So, DH went to psychiatrist today.....UPDATED POST 44

[freddog]

So, DH went today to his first visit to the psychiatrist who is doing his follow up. DH started telling him how he had put in his 2 weeks notice for his job, but was having a hard time even getting through these 2 weeks, and the doctor said "Why do you want to do that? In this economy?!"

Dude, did you even read his chart?? Could it be because he was driven to the brink of suicide and even now after 7 days hospitalization and being started on 2 meds, the mere thought of going into work sends him into a near panic attack! WTH?

 

[N&B'smom]

Oh geez, time for a different psychiatrist!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Your dh shouldn't waste any more time with him. He should try out a different doctor.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Were you in the room with him when the doctor said this?

Regardless, see someone else and get counselor. The psych doc is the "drug dealer" anyway.

The counselor is who will sort you out.

 

[missypie]

My son went to a psychiatrist last week, and he said something almost as idiotic as your H's psych did. Maybe these guys shouldn't be allowed to actually TALK to patients...just write the scrips.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My son went to a psychiatrist last week, and he said something almost as idiotic as your H's psych did. Maybe these guys shouldn't be allowed to actually TALK to patients...just write the scrips.

I am telling you. With my 13yodd's psych we have to pinch ourselves to keep from laughing at him.

He is not a bad guy and does ask questions however he is the drug man. There is no way you could get any counseling with him.

 

[Tinkh]

Psychiatrists are not required to learn how to do therapy at all. They are typically MDs who are there to treat symptoms with medicine and write the prescriptions. I would highly recommend seeing a psychologist who will do therapy with your husband in conjuction with the psychiatrist. God bless and I truly hope things improve.

 

[Piecey]

DH saw a VA someone or another for therapy. When he told them what was 'wrong' they said "Oh, thats all?"

It took me 5 months to get him to see someone else and he could not he happier with his current (non-VA) psychologist.

Find someone else! This is an area where your DH really needs to like and trust who he is talking to. At least, it was very important for my DH.

Psychiatrists are not required to learn how to do therapy at all. They are typically MDs who are there to treat symptoms with medicine and write the prescriptions. I would highly recommend seeing a psychologist who will do therapy with your husband in conjuction with the psychiatrist. God bless and I truly hope things improve.

This is DH's setup! Psychologist 2x a month, psychiatrist once a month if he is on medication.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I agree with the others. See the psychiatrist for meds but don't expect any type of therapy from him. My DS14 has Asperger's along with a fair amount of anxiety and he takes a low dose of Zoloft to manage it. The psychiatrist told us up front that he doesn't do talk therapy. He said if we need advice or someone to talk to we should find a psychologist which we did. We see the drug man every three months. He's pleasant enough and asks how things are going but we don't get into any deep discussion with him.

 

[rie'smom]

I was hospitalized (voluntarily) 2x for depression and my feeling is the psychiatrists are nuttier than any of the patients.

My examples:

#1. Called me- "Rie's mom, I'm moving to Bora Bora to find myself." Ok, good luck with that.

#2. This one LOVED Prozac. She liked it so much, she routinely had patients on 200 mg. and decided to start prescribing it for itself. Can you say Energizer bunny? She went from being a fairly calm person to bouncing off the walls.

#3. The last one said," I can't relate to patients once they've been hospitalized."Geez, I'm glad my OB GYN didn't feel that way.

Now, if I feel the need, I see a therapist. I'm not on meds anymore but if I needed them, I'd go to my GP.

 

[minkydog]

OP, is there a reason your DH went straight to resigning instead of applying for short or long term disability? I totally get that he was suicidal a week ago and his anxiety is still extreme. I went through the same thing. I never wanted to go back to work ever again.A lot of people advised me to apply for SSDI, but having already gone through that with DH (3 years!) I really didn't want to go there right off the bat. Instead of quitting outright, I applied for disability from work, went on FMLA leave, and ended up on longterm disability for 1 year. By the end of 12 months i was ready to work again, albeit in a limited capacity. I'll never be able to work full-time again, but it's okay. We adjusted our lifestyle to accomodate my disability. I'm in a completely different job now and I love it.

Agree with the others about the psychiatrist. He's not there to hold your hand. He manages meds. Thats all. A licensed therapist or psychologist does talk therapy, very important after hospitalization, IMO. When I left the hospital last year after 8 weeks of intensive treatment I was put on a "contract" for 1 year to take my meds as ordered, go to therapy, participate in aftercare groups, and see my psychiatrist regularly. My first psychiatrist was a moron--she fell asleep in one of my sessions. FAIL. My first psychologist told me (twice!) "I'd be depressed too if I had your life." Gee. Thanks. NOT. I've had a wonderful psychologist for one year and we are winding down now. I see the psychiatrist about every 2 months for med tweaking(I'm still not completely regulated--change of seasons sets me off).

Just wanted to give you hope--there is healing on the other side if you work the program. Nothing good happens if you just let it be. Therapy can be painful and anxiety-provoking. Sometimes the best thing *is* to take the time it takes to recover. This is one pain you really *can't* just power through. I wish you and your husband all the best. I know what a terrible situation this is.

