Claradoon wrote:
Tell me about psychiatry. Has it improved?
As far as I know, the operating theory of psychiatry is
that the (bad) personality must be completely destroyed
in order to build up a (good) one.
The psychiatrist must have absolute authority and
the patient must be submissive and accepting of
Dx and pills.
Because psychiatrists use the DSM, they must fit a
patient into one of the pigeon-holes, and prescribe
accordingly.
Are they still like that? I would like to get care but not under a psychiatrist.
I can't comment about the OP's question because I don't know about psych. hospitals, but I'll answer for Claradoon. I had a psychiatrist for C-PTSD as well a psychologist. The psychiatrist was a woman who was intent on prescribing medication and refused to reassess me with anything other than C-PTSD even after nine years of treatment. When I asked if I could be assessed for autism she said "No, you don't have Autism. You're too articulate". (???! !!) Apparently people on the spectrum can't have a wide vocabulary despite having no social skills or eye contact. She also told me that autism is almost unheard of in women.
If I took my medication and asked for repeats she said I might get dependent, and that I shouldn't want medication. However, if I didn't take my medication or I requested that a dosage be lowered / discontinued / changed, she said I was refusing treatment and challenging her judgment. It was a lose-lose situation.
I got my ASD assessment done privately from a very reputable doctor who specialises in female ASD. She sent my psychiatrist a 20 page report with all the test results and my diagnosis. When I next saw my psychiatrist she said she never received / read the report, and she insisted again that all my issues are from C-PTSD, not autism, because I have a wide vocabulary and I went to University. My trauma didn't start until I was 34 years old but she believed it explained my entire childhood, retroactively.
After nine years I was terrified to see her because I always went home crying, feeling like I'd said the wrong thing. I was never so excited in my life as when I was finally allowed to discontinue treatment.
Sorry for derailing the thread, OP. That's just my answer for Claradoon.
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Beatles