Hi,
How are you today? I hope you are having a good day.
I’ve been reading the comments on these and other blogs, and I have seen the same type of comment over and over again. In this type of comment, a person will begin ranting about their psychiatrist, and end up saying that all psychiatrists are con artists and that no one should go to them for help.
There are so many ways I could address this.
To begin with, you cannot say that all ________ is ________ in any situation. You cannot say that all people with this color hair are this way or that way, or that all boys are this way and girls are that way. That sort of thing can never be true, because even if something is common there is still always the exception to the rule.
In this case, I am not even sure it is common.
I don’t know how many of you are aware of this, but becoming a psychiatrist is a long process that takes a lot of hard work. A person has to achieve a doctorates degree in medicine with a specialty in mental illnesses before they can be given the label “psychiatrist.” It isn’t just given to anybody.
The sorts of people that are con artists usually look for the easiest way possible to achieve their goals; that is why they became con artists. I don’t know about you, but I hardly think that the easiest way possible would be to go through and complete med school.
That being said, let’s assume I’m wrong. What sort of thing would a con artist do if they bothered to become a psychiatrist?
I would imagine that they would write “do not substitute” on all the prescriptions that they write, telling the pharmacists to give only name-brand medicines instead of generics. That could potentially benefit them, earning them points with the major drug companies. But I have never heard of a psychiatrist doing this, unless a patient was allergic to the generic or had some other problem with it.
Another thing a con artist might do is to over-charge for visits. Now, of course, each doctor comes up with their own fees per visit, but usually they are within a certain range. If you believe that your doctor is pricing his visits outrageously, then I would suggest calling around to check other people’s prices, and if you are right then change doctors. Most of the time that is not the case, though.
Another thing that a con artist might do is to put as little effort as is humanly possible into the work they are supposed to be doing. This might look like the doctor that asks you what medication you need to be taking, or that takes your suggestion as the final word without further questioning. There are certainly doctors that do this, unfortunately. If you have a doctor like this, then I would suggest changing doctors.
Another thing a con artist might do is to run up the credit card bill of the people who have used a card to pay them previously. I have yet to hear a news story of a psychiatrist doing so. But, if for some reason you suspect this to be the case, then I would suggest contacting your card company to debate the charges and to ask them for further advice on how to handle the situation.
Here’s another thing to consider: psychiatrists have to be licensed. One of the things that they have to do to obtain or keep their license is to remain in good moral standing. This means that if there were any serious complaints about them that could be looked into and proven true, that their license would be suspended or removed altogether. So the simple fact that a psychiatrist has been working for more than a year, is still in business, and has a license number that you can verify, means that the psychiatrist is probably not a con artist.
Now, there are certainly doctors that are not what they should be. I’m not even trying to suggest that all psychiatrists are good and perfect. Remember what I said about saying that all of anything is something? So even saying that all psychiatrists are good doctors would not be true.
I would certainly hope that most of them are, but without having visited all of them it’s hard to be sure.
I’ve heard of some psychiatrists who give out free samples and do their best to make sure that everything is covered by their patient’s insurance. That certainly doesn’t sound like a con artist. In fact, it sounds like an honest person trying to be helpful. Most psychiatrists are out to help you, not to hurt you, that’s why they went into the medical field to begin with.
Another thing to be considered is how much we need them. Most primary care doctors that I’ve heard of will not prescribe psychiatric medications. They generally want you to go to a psychiatrist for that. So if a person needs to be on psychiatric medications, then a psychiatrist is generally necessary.
Now what do you do if you end up with one of the doctors that is really bad after all? To begin with, I would suggest switching doctors.
If you believe that they have done something wrong that needs to be fixed, depending on what it is you may need to file a lawsuit. This may or may not always be possible, or even the best thing to do, but it is an option to consider.
Another thing you can do is to get their name and license number, and to call the agency that maintains their license and complain. You might even get their license suspended or revoked, in which case you would be doing the next person a favor.
But one thing I would always suggest is to try to work out the problem with the psychiatrist first. It would be a shame to get their license revoked over a misunderstanding or an accident. If the issue can be resolved by talking to them, then great.
One thing to do to make sure that you are dealing with a genuine issue is to make sure that the person with bipolar disorder takes in their supporters to make sure that everything is being understood correctly and that the person with bipolar disorder is not being irrational.
If the issue still cannot be resolved by talking to them, then it is probably time to switch doctors, and may be time to take further actions against them. Always try to use your better judgment, and to remember that psychiatrists are human too.
Not all psychiatrists are con artists, and if you happen to have found one that is, you have my sympathy. Does all of this make sense to you?
Well, I have to go!
Your Friend,
Dave
Post responses below
I been trying to email you and try to call you but my computer won’t let me email you back so will you call me at 931 XXX-XXXX. I even left a message on the vociemail I am wondering do you take money orders for the free cd packet
Hi David! I totally agree with your comments about
psychiatrists. In my personal experience with them, I have found then to be very helpful. However, I have also come across people who have the opposite opinion of that particular field of medicine. This justs goes to prove the age old saying: There are two sides to every story. Please keep E-mailing me your comments, as I find them interesting.
I have an excellent psychiatrist. He comes to my home because I cant go into town.he cuts my lawn, he cleans my house.He takes my pets to the vet, he looks after my pets when I go into town,he supports me also by phone and email, he let me sleep in his laundry when my husband kicked me out to sleep on the street.He loaned me money for necessities, What more can I say?I asked him if that was in his job description, He replied “EVERYTHING is in my job description”In no way has he ever touched me or abused me but does everything and anything he can to help.
I dont like most psychiatrists but this guy deserves an award!!!
