Quote:
Originally Posted by Quandry
I've been going through this quagmire for eleven years and during that time I applied for Social Security for the first time. I went through all the tests and at the end spoke with a psychiatrist. I told him with sobbing tears about my childhood of abuse, and I left the building. He followed me to my car and told me that he thought I needed some counseling and that he didn't think my symptoms were psychological. He seemed to believe my symptoms were caused by something environmental. My Neurologist says that my issues are psychological. The point is that the body doctors think that my illness is in my mind and the mind doctor think it's in my body. Just because a doctor can't figure it out, doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist.
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Well, Quandry, look at this. Good for you! When one is having difficulty getting a diagnosis, agreeing to see a psychiatrist is an intelligent move, and carrying on with one, even better.
A psychiatrist is a doctor of medicine; a psychologist is not. Psychiatrists are supposed to keep up with the diagnostic part of their practise for the very reason you stated--he believes you, Quandry. What discipline in medicine would see more unusual, or inexplicable symptoms, than a psychiatrist, given the mind and body connection? Whether we have a cold, the flu, or a major diagnosis, every one on this planet can have non-organic symptoms.
Further, some physicians will ask a patient to go to a psychiatrist for this very reason. It would be my wish that doctors would tell the patient what they are up to! There have been three (to my knowledge) myasthenics in my region, diagnosed by a psychiatrist.
Quandry, your post just helped a whole bunch of people! Thank you!