Have you ever had a really sh***y psychologist?

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The first time i went to see my psychologist, it felt like everything he was saying was nothing more then preplanned sentences that he probably uses on everybody else. At that time, he assumed ADD, possibly ADHD. When i got in there, he sat there for about 5 minutes, not saying anything, drinking his 1.5L mug of coffee, eating his "Healthy" chocolate bar, and wheesing like a room full of chronic smokers getting back from a jog.

The 2nd i went to see him, i told him that i wasn't so sure it was ADD or ADHD anymore, i had just heard of aspergers and it seemed like i fit that category even more. He didn't listen to what i said and he prescribed me some more ADD/ADHD medicine. He asked me when would be good for another appointment and i told him not to bother cause i most likely wasn't gonna be in this town any longer, im sick of it and im leaving. All of this took about 10minutes max then he got up to boot me out, even though i had waited about an hour to get in the apointment.

Well today i woke up, got on the laptop, did a few things, then i got a call on my cell from a lady reminding me i got an appointment. "No i didn't know i had an appointment today.....Sure ill go in". So i got there about 1:45 early, didn't have all that much to do. I sat there and drew for about an hour, appointment was at 4:30, he got me in at 3:45. The apointment in short was quite simple, I told him i don't think it was ADD/ADHD but aspergers, he moved to paraphrase everything i told him, then told me a few simple things that i have read online, very basic information, then about 10minutes later, got up to boot me out. No tests or questions or nothing, just "ok, now get the hell out". I got in at 3:45, my appointment was supposed to be at 4:30, i was out before 4.

I knew in advance that the appointment was gonna be nothing more then that from my previous experiences. I just find it kinda pathetic as to how this psychologists works. He sits there on his fat ass (he was huge btw), and doesn't really listen to anything, and trys to move s**t as fast as he could. How is he supposed to help people this way? How can he help people without listening to anything they have to say?



Anybody else have any similar experiences? Anybody have any experiences which psychs who actually seem to care?

Bah....I have limited experience with psyhciatrists...and it has all been bad.

The first one barely spoke to me, gave me a diagnosis of "Double depression" and sent me on my way with a prozac script....

The next one was the cold condescending doctor at an adult ADD clinic...fooey....I just don't feel like going into it right now....

Sometimes I wonder if they were the same doctor, only years apart.

I was diagnosed with ADD by a general practicioner.

Oh, god yes. I was sent to a psychiatrist starting when I was nine. In the six years I saw her, I was given diagnoses of ADD, ADHD, OCD, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and biploar disorder, and put on at least twice as many pills as diagnoses, with up to five at a time. She didn't really care about the side effects - in fact, she knew I was having mini-seizures as a result of one of the medications, and didn't bother to take me off of it until I actually collapsed and had to go to the hospital.

She was the reason I never got officially diagnosed as being on the spectrum - my mom suggested it, but the psychiatrist didn't diagnose me, mostly because there were no drugs to offer for it.

At some point, my father got angry about how she was operating - telling secrets about patients to other patients, forcing medication on me for drawing something that was violent, threatening to make it so that Dad lost custody of my brother and I, things like that (or so I thought). He had me go in and tape record her secretly under my jacket to get something incriminating in order to get her license revoked. Some years later, I found out that what was really going on was that my psychiatrist had been supplying amphetamines that doubled as concentration enhancers to my dad, but something had gone awry between them because of it, and that's what started their whole feud, moreso than anything really about me.

So yeah... shady, shady individual, she was. I finally got to see another psychiatrist, who only tried meds with me once and thankfully agreed to stop them when I was tired of being seen as dependent on and controlled by drugs.

There are TONS of bad psychs and therapists out there, sadly. I screen the psychologists and therapists I refer out to very carefully, and I've actually submitted complaints to the state on a few I have worked with because they were scary bad.

Do remember that part of a good relationship with ANY person in a helping profession is a sort of 'chemistry' between you and the therapist/doctor/psychologist/psychiatrist. So, a person can be a great psych, but a bad fit for you. That's different.

comparison for fun. I saw a Psychiatrist (since my mom thought I had a behavior issue perhaps ADD etc.) the Psychiatrist took one look at me and 5 sec. later she's Bipolar 2. I squalled my eyes out into my moms shoulder. She put me on Trazidone to help me sleep but they made me woozy to the point of almost unable to stand up!! ! (It was for racing thoughts which I'm not truly sure if that's what they are but I like thinking of things very deeply) (The Psychiatrist was confused since no one has ever said THEY LIKED IT!! !!)