 

[bluesaturn]

In my opinion, your husband should find a clinical psychologist, based on the severity of his situation.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I am telling you. With my 13yodd's psych we have to pinch ourselves to keep from laughing at him.

He is not a bad guy and does ask questions however he is the drug man. There is no way you could get any counseling with him.

I've seen one and she refers all counseling. She has a psycologist in her office and they work together. She does see some of her patients regularly--but of course I don't have the privilege or right to know the circumstances. But for the most part--she gets you to where you need to be medicine wise and then for ongoing therapy, she refers you.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Best of luck OP and as best as you are able, listen to the wise advice posted here by your fellow DISers.

 

[C.Ann]

Psych for meds (preferably a different one than the one he just saw) and a good therapist who specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy.. CBT will save him years of rehashing the same stuff over and over again (as in traditional "talk therapy") without any true "direction" in how to change the way he feels or acts.. CBT is very goal-oriented and typically produces better results in a much shorter period of time.. Initially it does take time - and requires a lot of effort on the part of the patient - but the real beauty of CBT? Once he learns how to master it, he can utilize it on his own (minus the weekly counseling sessions) - unless he's feeling suicidal or not making any progress.. (When the time comes, a quick call to his CBT therapist should result in the therapist agreeing or disagreeing with him in regards to his handling his issues on his own at any given point in time.. Even at that point, he should just touch base with his CBT therapist every now and then to make sure nothing has changed..)

Most importantly, he has to feel very, very comfortable with both the psych and the CBT therapist - or he'll just be spinning his wheels - wasting time and money..

Good luck!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I've seen one and she refers all counseling. She has a psycologist in her office and they work together. She does see some of her patients regularly--but of course I don't have the privilege or right to know the circumstances. But for the most part--she gets you to where you need to be medicine wise and then for ongoing therapy, she refers you.

My dd's psych basically left it up to us if we want to get counseling. At first we did not because she was adjusting to her meds and we were seeing how that played out.

However as school approached last yr it was clear she needed some counseling. Of course psych doc wants to up the dosage and I put the brakes on and said let's try counseling first. We got a name from her ped's office. And this was not a name from a doctor. This was a nurse who had a dd who was seeing this counselor for anxiety and told me how great she is at it.

She did not disappoint and helped my dd tremedously over this yr. Right now we don't have an appointment because things are on track.

She may see her to do some therapy to prepare for braces, however maybe not. We will see....

OP, I am thinking about you here. It is a tough road to travel.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Sorry you are going through such a hard time.

Sometimes Dr's make obvious statements to decipher if the person is rooted in reality or not. The only way to figure out if someone has had a Psychotic break with reality is to challenge abnormal thinking and watch for a response. The way a patient responds to a stress like that can tell a Dr a whole lot about someone's state of mind.

For example, if your DH's meds weren't working at all he might slip into a Depression so deep it causes a comatose like state where nothing and no-one can evoke an emotional response. Anger is an emotional response.

Just my 2 cents.

I hope things go ok for you guys

 

[freddog]

OP, is there a reason your DH went straight to resigning instead of applying for short or long term disability? I totally get that he was suicidal a week ago and his anxiety is still extreme. I went through the same thing. I never wanted to go back to work ever again.A lot of people advised me to apply for SSDI, but having already gone through that with DH (3 years!) I really didn't want to go there right off the bat. Instead of quitting outright, I applied for disability from work, went on FMLA leave, and ended up on longterm disability for 1 year. By the end of 12 months i was ready to work again, albeit in a limited capacity. I'll never be able to work full-time again, but it's okay. We adjusted our lifestyle to accomodate my disability. I'm in a completely different job now and I love it.

We actually did discuss different options, but decided that it would be best for him just to be completely done with this job. Even if he was on disability for 12 weeks, he would not have been able to let it go.....he would've continue to dwell on the fact that he had to go back in 12 weeks. We just didn't feel he would be able to let go of it enough to focus on getting better. As it was, he spent a good deal of the week in the hospital as well as the week after dreading and worrying about going back.

He really would like to get back into retail/grocery. He worked that area for 17 years before the store he worked in closed. I think that is probably going to be his only "comfort" zone as far as working goes, quite honestly.

 

[Disney Doll]

Well, then that's the goal to work toward...getting him back into retail/grocery.

As far as the psych is concerned...was he trying to glean more information, see reactions etc.? Had you shared with him the idea of retail/grocery being DH's comfort zone? I will say that sometimes healthcare people will ask questions to gauge reactions, elicit different information than we might if we only asked the "usual" questions...

 

[dcentity2000]

#2. This one LOVED Prozac. She liked it so much, she routinely had patients on 200 mg. and decided to start prescribing it for itself. Can you say Energizer bunny? She went from being a fairly calm person to bouncing off the walls.

200mg of Prozac? Jeez, that's dangerous! The accepted range is 20mg to 80mg and even 80mg is pushing the envelope! In fact, many psychiatrists advocate starting at 10mg per day and titrating up. If you don't respond by 60mg, you should really be looking at a different medication, preferably one of a different family (for example, Cymbalta, which also treats noradrenaline.)



Rich::