about. What’s with this guy
anyway?”
Anyway, here’s the deal. Massive receptionist turnover
is a BAD SIGN. This means one or more of the following:
the doctor isn’t paying enough causing turnover
the doctor is way to hard to work with causing turnover
the doctor doesn’t have a good system to hire a receptionist
and keeps on getting the wrong person over and over
If you see like 3 to 4 receptionists in like 6 months
and there isn’t a really good reason like well so and
so left because they had a bad, so and so left because
well her husband moved and she went with him, he randomly
got a great new big promotion, and so and so left because
she had to devote all her time to taking care of her child
that now was diagnosed with Cancer.
Something like that. If you doctors receptionists vanish
and this happens a lot, ask what happen to them. It’s a negative
if you get the run around and don’t get a straight answer. Know
what I mean?
One last thing, one more receptionists that one has, the
more chances stuff gets lost. What kind of stuff you might
be wondering? Well your files and also releases.
W A R N I N G ! ! !
In my courses/systems I tell people to call every
three months to make sure the doctor still has
the medical releases you have signed. Make sure
you do that. I bet 99% of people do not do that.
I do it all the time. Guess who you are talking
to? The receptionist.
With my mom’s new good doctor, she had two receptionists.
Between the first and the second, the releases my mom
signed were lost and I went from having the ability
to talk to her to not having the ability to talk
to her (the doctor). One of the receptionists lost
the paperwork.
I learned the hard way. Call and make sure yours
are in place.
#4
Your doctor is in a really bad part of town where you feel
your life is at risk when you visit. This is a bad sign
because this means the doctor isn’t thinking or could
have money problems. Don’t laugh but I have heard this
so many times it’s amazing.
#5
Your doctor appears to have little to no knowledge
of bipolar disorder. You ask questions about stuff
in the news about bipolar disorder. They say, “huh?
What’s that? Who’s that? What do you mean?”
These are all bad signs. Make sure you have a
great doctor who specializes in bipolar disorder
and illnesses like it. Meaning in some cases, people
can be misdiagnosed so if you have a doctor who
specializes in bipolar disorder and depression
he/she is a little more well rounded. But you don’t
want them where they are like an expert in 17
different areas. Why? You can’t keep up.
I know what I am talking about because I focus
on bipolar disorder AND borderline personality
disorder. That’s my two focuses. I know about
schizophrenia but don’t put in the time like
I do with bipolar disorder.
I only have one person I think with schizophrenia
that works for me as well. Maybe not? I actually
forget.
#6
The doctor sees you for minutes or seconds and
offers assembly like fraudulent chiropractic
type care.
What do I mean? Well if you go to the doctor
and he/she is like “hey how’s it going? How
are you feeling? Great okay see you next
time” and only a few minutes go by,
that’s bad.
That’s like what bogus chiropractors
do. They bring you in, spend minutes cracking
your back and then put you out the door and
say, see you in 2 days. It’s like a scam.
How do I know? Well I have friends in
chiropractic that do NOT do this but they
tell me all the time this is common. This is
unfortunately common in mental health as well.
Now 15 and 20 minutes is all you will get.
My mom gets I think 30 minutes but my mom
pays more. My mom’s current doctor charges
her the most any doctor has ever charged her.
BUT she does a darn good job. Even my dad
who is famous for buying everything and
anything on price alone agrees she is well
worth it. He and I learned the hard way.
Anyway, you are better off paying more
to find a doctor who spends at least 15 minutes
each visit.
Now there are some ways to turn the 15 minutes into
24 minutes or 28 minutes :). I reveal that in
my courses/systems.
Actually I hope when I say it’s in my courses/systems
you don’t think that I am just trying to sell
you. The thing is, there is a ton to learn and
I can only put so much in emails, podcasts, etc.
I try to give as much as I can but some you
have to get by making an investment. I hope
you understand.
These emails take at least 1 hour to formulate,
write and distribute.
Okay so back to the signs, the last sign
is
#7
The doctor doesn’t believe in anything other
than bipolar medications. He/she doesn’t think
that therapy, diet, exercise, stress reduction,
sleeping well and on time has any impact on
bipolar disorder. Medication is critical. NO
QUESTION ABOUT IT. But there are other things
that can aid and help.