(How the hell ELSE did I do research papers? IMO as I'm falling asleep I would think of titles and would write a paper in my head ALL DAY) (Like a mini office building in my brain!! !) I saw her for 3 months (those 3 months were after a College suspension and I would lay in bed crying into a pillow ALL DAY!) I told her and for those 3 months (prescription,prescription,prescription.) after this I was due for a special 1 hour session an evaluation for SSI stuff (basic session was 15min.)


This lasted LESS than a minute! I said Yes,No to her questions she yelled at me "Are you going to say anything else?" Me:No Her:Then LEAVE!! !! !! Now a positive good comparison to all this is my Pscyhology teacher while sometimes a little crazy and fitting of dumb blonde LOL! she was a GREAT PSYCHOLOGIST!! !! I bumped into her upset one day and my first thought was stereotypical from people on tv (this was before the Psychiatrist issues) she said "Are you ok what's wrong is there anything I can do to help?"


She was CONCERNED more than I can say of anyone who has ANALYZED ME!! !! !! I also asked her for advice on occassions after that incident one was where me and my mom got into an argument mom was like "tell your Psychology teacher she'll agree with me!! !" When I asked the teacher what I should do she said "You already know what to do."



Finally one of the BEST COMMENTS FROM HER was when me and a student were discussing something she said "She hadn't lived like that so she wouldn't know." IMO exactly you haven't lived my life HOW ARE YOU TO KNOW HOW I FEEL YOU MIGHT GO THROUGH THINGS TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN ME!! !! Also her #1 best QUALITY SHE WOULD STOP WHATEVER SHE WAS DOING AND LOOK AT YOU IN THE EYE AND LISTEN TO YOUR PROBLEM! (THEN TURN AWAY THINK OF ADVICE AND SAY LET ME KNOW IF THAT WORKS.) (This tells me she has more than one idea. My therapist when I told her I didn't like the advice she said she couldn't help me if I didn't take the advice. (IMO if I think the ADVICE SUCKS I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT!! !! !! !! !! !)

Prillix,
I think the problem here is that you are looking for help from a source that's not qualified to give it. The unhelpful twit you're referring to is actually a psychiatrist not a psychologist. Until some company markets a pharmaceutical that can treat AS, psychiatrists won't acknowledge that anyone has AS. Psychiatrists are not required to learn any psychology, as the objective of their profession is to perscribe drugs. Psychologists don't perscribe them. That's a big difference in treatment methods.

I have a really good one now, but I used to have one that was obsessed with deviant sexual practices, who gave me all this information on stuff like rimming when I was 13.

Also remember that psychologists and therapists frequently hold to a 'psychological theory' or frame of reference -- for example, Jungian, Freudian, Adlerian, etc. Many of these theories -- in my opinion -- are not useful in working with ASD folks.

A Freudian: Your need to self stim by rocking is clearly mirroring a desire to masturbate.

A Jungian: Your need to self stim by rocking is based on the uber prototype we all feel to be held in a mother's womb.

An Adlerian: Your need to self stim by rocking is disruptive to the rest of society. You have the choice to stop, so do it.

I think you get the picture....

I went to a therapist once and she wanted me to read a copy of The Feeling Good Handbook and a paperback about Self Esteem. She was really late for our second appointment so I discontinued but it was after I bought the books:(

I think my parents had one when I was a baby. I was a year and a half and I was still deaf. My parents take me to a doctor and right away the doctor labels me as autistic and he doesn't even listen what my parents had to say. He didn't even let them tell him about my medical history; my ear infections and my hearing loss coming afterwards and then I stopped talking completely one day. I was babbling, making sounds and then the next day I was silent. No giggles, no sounds, nothing. Just crying only. I didn't even smile or nothing. My parents told me about it when I was 14 or 15.

Then the funny thing was it all became a coincidence because my parents took me to other doctors, they listened to what my parents had to say and they still suspected autism. I even got diagnosed but my parents never agreed with the diagnoses. But I am sure they used it anyway to get me help with my speech and development.



Oh yeah I had a psychologist when I was 16-18 and I didn't like him. He criticized everything I did and expected me to start telling lies NTs do, everything I did was AS to him, he also took what I said the wrong way.

LOL that was funny, janit. And so true.

I had a hospital shrink foisted on me after I'd basically had the crap beaten out of me during an assault and was sitting rocking on a ward while recuperating. The guy, who I'd never seen before, said something to the effect of "well, you must have enjoyed some part of it, didn't you?"

Right.

Also had two very good shrinks at another point in my life. There are good ones, bad ones. Hard to find the good ones, is my impression. It is more than degrees and training, there has to be a personality fit.

