When your starting to dislike your therapy?

Question

Hi. I see both a psychiatrist and a psychologist but as times goes by I'm starting to think that the therapy is not enough. I also don't agree with many things and feel like I can't do much about it "as a patient". For example I want to decrease my dosage of prozac but my psychiatrist is unwilling ,saying I take the minimum "working dosage." I also want to try other medication but my psychiatrist says its pointless because I've tried enough. I also don't think these occasional "talking" meetings are working enough for me and think I need something more intensive. I guess I need something that they can't give me.

Basically I'm "not happy" with my therapy and don't really know what to do. Whereas in the beginning the therapy was more intensive I feel like I've been given-up on or that "all has been tried."

Is it ever time to change therapists to get that "brand new start (positive) feeling"?

Answer 1

I've had some problems with my psychologist before. I disagreed with some of the things that he did and I felt like he didn't take me seriously enough on some pretty important issues. What I ended up doing was confronting him about it. I told him that when he had done this and said that, I felt like he didn't really care and that had prevented me from telling him some important things. As the patient, you actually have a lot of control. Explain what you want. You say that "talking" isn't enough. Well, what kind of talking do you want? I personally believe that the patient-therapist relationship is the same as any other relationship in the patient's life. The same problems that the patient will have with other relationships in his life will manifest themselves with his therapist. That is why they are so important to work through! Try to think this through and maybe bring it up with your therapist. When I explained that to my therapist, he got really excited because he felt like we had something to work with. The session that followed that one was the best I ever had – both for me and for him, I think. There was a great connection and he really started to understand what was going on and I didn't feel inhibited. Good luck! And remember, if things aren't working with either your psychologist or your psychiatrist and you can't resolve it, please consider switching. It's worth it.

Answer 2

It's totally possible to change therapists. You have to feel comfortable with who you are with. If you don't feel that they are helping you, you should move onto someone new and get a fresh start. Many people see a few different therapists before they find one that helps. The one that I see does help, but it is a slow process. Some weeks are better than others. As far as the psychiatrist goes you may need to get a new one. I've never heard of a psychiatrist that refused to change or lower your medication. The one I'm seeing had me on about 4 different medications before we tried Wellbutrin. It's a great drug and it's a once a day thing and there are few side effects. I also take seroquel, that ones a good one to help you shut off your mind and sleep. I've suffered from a few side effects from that one, but they go away eventually. Effexor is another good one. I started to have some severe mood swings with it, but it did pick up my mood for a while. Good luck.

Answer 3

Well, as far as meds, if you're truly not happy w/them, you're under no obligation to take them. As long as you're competent, you can refuse treatment if you choose.

I personally despise psychiatrists and I only see them because my insurance says to get meds for my mental health problems, I have to see a psychiatrist. Which is a load of bs. I've never seen a psychiatrist I even remotely liked, and some of them have been total a ssholes.

As doctors, mine have been totally bottom-of-the-barrel.

But my psychologist is a peach, a wonderful man who has really helped me.

Not that we didn't have some serious issues. But I always felt like he respected me and was willing to change if it was best for me. He's a very humble, kind person, and I'm really glad we worked through our issues.

But I've dumped a number of psychiatrists. If your psychiatrist isn't respecting your wishes to try different meds, to stop taking meds altogether...why are you seeing this person?

I don't know if ditching your psychiatrist is a good idea. Try this--TALK TO YOUR PSYCHIATRIST about the fact that you're considering dumping him/her. Give the doc an ultimatum! Say if he/she doesn't respect you enough to let you try something different, it's your health, YOU'RE ultimately responsible for your decisions, and you'll go elsewhere.

But a new therapist...I don't know that I'd recommend it. The point of therapy is to work through issues, and you'd probably do better to stay with someone if the relationship is fairly decent. You don't want to start over with another therapist unless you have to--part of therapy is learning to have a long-term relationship with somebody you don't always like.

But psychiatrists...it's all about the meds. Evil bastards!

Answer 4

I do know that some mental illness may cause you to feel like you should switch therapists. I don't know if this is the case with you. Maybe you should try to see a new one if you aren't being listened too. I think that is the most important thing w/ a therapist.

Answer 5

I've never officially been in therapy (although I've been in physical therapy when I was 12 and speech therapy when I was 9) or been put on medications, but I have been to see a guidance counselor several times.

I began to dislike it when all she would do was talk about her daughter! There I was, in tears, and all she could do was talk about her dumb daughter. I had enough!

Answer 6

Jeez, then get another therapist. You are always allowed to get a second opinion. Now, if you have been to many therapists/psychiatrists, then don't bother going to more and more. If they all have the same diagnosis, they can't all be wrong, right?