#8
The doctor doesn’t believe in bipolar disorder
or labeling people. This might sound crazy but
there are doctors like this. These doctors
generally give the wrong treatment plans
and put people on the road to a disaster.
NOTE
Again, I am not a doctor and nothing I am
saying should be used to diagnose, treat
or prevent and disorder or illness.
Seriously, please don’t think that I am a doctor.
Hey, tomorrow I am going to talk about
how to turn a great doctor into a really
bad one fast. Lots of people do this and then
get all mad at the doctor when it’s their own
fault.
Okay I have to run.
I have to do three interviews
today, go the library, talk to one consulting client,
review a new computer software program, interview
two new potential people, look over 4 new almost
completed projects, write 4 articles, look at this
murder case of someone with bipolar disorder,
review a new podcast I am going
to be releasing, and then record some audio.
Catch you tomorrow.
Your Friend,
Dave
P.S. Want your own copy of these daily bipolar
emails sent to you for F.ree? If so, visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/register3
P.P.S. Don’t forget to take a look through the
different programs I’ve put together… each one is designed
to help you with a different area of bipolar disorder whether
you have it or you are supporting someone with it.
You can see them all and get the details by visiting:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp
P.P.P.S. Check out my F.ree blog with copies of emails
that I have sent in the past and lots of great
information for you:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/supporterblog/
P.P.P.P.S Check out my F.ree podcast. Hear me give
mini seminars designed to teach you information
you can’t learn anywhere else.
http://bipolarcentral.libsyn.com
Hi David. The doctor who originally diagnosed me with Bipolar disorder was a prime example of a bad doctor. He released me from the hospital based on my own opinion as to whether I was stable enough to go home and sent me home with a prescription for Depakote and Risperadal after diagnosing me with bp and ptsd (which I don’t have). I’m not in denial, I simply have NONE of the symptoms of ptsd. At any rate, when I visited him at his office, he asked me if I thought the dosage was correct, did not ask me any other questions other than “how are you doing” , did not tell me I needed to see a therapist as well, and charged me twice as much as the doctor I see now, who tells me of the lifestyle changes needed, therapy needed, asks about my symptoms, and corrects my dosages only after asking questions and determining a need for it. He sees me within two weeks of changing them as well and tells me what side effects to watch for, which is another thing that my old doctor didn’t do. I had no idea when I started taking Depakote that I would need even the basic blood tests. In retrospect, I would tell everyone to read your material before selecting a doctor. I’m oh so blessed to be doing as well as I have been, and had it not been for a tip off from someone familiar with my old doctor, I would probably still be oblivious to the type of care I was actually needing to have as opposed to the type of care I was getting.
Hi David:
My niece has been diagnosed with bipolar and PTSD. I have also been diagnosed with Bipolar II and PTSD along with Fibromyalgia and 4 herniated disks and 2 anular tears in my lumbar spine. But I have found the right doctors, thank God. This question has to deal with my neice. She has been put on 2 different medications. One of which is lithium and they had her go up to 900 mgs of this crap (as far as I am concerned). She was shaking so badly that she could hardly stand, couldn’t sleep, and couldnt even hold a glass of tea. Her father (my brother) called her pharmacists (as she goes to this place where you don’t have to pay if you don’t work) and the pharmacists told my brother that my neice could being having a toxic reaction due to the lithium level she was taking and told him to have her drop it to 600 mgs. which was a week ago. Then she had to get her lithium level checked and it came back that her lithium level was fine. Then her councelor called her (who is also bipolar) and told her she needed to go back up on the lithium to 900 mgs. so she was going to talk to her councelor today to see if she could stay on 600 mgs of lithium for a couple of months and then take another blood test to see what happens as she is afraid, as am I that 900 mgs of lithium is too much and toxic to her.
So, what do you think? I know you are not a doctor, I’m just asking your oppoinion on this matter.
Thanks alot for all that you do to help people with bipolar and to help them understand. Your a great man.
Tammy
I only had ONE bad psychiatrist – and he almost KILLED me. Of course, it was in a University Psych ward and he was one of many up there, but – he believed that the more medications he rammed down my throat – the better.