I was not trying to say that they are just cons just tring to make a living by no means but well educated people whom would be able to assess a person properly and focus on there needs. By that I mean that they can pin point things and say more to a person than just mixed personallity disorder that could mean just about anything in the text book combined with something else.
I hope that it did not offend you but I am fustrated as no one is willing to take the time to help and I can’t do alot of things till this figured out for the safety of my wife and children.
Hope you have a good day
Chris
I took some time to read alittle information you had to share, now I ask you to go to my blog sight and see if you can learn alittle about me. Thank you for helping people with bipolar. Michelle
In all professions, some are ethical, some are not. I am in a long, many years divorce. I am bipolar and I am the stable one (truly am). However, for those who are not ethical and want to collect goods or money, pointing the finger at the one diagnosed as bipolar is easy.
I had one therapist sell me out for baseball tix (she told me one thing and then wrote another after receiving goods from my ex).(unfortunately after a doctors diagnosis others tend to follow suit). I had a psychiatrist who took advantage of me. So, I would say it is irrelevant how many years one has studied. If they are unethical, they are unethical, and perhaps incompetent. I wanted to switch doctors and probably made a mistake and told her so (perhaps she would receive a cll from the new one and i wanted to give her the heads up. that was a mistake. she had no idea what she was doing with drugs. I was out of it a lot,. How did i know what to say, or how could I? one is to trust your doctor. they are not all trustworthy. while i was on her drugs she tried to prevent me from moving on. she racheted up how much she wanted to charge me. from $45 copay thru the insurance up to $l75 or so. I told her that we should do the copay amount. she tried to blackmail me. I told her that i would not. Im sure i could take her to court, but i had bigger fish to fry. to cover her ass she wrote that i was abusive. I coud nt believe her. I moved to stanford and have had only fabulous treatment for almost 6 years. I do nt even need to see my psychiatrist very much, I am doing so well, and handling stress so well. Of course my previous record will still say what that awful psychiatrist wrote since i have not taken the time to refute it in court. the problem is that most will assume the doctor is correct, not the patient. this is very sad and puts the patient in a precarious position. do you refute it and appear aggressive? i suppose the best route is to write a report yourself and then wait for the 5 year mark when none of it matters (at least in court anymore). Still, nefarious creature abound. One must be very careful in choosing those who are to help us.
Hi,
Yes we do. I will have customer service get a hold of you today. Sorry for the
delay.
Dave
I had the most caring, intelligent, and perceptive psychiatrist in the world for eight years. Rather than merely 15-minute med checks every three months, we had weekly therapy sessions which really contributed to my success in career, school, and life. Unfortunately he retired and left the state a year ago. I found another one who came highly recommended, but he doesn’t do therapy (and frankly, now I’m glad). I see him once a month for 20 minutes for med checks. He seemed kind of curt the first few times we met, and I had a weird gut feeling of uneasiness, but I decided it was just because I had to get used to a new doctor. However, he never did warm up, and last week was the kicker. I got there 5 minutes late (called him from the car, and he told me to come on in to pick up my prescriptions), and I had 15 minutes left on my appointment when I arrived. When I went into his office, he never looked up, nor did he acknowledge my greeting. I repeated “good morning,” – he never even looked up, and the only words he uttered (in a rude tone) were “there’s your stuff,” pointing to some paper on the corner of his desk. He kept his back to me and didn’t say another word, and I realized he had dismissed me, despite the fact that I still had time coming. I feel his behavior was totally uncalled for, and I am now looking for another doctor. I certainly don’t need to be treated like that by the very person who is supposed to be helping me. I should have listened to my intuition the first day I met him instead of giving him the benefit of the doubt. Both my therapist and my PCP told me today that I should definitely find another Pdoc right away, and validated my feeling that his actions were totally uncalled for, rude, and out of line. He had no right to treat me like that, and even though I’m bipolar I’m lucid enough to see that.
Dave, I’m sure you’re right about psychiatrists on the whole,but for those of us who cannot afford their services, there are the mental health centers. Here there may not even be psychiatrists on the staff, but psychologists and social workers instead. The one in my community appears to get a lot of subsidies from drug companies, to judge from the clocks, pens, calendars and so forth all over the place, all with company names on them. I’m pretty sure the therapists are paid by the hour, but they actually spend only a few minutes with clients. Meds are prescribed by a nurse practitioner who seems to be limited in her selection to drugs produced by supporting companies. Complaints about adverse effects are met with defense of her decision rather than consideration of the validity of the complaint.
No doubt there are better centers elsewhere, but I just wanted you to be aware of this level of care. Thanks, Russ
I would agree with you if I hadn’t seen first-hand some really bad psychiatrists.
While living in Kentucky I was diagnosed, after many years (from age 18 to 36), I finally put myself in an inpatient facility to finally find out I had Bipolar Disorder with Psychosis. I was prescribed medication and had a really good Psychiatrist who specialized in Bipolar Disorder in children and adults.
For personal reasons, we moved to Vermont. Everything changed. First: I and two of my daughters, who were also diagnosed as Bipolar, were dropped from Psychiatric care because the Psychiatrist said “I’m sick of people trying to take advantage of the system by claiming to be Bipolar.
All we wanted was to get treatment, and the treatment we got was a dismissal. Apparently, according to Vermont, Bipolar is curable.
My primary care doctor prescribes my medication because the psychiatrist refused to. But all I can get is Wellbuterin to help me focus and Ativan or Valium for anxiety.
So, it really doesn’t matter how much training they get, each psychiatrist has an opinion on the matter, and unfortunately their opinions are causing more harm to a society of people who desperately need help. And believe me, where I live…..there is a lot of help needed.
Thanks for reading this. I am tired of trying anymore.
Lola in Northern Vermont