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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Omega Woman on January 2, 2004, at 2:28:39
Is anyone aware of a "Tell moderately Sick people they are fine" policy within British Psychiatry. I'm looking for any info to find the policy's which tell Psychiatrists to do this, and the people who make this policy.
This is a letter which i'm sending to a friendly Psychiatrist within the system. I'm holding of sending it till I get some feedback from here.
====================
Dear *****
******* whats going on in British Psychiatry ? I have seen a pattern emerging which crystalized on New years night.
After the Bells I tracked down a friend of mine who is a young guy with symptoms of alcohol induced dementia (Korsakoffs). I know this because I spent three months in the summer trying to build a small recording music project with him. It proved impossible because of his Paranoid delusions. Many times he thought Rappers in the Radio were talking to him, that there were cameras in the trees..etc etc..
When I met him on New year he seemed really well. I said you look really well and he told me "oh there was never anything wrong with me".
Today I realised that this was what my Psychiatrist had said to me three years ago upon follow up visits following a three week stay in the wards. I also remember that another friend with acute Schizophrenia. (He could barely orientate himself within any situation) had also said that his Psyciatrist had told him there was nothing wrong with him. This person was killed in his flat three weeks later. His pattern of behaviour had been Paranoid misperceptions of other peoples intentions. He was regularly beaten up because he reacted to them.
What is going on ? It appears like those of us who exist with Moderate symptoms which fall through the cracks of a severe DSM classification are given a complete bill of health. This has the effect of making us feel better about ourselves in the short term. In the longer term we wake up to our persistant moderate problems, but absolutely no recognition or support.
Something is severely wrong with the system. Dont people who work within it want to be competent anymore ? Obviously people do, but only to appear so to their peers. This is very disapointing to me. I get the feeling that in the main Psychiatry attracts Black and White logical thinkers, much like the Police or Army. Civil Service etc. To someone on the outside its seems like these people subsume any intelligence about the way things really are, to following any policy which lands on their Desktop.
What i'm hoping you could tell me is what has been the health directive which tells Psychiatrists to be like this ? Is this due to a small minority of Borderline Psychotics faking some extra symptoms or a report in personal perception of negative labelling gone awry ? Whatever the case, it does'nt justify whats going on. Telling someone with moderate problems they are fine is'nt going to beat persistant organic dysfunction. But telling them they can get better with support and medication might do. If anything its the moderate cases who might benefit the most.
Perhaps the Policy is borne of lack of resources. If this is true its still wrong to tell sick people they are well. In fact its a destructive thing to do in general. If someone has nowhere to turn and are driving their friends and family crazy, this might be the last straw.
Perhaps it might be helfull to Re-open my friend Roberts case files and see whether he was taken off his medication in the weeks before he was killed. I remember thinking he was doing really well. Was this another case of the unrealistic high self esteem which comes from being told "you are fine, you just have a few problems". It would not be surprising if people had to die before some Psychiatric policy makers bothered to think properly about what they do. Many Psychiatrists over 40 still have don't accept BioPsychiatry as valid. It seem like proper learning has been forgone in the persistance of daily pressure. Is there something about the Job which could make Doctors as hopeless as their patients ?All this makes me think if this is just my experience then what is really going on everywhere else ? Perhaps a classification needs to be introduced for moderate cases and an appropriate scaled down therapy.
Maybe you could ask your colleagues if you dont know what i'm going on about, as i'm still not sure whether you are responsible for applying Diagnosis. A reference or link would be great, and perhaps i'll tackle the issue higher up the ladder.
********
Posted by bookgurl99 on January 2, 2004, at 6:39:21
In reply to Problems within British Psychiatry, posted by Omega Woman on January 2, 2004, at 2:28:39
I'm from the U.S., but I have noticed that information is withheld from British citizens by their doctors before. For example, a few years ago about 10 pregnant women were accidentally exposed to Mad Cow disease when they were examined in the same room as a woman who had it.The British medical authorities decided it would be best not to tell the women they had been exposed, but to instead tell their doctors. They didn't want the women to worry unecessarily.
I thought this was a quite odd practice, for someone not to be completely informed. However, in the U.S. where we pay high out-of-pocket fees for health insurance the same brush-off can happen. We're often kept in the dark my medical practitioners about what they _really_ think is wrong.
> Is anyone aware of a "Tell moderately Sick people they are fine" policy within British Psychiatry. I'm looking for any info to find the policy's which tell Psychiatrists to do this, and the people who make this policy.
>
> This is a letter which i'm sending to a friendly Psychiatrist within the system. I'm holding of sending it till I get some feedback from here.
>
> ====================
>
> Dear *****
>
> ******* whats going on in British Psychiatry ? I have seen a pattern emerging which crystalized on New years night.
>
> After the Bells I tracked down a friend of mine who is a young guy with symptoms of alcohol induced dementia (Korsakoffs). I know this because I spent three months in the summer trying to build a small recording music project with him. It proved impossible because of his Paranoid delusions. Many times he thought Rappers in the Radio were talking to him, that there were cameras in the trees..etc etc..
>
> When I met him on New year he seemed really well. I said you look really well and he told me "oh there was never anything wrong with me".
>
> Today I realised that this was what my Psychiatrist had said to me three years ago upon follow up visits following a three week stay in the wards. I also remember that another friend with acute Schizophrenia. (He could barely orientate himself within any situation) had also said that his Psyciatrist had told him there was nothing wrong with him. This person was killed in his flat three weeks later. His pattern of behaviour had been Paranoid misperceptions of other peoples intentions. He was regularly beaten up because he reacted to them.
