How to snuff out a good psychiatrist from a bad one?

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Because I'll ask them and I'll get a mealy-mouthed response.

You don't know that. Also, if you get a bad response, then isn't that just as good a test of their professionalism than asking 'do you like the BNP?'

I'm not interested if they like them. I don't care either way. I just want to know if they would ban the BNP entirely from the political process - i.e. is it OK to disagree with her?

(My point being: is dissent allowed? What if I disagree with you - are you just going to see me as mentally disordered for doing so? Accusations of mental illness are very common in political debate. A psychiatrist abusing the term to people with different opinions is disgraceful.)

I have made different experiences in Germany. The psychiatrist I went to there also attempted to chang the way I thought and had deep conversations with me. But also offered me pills to get through life easier (more easily? not sure about the grammar here).

I do agree with the job interview suggestion. This is how the psychiatrist I went to framed it as well.

Last edited by LostInEmulation on 24 Apr 2011, 8:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

But if it turns out she is BNP, then won't you two just be agreeing with each other?



No, I get your point. I just think you're going around a very convoluted pathway to get your answer. What say, rather than wasting your first hour with her trying to get her to sit this test, you let her do your job and see what your gut feeling is by the end of the session? Either way, you'll have paid for the session and they can't force you to go back if you dislike him or her. But remember you're also paying them to treat you so you may as well let them do their job from the start.

Last edited by Lene on 24 Apr 2011, 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

Erm, the session isn't paid-for. In the UK, most people have psychiatry on the NHS. Which worries me a bit for a start-off - the public face of the NHS isn't especially liberal or tolerant at the best of times (to put it mildly; the NHS is extremely bureaucratic, though there are many lovely people that work in it but also a lot of psychos too) and mental healthcare is often extremely poor. Even people with very serious mental health issues aren't looked after properly, and there is a lot of covert discrimination going on.

Add to that a siege mentality on my part and...

Best thing to do is to talk to other service users about the psychiatrist. Thank god I did cos I have one who was I right git, he found info about me which he shouldn't of via a family friend (former friend now cos of that) who worked for him plus I hear bad stories about him with other clients. In the end I changed psychiatrist. About five years I read in the newspaper that one of clients kidnapped him & I found out from my new psychiatrist that he stop working in my city

I bet you were thinking "Couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke" when you read that, weren't you?

Well, you may as well give it a go anyway. You still have limited time per session with them and they will have a long list of questions they will need to get through before they can start therapy.

As I said, if it doesn't work out, you can ask for a different psychiatrist. But rejecting everyone off the bat because they think the BNP should be banned seems a little silly. They may have reasons for their beliefs that are not just purely because they object to dissent, and you can't really take one person's opinion on one subject and use it to generalise their attitude to other aspects of their life.

I will. As well as that, I don't know if it's 'safe' to open up given the state of the NHS medical records system although the NHS central database idea was mercifully scrapped.

I wouldn't want local politicians or people where I live finding out that I want to cook and eat babies and serve them with applesauce (or something equally ridiculous), for instance. I live in a small town and there is a lot of gossip, particularly amongst the medical profession. There's a woman who works in the NHS locally who glares at me every time I see her, presumably because I made a criticism of the NHS system in a private doctor's appointment. Which gives the lie to privacy.

Last edited by Tequila on 24 Apr 2011, 8:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

Too dam bloody right . oh while I think on if your uncomfortable with a female psychiatrist, you have every right to ask for a male one mate

I'm not uncomfortable with it - I'm uncomfortable with the often-aggressive nature of doctors. At times it seems more like an interrogation than a friendly chat. Which just makes me freeze up.

The problem is that, a lot of the time, the sort of people that want the BNP banned are also intolerant in other areas of thinking too.

Actually, that is a fair enough point. But outside of the NHS, legally, they are not allowed share information unless they think you are a danger to yourself or others orif you actually have said something along the lines of 'I plan to kill Mrs X'.



Ugh small towns, lived there. Never again. I won't lie, medical staff do gossip. I don't like it- I think it's ridiculously unprofessional to chat about patients with the secretary during a teabreak but I've seen it happen on work experience.

Can you afford to go private? It may be your best option. But that said, if the psychiatrist is out of town, then maybe it won't be too bad?



True, but I think if you ask a direct question, you will still get a vague reply (all part of the training). It's easy to say anything, but I think you would be better off seeing how they act in general. Also, don't give everything away in the first meeting if you're are uncomfortable. There is nothing wrong with saying 'I don't feel I know you well enough to say that, sorry' and they should let it drop (if they don't, that's your warning sign)

If it one then its ok, then its two meeting up with you at that same time then start to worry. As they need two to sign off a section.

Last edited by cdfox7 on 24 Apr 2011, 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

It's 'out of town' but local if that makes sense. It'll be in Preston which is a small city about 15 minutes drive away.

Medical privacy laws are fairly weak here and the people who break privacy regulations never get severely punished for it. There's a big expectation of privacy by the patient but that isn't matched by reality.

It's not as bad as it could be but there is not the strong ethic of privacy. It's still there, of course, but is significantly weaker due to the increasingly anti-privacy nature of the country. Like I said, there are some fantastic people in the NHS. There are a lot of incompetent people too though.

I've stopped seeing one particular local doctor as she was useless and was more interested in my sexuality than in dealing with my complaint. So I stopped seeing her and chose another one instead. She's OK but I don't want to discuss personal issues with her because my family knows her well. So it's fine for regular things but anything else I would be very wary.

Last edited by Tequila on 24 Apr 2011, 8:38 am, edited 2 times in total.