Answer 7

hi=the only way you are going to get better is be determend
that you are going to get to where you want to be mentally
and physically=just think when you are at meetings that you are the boss=you are giving these people their paychecks through the government=make sure that they listen to what you are saying=make them understand this is the way you want to do things=if you are a Christian DEMAND a Christian councilor=I went this route and it has helped me tremendously
the pill thing=the Dr is right there=I'm still on them, but Dr is slowly reducing dosages =I know you can do it to=you have the strength when you were able to share here=go for it

Answer 8

If your psychiatrist isn't listening to your input on your treatment he won't be able to help you as effectively. I would switch. . .also maybe you should consider an intensive outpatient program.

Answer 9

Yes!! If you do not like them change them!! Theres no point of going to someone who doesn't help you and you don;t enjoy it. My friends have changed theirs many times!!!

Answer 10

To be happy see this video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4P5Pmdvgp4

About Psychiatry see this video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3895596783332855545&q=psychiatry+is+fraude&hl=en

Understanding Psychiatry:

"Psychiatry is not the same as neurology; whereas neurology treats diseases that have their aetiology or their physiology known and proven by medical science, psychiatry treats mental conditions where aetiology and physiology are both unknown and unproven.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_diseases

Psychiatry is not the same as Psychology; whereas Psychology studies the cognitive and subconscious mental processes of man with no regard towards physiology; Psychiatry studies theoretical mental disorder with the assumption that those disorders are based on physiological deficiencies.

Psychology develops therapies aimed to improve mans cognitive processes; whereas Psychiatry develops physiological treatments to treat theoretical physiological deficiencies where aetiology and physiology are both unknown and unproven.

The unscientific assumption that mental disorders are based on physiological deficiencies creates an arbitrary that makes any further research done by Psychiatry unscientific. You can’t base science on assumptions and arbitraries.

Psychiatry treats theoretical mental disorders with theoretical physiological treatments.

Examples of Psychiatric theoretical mental disorders:
Premenstrual dysphonic disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of premenstrual syndrome.
Gender identity disorder: If you are gay you have this disorder.
Female orgasmic disorder: Many types of conditions are under this code.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM-IV_Codes_%28alphabetical%29
As you see, these mental disorders are actually unscientific arbitraries based solely on opinion.

Examples of Psychiatric theoretical physiological treatments:
1st Example
Electroconvulsive therapy is a barbaric treatment where brain damage is induced into the patient by passing 70 to 200 volts of electricity through your brain. The electro shock and the heat further produce more brain damage by the effect decomposition and toxicity of dead brain cells. The only benefit of Electroconvulsive therapy is that it produces memory loss and amnesia. So the patient forgets its problems. Electroconvulsive therapy has caused death, coma and disabilities on patients.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2431926628202445879
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2761074183936137060
“About 100,000 people in the USA undergo ECT every year.”
“The most commonly accepted theory is that ECT's mechanism of action is similar to that of antidepressant drugs and involves neurotransmitters, in particular dopaminergic, serotoninergic and noradrenergic systems.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive_shock_therapy

2nd Example:
Lobotomy is another barbaric treatment developed by Psychiatry in the name of mental health. In this procedure brain damage is induced into the patient by cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex or simply destroying it.
“Even lobotomy's proponents admitted that only one third of the operated patients would improve, while one-third remained the same, and one-third got worst (25 to 30 % is the proportion of spontaneous improvement in many kinds of mental diseases! Thus, a large proportion of the operated patients could have recovered without the lobotomy).
http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n02/historia/lobotomy.htm

3rd Example:
The chemical imbalance theory, this theory alleges that serotonin deficiency in the brain causes depression. The following video explains this theory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR9vtdueubc&mode=related&search=

But this theory is not based in science and experts disagree:

“I spent the first several years of my career doing full-time research on brain serotonin metabolism, but I never saw any convincing evidence that any psychiatric disorder, including depression, results from a deficiency of brain serotonin. In fact, we cannot measure brain serotonin levels in living human beings so there is no way to test this theory. Some neuroscientists would question whether the theory is even viable, since the brain does not function in this way, as a hydraulic system”
Stanford psychiatrist David Burns, winner of the A.E. Bennett Award given by the Society for Biological Psychiatry for his research on serotonin metabolism, when asked about the scientific status of the serotonin theory in 2003.

“Although it is often stated with great confidence that depressed people have a serotonin or norepinephrine deficiency, the evidence actually contradicts these claims”
Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience Elliot Valenstein

“Indeed, no abnormality of serotonin in depression has ever been demonstrated”
Psychiatrist David Healy, former secretary of the British Association for Psychopharmacology and historian of the SSRIs, in Let Them Eat Prozac (2004).