I sympathize indeed.. most recent psychologist wanted to question why my abusive mother does what she does.. excuse me?! dont ask me, ask her! She refused to ask the source and kept asking about my family.. then told me the family was 'very unhappy people and have they always been like that"?? i told this idiot THREE TIMES

that I have no contact with them so i dont know, she would have to ask them and we are here about ME! Told her I was being emotionally abused in living with them and she said i quote 'how can your parents be abusing you when they are letting you live in their house? do you know how many people i see every day who would love to have a place to go ..." I looked out at the doesnt-get-any-more=depressing-than=this enmpty dark landscape of west 25th cleveland office, and said ;what an idiot' . THIS WAS A DR TO DETERMINE DISABILITY!! ! she never even mentioned aspergers and i diagnosed myself ha ha i h a love it! correctly in 1997 and they ignored the autistic spectrum irlen institute report.. i had another one who must be related to this woman, who told me when i wanted to die at age 18 that 'my mother was suicidal'. maybe your mother was
suicidal' she said .. what?! !! !! CAN U BEAT THESE STORIES?????

I went to see a psychiatrist about a year and a half ago. I think I had three sessions before I decided this is not getting me anywhere. For my first session he asked me to tell him what was wrong, my general symptoms at the time. Im not very good at explaining things usually, so I told him that I think I might have social phobia and be suffering from an anxiety disorder, although within myself I thought it was something more. I didnt know of A.S at the time and I only said this as I thought it would be a starting point from which to unlock the mysteries of my behaviours, and possibly how my life events played a role.

He showed me the diagnostic criteria of social phobia and I told him yes I could relate to the symptoms, but I wanted to give a detailed account of all my behaviours from childhood up until present day, for at least one full session. Right on the spot, the session about ten minutes old he daignosed me with social phobia. He gave me a priscription and told me to see him in a few weeks.

I had seen a psychologist before but this was the first psychiatrist I had ever seen, so I assumed this was the way things worked. Next session I told him nothing much had changed, but this time I was going to be assertive and make sure we diccuss everything that happened in my life. Astonishingly he shrugged it off, he never wanted to go into any details and just prescribed more meds. I didnt want to go back, but there was no other psychs that were such a conveniant distance away. I gave him one more try, but nothing changed in his approach. In the month's following this I did my own research and found out about A.S.

I have had a bad psychiatrist before. I also had a weird psychologist. Lets start with the psychiatrist. When I went to the hospital because I was suicidal, when I talked with him at first he believed me. I thought he didn't think I was faking it. But when I was released from the hospital and got the report, it basically said that I was reading off the Internet and copying the symptoms. Another way of saying faking it. I AM NOT FAKING ANYTHING and whoever does should go you know where. Liars must burn. If I get bad again and have to see him I will give him a piece of my mind. I had another psychiatrist at the same hospital (a different visit of course), that I had too much medical knowledge. Yeah, I knew more than him and several other doctors I have been to and some of them have even admitted it. Now lets move on to psychologists. The first one I had in 2006 was weird. I believed she had schizophrenia and was crazier than me. She actually said, "I have seen and talked with spacemen before." When I told her that I was hallucinating and seeing things she said, " You are seeing different dimensions." This doctor had her DSM out and just flipped the pages and in 2 seconds diagnosed me with Bipolar 1. Back then I wasn't bipolar because I was never manic. But now if someone gave me that diagnosis I would agree with them because I have been manic including right now. I can't sleep due to racing thoughts. And what's weird is I take 20mg of Valium everyday and Buspar. Those types of meds are supposed to make you sleep 24 hours a day. I have grandiose thoughts right now as well but it might not be a delusion. At least I hope not. I have been to 1000000's of psychiatrists and psychologists in the past 2 years. My current psychologist is nice but the only problem with her is when I first met her and was nearly suicidal and was cutting myself, she didn't allow me to express my feelings unless they were positive. At least right now there are a lot of positive things going on with my art, more than what most artists get in a lifetime. Most artists wait 20+ years to get to where I am now (in galleries, shows {juried shows that is} and selling original pictures and getting well known). It just started happening within the last 2-3 months. Before that I was very depressed. Then recently I had a psychologist that would only see me every other week even though I was nearly suicidal. It is because she took a whole bunch of new patients and didn't have time to spend with each one when they needed help the most. When I first met her, she saw me every week and then suddenly changed it on me. That's when we switched to my current one that I mentioned already. So, in the last 2 years, I have had both good and bad psychiatrists/ psychologists. I don't remember the ones I had when I was younger when I lived in Oregon. Now I live in Washington, also known as the rainy state. What is funny is that each psychiatrist/ psychologist diagnosed me with different things until recently. Now all of them agree that it is schizoaffective and autism but I don't believe the schizoaffective part.