Just need to find the "good" drugs!

[audrealjade]

I had to post about my experience with a counselor today (moderators please move if this is more appropriate somewhere else).

I talked to the counselor about depersonalization and this man has a masters degree and has never heard of it! I didn't expect to get a whole lot out of the session but I thought we would talk more about coping techniques etc.

He was very nice but here are some of his wonderful soundbites that made me want to rage;

"The medication is just like aspirin with no side effects. When you have a headache you just take the aspirin and when you don't have one anymore you just stop taking it."

"You know the medication should be out of your system by now 2 months out, you aren't experiencing withdrawal anymore."

"I used to think that people could get through this without medication but really you just have to find the good ones."

"There is just a problem with the brain chemistry - you just need to take the medication to get the levels right."

My husband and I just nodded and smiled. I just CANNOT believe how ignorant society is about these drugs and the damage they do. It makes me want to be outside protesting every minute I can. He told me I had mild depression and that talk therapy and medication would do the trick. But not the talk therapy without the medication.

This is all after I told him my panic stemmed from blood sugar issues and I already have corrected it with my diet.

I just thought you guys would want to know that there is no such thing as withdrawal and we just need to find the "good" medication and everything will be fine.

[Lindelea]

I don't know what's wrong with these ppl, how could he say that ssris and ads have no side effects? OMG!!!! -______-

[Wld]

Ah thank goodness, I KNEW this was all just a bad dream. Does he have any idea what the good medication is?

(sorry you had to go thru that)

[audrealjade]

Haha I was going to ask him of he knew what the good ones were! He did tell me lithium was fine after I told him about my grandfather's negative experience with it. And it's like he doesn't prescribe medication himself he is just ignorant and only knows what he has been fed from docs and pharma.

[jheaney1]

We live in a drug crazed world. My doctor throws pills at me every time I go to see him. He's paid by the prescription and appointment, so I guess it's to his benefit to get as many of those two in each day as he can. We still have this image of the old family doctor who's only concern is your health, but modern medicine has nothing to do with that, anymore.

[audrealjade]

Originally Posted by jheaney1

We live in a drug crazed world. My doctor throws pills at me every time I go to see him. He's paid by the prescription and appointment, so I guess it's to his benefit to get as many of those two in each day as he can. We still have this image of the old family doctor who's only concern is your health, but modern medicine has nothing to do with that, anymore.

Yes. Modern doctors make holistic doctors out to be quacks but they are more on the right track to actually helping people. But I guess there isn't much money to be made there. Because eventually people will come to understand that a good diet and CBT is will make all the difference in the world for good health.

[miriza]

Did you mention this website and the countless others out there? Did you mention the thousands suffering through this Hell?

My psychologist did not even know these websites existed! Can you believe that?

If he does not know what depersonalization is, I think you should find another counselor...DP is not only a withdrawal symptom but can also occur in highly anxious people...Ignorant, ignorant counselor. WOW!

[miriza]

If I were you, I would cancel my appointments with him and also buy him Whittaker's book "Anatomy of an Epidemic." When I get better from this, I decided I am not going to go see all the psych animal doctors that put me through this misery and explain things to them...I'm just going to mail them a copy of this book with a simple note saying: "This is what you did to me..."

[audrealjade]

Originally Posted by miriza

Did you mention this website and the countless others out there? Did you mention the thousands suffering through this Hell?

My psychologist did not even know these websites existed! Can you believe that?

If he does not know what depersonalization is, I think you should find another counselor...DP is not only a withdrawal symptom but can also occur in highly anxious people...Ignorant, ignorant counselor. WOW!

I wish I had more fighting spirit to bring all that up but I did not. I did try to explain depersonalization and he thought I meant dissociation so I didn't get far there. When this is all over and I am back to myself I will be making my voice heard about this believe me!

[scotty]

Just drives home the fact that because you have initials behind your name, doesn't automatically make you smart. Scary that ANYONE in this day and age would say that a drug has no side effects..."just like aspirin", which has some serious side effects. Sadly, this guy is taking care of people.

[babs]

What a effing moron!! I can't believe that guy has a license to counsel people. It seems like most therapists are on the meds bandwagon even though they don't prescribe. I'm glad you already knew the truth before your appointment; sadly there are a lot of people out there who will believe what the "experts" say and pop the pills.

[JessG]

This is why I plan on going back to school to finish my bachelor's and hopefully go on to get my Master's in psychology so if I do decide to become a counselor I can be one of the informed ones. I'd love to think there is a reason I'm going through all this and maybe it's so in the future I can help others to avoid it or at least help them through it. Love both your quotes by the way!

[scotty]

Originally Posted by babs

What a effing moron!! I can't believe that guy has a license to counsel people. It seems like most therapists are on the meds bandwagon even though they don't prescribe. I'm glad you already knew the truth before your appointment; sadly there are a lot of people out there who will believe what the "experts" say and pop the pills.