>
> What is going on ? It appears like those of us who exist with Moderate symptoms which fall through the cracks of a severe DSM classification are given a complete bill of health. This has the effect of making us feel better about ourselves in the short term. In the longer term we wake up to our persistant moderate problems, but absolutely no recognition or support.
>
> Something is severely wrong with the system. Dont people who work within it want to be competent anymore ? Obviously people do, but only to appear so to their peers. This is very disapointing to me. I get the feeling that in the main Psychiatry attracts Black and White logical thinkers, much like the Police or Army. Civil Service etc. To someone on the outside its seems like these people subsume any intelligence about the way things really are, to following any policy which lands on their Desktop.
>
> What i'm hoping you could tell me is what has been the health directive which tells Psychiatrists to be like this ? Is this due to a small minority of Borderline Psychotics faking some extra symptoms or a report in personal perception of negative labelling gone awry ? Whatever the case, it does'nt justify whats going on. Telling someone with moderate problems they are fine is'nt going to beat persistant organic dysfunction. But telling them they can get better with support and medication might do. If anything its the moderate cases who might benefit the most.
>
> Perhaps the Policy is borne of lack of resources. If this is true its still wrong to tell sick people they are well. In fact its a destructive thing to do in general. If someone has nowhere to turn and are driving their friends and family crazy, this might be the last straw.
>
>
> Perhaps it might be helfull to Re-open my friend Roberts case files and see whether he was taken off his medication in the weeks before he was killed. I remember thinking he was doing really well. Was this another case of the unrealistic high self esteem which comes from being told "you are fine, you just have a few problems". It would not be surprising if people had to die before some Psychiatric policy makers bothered to think properly about what they do. Many Psychiatrists over 40 still have don't accept BioPsychiatry as valid. It seem like proper learning has been forgone in the persistance of daily pressure. Is there something about the Job which could make Doctors as hopeless as their patients ?
>
> All this makes me think if this is just my experience then what is really going on everywhere else ? Perhaps a classification needs to be introduced for moderate cases and an appropriate scaled down therapy.
>
> Maybe you could ask your colleagues if you dont know what i'm going on about, as i'm still not sure whether you are responsible for applying Diagnosis. A reference or link would be great, and perhaps i'll tackle the issue higher up the ladder.
>
> ********
>
>
Posted by Omega Woman on January 2, 2004, at 14:16:45
In reply to Re: Problems within British Psychiatry, posted by bookgurl99 on January 2, 2004, at 6:39:21
Well I can see I didnt explain properly....The problem is doctors trying to reduce the strain on an overworked system by choosing to believe moderately ill patients are malingerers, hyperchondriacs, mild cases, weird people, people with problems, self harmers etc.
My mother who worked in the system said that in the NHS people who take drugs or drink dont get diagnosed or treated properly. Its an unwritten rule.
Posted by TheOutsider on January 2, 2004, at 18:00:00
In reply to Re: Problems within British Psychiatry, posted by Omega Woman on January 2, 2004, at 14:16:45
I completely sympaphise with you Omega Women.
It seems in my limmited experience that once UK doctors decide that your not suicidal they just not very concerned with treating you.
I'll explain the background to the title. I've finaly managed to find a good Pdoc here, who treats people with ADD, which is my main problem, I think.
I spoke to him on the phone last Monday, and he told me that he is having to appear before the General Medical Council, who will most likely suspend him or strike him off. I really don't know what to do. I think he is most likely being persecuted because he is willing to critisise other doctors and their methods. He has probably made a lot of enemies.
I'm really at a loss
Posted by Omega Woman on January 2, 2004, at 23:53:45
In reply to My Doctors about to be struck off! , posted by TheOutsider on January 2, 2004, at 18:00:00
Thats interesting. If you find out anything more about why he is appearing before his peers, post it here. I spoke to a relative who works in management in the NHS and agrees with everything it does (shes an authority junkie ) When I finally had her cornered with these arguments she got really flustered and admitted the reason "Doctors assure you like due to lack of money, The system is crippled and its not politically OK to admit it, also if someone presents themselves with any sort of drug or alcohol use in the picture then they automatically get sent away"
Something must be wrong here, how can it be ok to tell sick people they are well, and leave them untreated ? I thought people wanted to be good at what they do..It would be strange if people with mental illness did'nt have drug and alcohol use, especially if they know had useless the service is. What I really want to know is where the policy is. It will be online somewhere, but trying to find it is proving troublesome.
Posted by Omega Woman on January 3, 2004, at 0:18:11
In reply to My Doctors about to be struck off! , posted by TheOutsider on January 2, 2004, at 18:00:00
Thats interesting. If you find out anything more about why he is appearing before his peers, post it here. I spoke to a relative who works in management in the NHS and agrees with everything it does (shes an authority junkie ) When I finally had her cornered with these arguments she got really flustered and admitted the reason "Doctors assure you like due to lack of money, The system is crippled and its not politically OK to admit it, also if someone presents themselves with any sort of drug or alcohol use in the picture then they automatically get sent away"
Something must be wrong here, how can it be ok to tell sick people they are well, and leave them untreated ? I thought people wanted to be good at what they do..It would be strange if people with mental illness did'nt have drug and alcohol use, especially if they know had useless the service is. What I really want to know is where the policy is. It will be online somewhere, but trying to find it is proving troublesome.
Posted by Dr. Bob on January 4, 2004, at 1:26:17
In reply to Problems within British Psychiatry, posted by Omega Woman on January 2, 2004, at 2:28:39
> Is anyone aware of a "Tell moderately Sick people they are fine" policy within British Psychiatry...
I'd like to redirect this thread to Psycho-Social-Babble, thanks.
Bob
This is the end of the thread.
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