“A sugar pill was more effective than either St. John’s Wort or the antidepressant Zoloft in providing relief to severely depressed patients, according to a new study that is unlikely to end the debate about the role of the popular supplement in treating the disorder.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3076831/

“…I wrote that Prozac was no more, and perhaps less, effective in treating major depression than prior medications…. I argued that the theories of brain functioning that led to the development of Prozac must be wrong or incomplete”
Brown University psychiatrist Peter Kramer, author of Listening to Prozac, which is often credited with popularizing SSRIs, in a clarifying letter to the New York Times in 2002.

“Some have argued that depression may be due to a deficiency of NE [norepinephrine] or 5-HT [serotonin] because the enhancement of noradrenergicnor serotonergic neurotransmission improves the symptoms of depression. However, this is akin to saying that because a rash on one’s arm improves with the use of a steroid cream; the rash must be due to a steroid deficiency”
Psychiatrists Pedro Delgado and Francisco Moreno, in “Role of Norepinephrine in Depression,” published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in 2000.

We must be able to differentiate real scientific research against special interest research. The fact is that the chemical imbalance theory is unfounded because:
1) A connection of ‘emotional states’ and neurotransmission levels have not been established.
2) It is impossible to measure the serotonin levels in living human beings.
3) There is no evidence that brain cells produce and then reabsorb serotonin.

In the following video two college professor explain exactly what I’m saying in Fox News: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbTqjSfMPKA&mode=related&search=

We must understand that psychiatric drugs are a multi billion dollars industry, and that careful marketing campaigns are created to push these drugs. We can even say that the whole “Chemical Imbalance Theory” was created in an effort to market these drugs. We can also say that anti-depressants are actually a marketing name for stimulants and anti-psychotic are actually a marketing name for depressants.
Three types of drugs:

Narcotics: (OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet), also known as analgesics or opiods are drugs that are prescribed for moderate to severe physical pain. They are abused because of their euphoric, sedating, and numbing effects. Narcotic abuse causes tolerance and dependence and the withdrawal symptoms are severe.

Depressants: (Xanax, Valium, Librium) are drugs that are prescribed to treat anxiety and sleep disorders. They are abused because of their sedating properties. With abuse, depressants cause tolerance and dependence and the withdrawal symptoms can be severe.

Stimulants: Ritalin, Dexedrine, Meridia) are prescribed to treat ADD/ADHD and other conditions such as asthma. They are abused because of their energizing and euphoric effects. Stimulants do not generally cause tolerance or dependence but abuse is associated with hostility and paranoia. There is also great risk for cardiovascular failure and seizures.

-Ritalin: Prescribed for individuals (usually children) who have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has a high potential for abuse and produces many of the same effects as cocaine or amphetamine. http://www.streetdrugs.org

Psychiatrists are not common people. Psychiatrists have a different point of view than the rest of society:
“A recent survey in the UK found that 83 per cent of psychiatrists thought that ECT( Electroconvulsive therapy) was more likely to be beneficial than harmful – this figure fell to 69 per cent of mental health nurses and 14 per cent of psychologists.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive_therapy

So how come Psychiatrists have such a different point of view than Psychologists and the rest of society?
Whereas Psychologists confronts the human mind or psyche and understand that each person behaviors is an evolution of his own personal experiences. Psychiatrists are unable to confront the human psyche; Psychiatrists don’t care about your emotional issues or traumas; Psychiatrists only deal with man as an object, a biomechanical machine incapable of controlling his mental processes.

How else can you explain Psychiatry barbaric treatments? Like Electroconvulsive therapy, Lobotomies, strait jackets and severe drugging of patients. For them you are not a person; for them you are only a biomechanical machine. People that join the Psychiatric profession do it in order to learn to deal with man in a mechanical way.

The real role of Psychiatry in society is that they are psyche executioners of society. Whenever a person doesn’t conform with the behavioral rules of society they can be sent to a Psychiatrist. And the Psychiatrist enforces the person to conform by the use of multiple control mechanisms; these mechanisms are drugs, electroshock, lobotomies and incarceration (When you are committed into a Psychiatric hospital against your will you are being incarcerated and your freedom is taken away from you. After this the patients are so scared that they will do anything in order to get out of that place.).
The behavioral rules of society are clearly expressed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.

http://www.drugawareness.org/
http://www.adhdfraud.org/
http://www.escapefrompsychiatry.org/
http://www.antipsychiatry.org/
http://www.mindfreedom.org/
http://www.endofshock.com/
http://www.stopshrinks.org/
http://www.gwenolsen.com/
http://psychrights.org
http://www.prescriptionsuicide.com/
http://www.breggin.com/
http://www.healthyskepticism.org/
http://www.aspire.us/