Because of his changing and adding to the meds I was already on, I had no appetite, and went down to 78 lbs (5’9″). He sent me to the State Mental Hospital to DIE.
Fortunately, there was a Filipino doctor there that diagnosed me, not with anorexia, but pernicious anemia. Now, any psychiatrist is FIRST a medical doctor. The shrink mentioned above didn’t do tests or ask my MEDICAL history – he just treated me like a “mental patient.”
It WAS a physical illness that brought me so low, along with the wrong meds. As soon as the doctor put me on Vitamin B-12 shots, megavitamins, and double food in the cafeteria, I left four months later weighing 100 lbs!!
I have had nothing but GOOD psychiatrists since, thanks to the Community Mental Health Center here. They ALL know my medical AND psychiatric history, and if I have an emergency, I call their hotline, and am put through immediately to someone who can help.
As David says – finding the right doctor for YOU is the MOST important thing you can do for proper treatment.
Excellent, Excellent, Excellent!!! Keep up the good work, this is great advice. I am one of those lucky people who picked a great Doctor the first time, but it is definately something to keep in mind!!!
Dave,
You have such an exciting life!
My husband’s psychiatrist spends an hour with him each visit. He’s very good. But he’s never heard of you, Dave. I’m wondering if that’s a bad sign. 😉
You recommend a doctor AND a therapist. My husband doesn’t have a therapist. But his hour-long visits with the psychiatrist are like a therapy session, don’t you think?
I have been diagnosed with bipolar and borderline personality disorder. I use to see a doctor that would only spend 5 mins. with me. It didn’t matter what was wrong and he never tried to change my medicine when there was something wrong. I would tell him I wanted to die or just kill myself but he never listened. Instead I tried to do myself in 4-5 times. But now I have a med nurse that really cares about me. She at least spends 30 mins with me sometimes even 45-60 mins. My insurance will not pay for a doctor(medicare) but they will a med nurse. Whenever there is something that is wrong she will always make a change and have me back in her office within 2 weeks. I have even had her call me because I haven’t made an appointment with her. She is great and I haven’t been better.
OMG reading the nightmare stories makes me so grateful I have always been blessed with wonderful doctors. I ave NEVER experienced this at all! I only had one doc who I saw only once and when he asked me if Icould be pregnant and I told him the truth, he said he couldn’t work with me if I wans’t going to be honest! Turns out I was pregnant with my little one and Thank God I refused to go on the drug he wated to put me on. Sice then, I have always been blessed with wonderful dr’s who answer emergency calls and who are truly concerned for me and my family. I couldn’t imagine a Doctor who could be anything different. As I said, I am blessed.
Yes, it was lithium I remember the dr. wanted to put me on and I said NO! I had seen way too many people in the hospital on lithium and too many had really bad episodes. I guess I was being protected by some wonderful angel since I was pregnant that day. Oh yeah, When I went into the appt. with this new doc, he asked me if I could possibly be pregnant, I told him only if it had happened in the past 8 hours – Hmmmmm, yeah someone was looking out for me.
Chefddr – thanks for your story about Lithium. I must tell you, you do have an angel with you and always will. I’m so glad you didn’t take the lithium. My neice on the other hand, her lithium levels were out of wack, and now are stabilized and now they want her back on 900 mgs. She said she would try it but if she started have the same thing happen again, she would drop it back down to 600 mgs whether they liked it or not and didn’t care what they thought as she is not going to die because of them putting her on too much. I really feel for her and pray for her night and day and ask that the lord protects her and that her guardian angel looks after her, just as yours did you.
Since healthcare is free of charge here in England (UK) one doesn’t get much choice of a doctor (good or bad) With specialist doctors or prsychiatrists operating in the mental health service in the UK, you only have the option of a second opinion if you don’t think much of the doctor or the treatment.
Believe me, you really have to fight to get therapy (such as CBT) or really effective medication. I’ve been fighting to get proper treatment for my bipolar wife for years and thank goodness she’s now stable and reasonably happy. But Heaven help those who simply don’t have anyone to fight their corner. They need all the help they can get. I’m the Secretary of a local Rethink support Group for carers here in Fareham (near Portsmouth on the South Coast) and we hear so many tales of woe…
Keep up the good work, David.