My Social Security Psychologist

Post Reply New Topic

If the disorders that are in the DSM are truly disorders of the brain then shouldn't we be seeing neruologists instead of psychiatrists or psychologists? What if seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist is a true waste of time? If people who see them have true brain damage and chemical imbalances then shouldn't they be receiving MRIs and neurological scans? It seems to me psychologists and psychiatrists go by what the patients say and observed behaviors.

My social security psychiatrist says my condition which she says is PDD-NOS is chronic. She says I have emotional problems which are chronic. She said both of these even with continued treatment will never be cured. She also says I have a extremely mild version of schitzoaffective disorder. It seems to me that she is saying that I am untreatable. She recommends that I continue with insight oriented therapy which I have been doing since I was 4 years old. It probably means psychoanalysis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insight_or ... chotherapy

I ask WTF? I wonder am I the one with schitzoaffective disorder or is she the one with schitzoaffective disorder? Maybe I truly belong in the looney bin.

PDD-NOS is chronic, because it is a neurological disorder, and thus incurable by anything short of Star Trek-level surgery. There are treatable disorders which are also chronic, because while they can be alleviated, they cannot be cured. For instance, my wife suffers from severe chronic depressive disorder. If she takes her antidepressants every day, she can deal with the world; if she skips, it gets harder; after a couple of days without, the depression takes over until treatment is resumed.

My understanding, however, is that the neurological differences found in autism are found only during dissection, which perforce is post-mortem; they aren't such gross alterations as to be visible on an MRI or PET scan. (If the state of the art has advanced to the point that the differences are visible, say in an fMRI, I would be fascinated to know the details.)

Neurological science is not at a level yet at which it can effectively treat the damage done by a disorder that ret*ds development in the brain. So far there have been no pharmaceutical potions (thank gods!) purported to heal or compensate for those deficiencies, that only leaves psychological 'therapies' as a 'treatment'. It's either that or go back to believing there is no disorder and we're all just stubborn, lazy, eccentric malcontents who need a swift kick in the pants and no sympathy. I'll accept the therapy visits to keep my SSDI, though I don't see what earthly good its going to do. At my age, my social skills are pretty much whatever they're going to be. I'm a little old for charm school. I'm just glad my therapist doesn't keep pushing mood meds on me. I'd rather end up a suicide than be a Stepford Bob.