Posted by gardenergirl on November 30, 2004, at 21:37:58
In reply to Re: Weird question, posted by fires on November 30, 2004, at 16:56:18
> I guess some Ts value cats over human life.
Um, I assume you are being sarcastic here?
I also would imagine that any T who uses pets as therapy tools or even has pets in his or her office would inform new clients before they scheduled a first appointment. I would never be able to tolerate being in an office with a cat, even if I loved the T, as I am severely allergic to them. But it takes no special effort when describing your practice to add that you have pets in your office. And then I would have to choose another T, if there were cats. I might be disappointed, but I wouldn't die from it.
And just as I have to be proactive in dealing with my various food restrictions, I view my cat allergy as something similar. I have to ask if people have cats before I visit their home. And then I need to make an educated judgement on how much risk I would be placing myself based on how many cats, whether I've ever noticed a great deal of cat hair on their clothes, a "guesstimate" of their housekeeping standards, etc. Still, I always take my med before going, and I leave if I get too uncomfortable.
>I wonder how they would feel if a patient went into a severe life threatening asthma attack due to cat dander. I suppose they either still believe that asthma is a psychosom. disorder, or they keep epi injections on hand.
Interesting...I never knew asthma to be in any version of the DSM. Never heard of it being psychosomatic either. Although I do know that stress can make an attack worse.
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:422419
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20041123/msgs/422579.html