Exactly...when the industry that is supposed to counsel people can only push drugs, that industry is doomed.

Luckily there are some good ones out there, but as with anything, you have to shop around.

[miriza]

Yeah, agree with scotty...Just need to find the "good" doctors/therapists!

[NoRx4me]

That's pretty infuriating. And since he's not the one that would do the prescribing, he has no legal obligation to inform of the risks (not that he has the knowledge).

So, a less informed person will go ask a doc for meds, thinking they have all the info they need after talking with this professional. Actually... I think it's illegal that he gave medical advice.

I'd mail him a copy of one of the labels. You know, with the Black Box warnings at the top. Paxil is up to 100 pages now.

[Lucy]

Originally Posted by babs

It seems like most therapists are on the meds bandwagon even though they don't prescribe. .

They get referrals from prescribers, which might influence their perspective.

[texgirl]

You can interview therapists or their staff by phone before you make an appointment and get their perspective on the medication issue. It's highly doubtful you'll find one who says s/he hates meds, but it is possible that some will agree that not every patient needs to be medicated and that it should be an individual choice. You should be able to say, "I tried medication and it didn't work for me. I would like to address my issues behaviorally." That would at least weed out quacks like the one you saw yesterday.

For what it's worth, I think it's a waste of time in therapy to talk about w/d. I did it for months, and all I did was spin my wheels and avoid working on my issues, even though my therapist fully agreed that medication was wrong for me and supported my decision to be off it. (One of her friends is a psychopharmacologist, so she hears the horror stories from both sides of the street.) As far as the therapist is concerned, how you got there doesn't matter. The tools for moving forward are the same. (I'm talking about CBT, obviously, not talk therapy.)

[texgirl]

Just to clarify, generally speaking when we talk about therapists or counselors, we're talking about psychologists, who have Masters degrees or Ph.D.s, not MDs, and are not permitted to prescribe meds. Psychiatrists (MDs) almost exclusively prescribe meds and rarely practice therapy. At least this is how it is in the States.

[palm]

Audrealjade, after reading your post, I literally wanted to scream at the counselor for his stupidity. I would have been tempted to say, uh, go on the meds and then report back to me in 6 months.

Anyway, looking back on my history, I think my former therapist tried to hint to me when I was having problems with drugs that maybe I needed to get off of them. Unfortunately, I was too spellbound by them to pay attention.

I also worked briefly with a psychologist who definitely believed that ADs had numerous side effects. So there are therapist who have seen the light.

Palm

[burgs]

Originally Posted by NoRx4me

That's pretty infuriating. And since he's not the one that would do the prescribing, he has no legal obligation to inform of the risks (not that he has the knowledge).

So, a less informed person will go ask a doc for meds, thinking they have all the info they need after talking with this professional. Actually... I think it's illegal that he gave medical advice.

I'd mail him a copy of one of the labels. You know, with the Black Box warnings at the top. Paxil is up to 100 pages now.

He made sure to preface everything with "I'm not a medical doctor" - which, of course, was not what we were going to him for in the first place. We wanted to learn more about CBT professionals in the community. (I'm audrealjade's husband, by the way )

The guy had no clue about withdrawal, hadn't even heard of dp/dr, and obviously had no previous interactions with people that have struggled with these drugs. We were not on the same wavelength whatsoever about doctors. His view was that the doctor should have followed up after 2 weeks, asked how citalopram was working, and then made adjustments accordingly.

Our view was that the drug was unnecessary in the first place and that the resulting deficit of trust between the doctor and the patient was enough to keep us from going back. Audrealjade has a family history of blood sugar issues. Her blood sugar was in the toilet when the first panic attacks occurred. We made dietary changes since then. At this point, the thing we're dealing with is the aftermath of a drug prescription that probably didn't need to happen in the first place.

The counselor suggested all the things we're either already doing or have no interest in doing (trying the "good drugs"). We have a theory that he went home to his wife totally weirded out by us. Oh well, we already have tools that he couldn't give us anyway.

[rangerNY]

Originally Posted by burgs

The guy had no clue about withdrawal, hadn't even heard of dp/dr ...

I'm guessing his Masters degree is in modern art, or maybe ancient languages. DP/DR is undergrad abnormal psych 101. Even without experience dealing with SSRI withdrawal issues, he's not your guy. NEXT!

[julieannboo]

i bet you wanted to smack the wax out of his ears!

[Junior]

Originally Posted by Lucy

They get referrals from prescribers, which might influence their perspective.

It's actually unethical to counsel beyond their level of competence. Since they have no training in pharamaceuticals, they have no right to talk about them at all whatever their personal beliefs.

[trixiemom]

OMG.... I am sorry you had such a moron!!! That just sucks. If you still feel you need to talk to someone, please don't give up hope that there are good therapists out there. Unbelievable. I despise incompetent professionals, and I'm sorry you had to experience that