Busting the stereotypes of being a Psychiatrist?

[Ceke2002]

My husband recently joined me for part of a therapy session, and was somewhat taken aback when my Psychiatrist casually dropped a couple of F-bombs. Now my husband has no issue whatsoever with swearing himself, but as he later revealed he didn't expect to hear a Psychiatrist using that sort of language in session as his prevailing view of someone in the profession was that of a somewhat dour and serious looking person, studiously scrawling a bunch of notes in their notepad, whilst saying 'Hmm' a lot.

So just out of interest what stereotypes surrounding Psychiatrists and/or the Psychiatric profession have you come across in your career, and have you ever managed to take anyone by surprise by proving a particular stereotype wrong, or seen certain stereotypes busted yourself?

And if there was one stereotype you'd like to see shot to bits above all others, which one would it be?

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[doc4us]

But really, how did all of those F bombs make you feel?

 

[Ceke2002]

But really, how did all of those F bombs make you feel?

Hmm So what I'm hearing from you is that you seem to have a certain expectation regarding an emotional response to a particular word. I think we should explore that some more.

 

[Shikima]

Und tell me about your Mother, Ja?

 

[NontradCA]

My husband recently joined me for part of a therapy session, and was somewhat taken aback when my Psychiatrist casually dropped a couple of F-bombs. Now my husband has no issue whatsoever with swearing himself, but as he later revealed he didn't expect to hear a Psychiatrist using that sort of language in session as his prevailing view of someone in the profession was that of a somewhat dour and serious looking person, studiously scrawling a bunch of notes in their notepad, whilst saying 'Hmm' a lot.

So just out of interest what stereotypes surrounding Psychiatrists and/or the Psychiatric profession have you come across in your career, and have you ever managed to take anyone by surprise by proving a particular stereotype wrong, or seen certain stereotypes busted yourself?

And if there was one stereotype you'd like to see shot to bits above all others, which one would it be?

Are you a med student or psychiatrist? pre-med?

 

[Ceke2002]

Are you a med student or psychiatrist? pre-med?

None of the above. I'm a patient who enjoys reading and occasionally engaging in some of the discussions in this forum, mostly out of academic interest, as well as someone who is considering the idea of returning to healthcare studies at some point (long story short I was planning on doing Medicine Post Grad, I decided to defer my Undergrad Degree for personal reasons) and who happens to find SDN beneficial to maintaining a certain level of connection with that possibility/hope.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Sometimes I've found it actually comforts older patients for me to behave as the "stereotypical psychiatist".
Younger patients often don't seem to have as many preconceptions (though they have some) and thus less cognitive dissonance when they discover I'm a real person.
I never curse in front of patient's however. Or very much at all. I think it's unprofessional. I wouldn't want my banker, or my plumber, or my child's teacher cursing all the time.
My personal opinion is that resorting to cursing is often a sign of a bankrupt vocabulary and a lack of sophistication and thoughtfulness. Maybe I'm just getting old.

 

[Ceke2002]

Sometimes I've found it actually comforts older patients for me to behave as the "stereotypical psychiatist".
Younger patients often don't seem to have as many preconceptions (though they have some) and thus less cognitive dissonance when they discover I'm a real person.
I never curse in front of patient's however. Or very much at all. I think it's unprofessional. I wouldn't want my banker, or my plumber, or my child's teacher cursing all the time.
My personal opinion is that resorting to cursing is often a sign of a bankrupt vocabulary and a lack of sophistication and thoughtfulness. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Definitely I would assume a different approach - professional vs more relaxed - would be appropriate depending on the individual patient. I suppose that in itself could be considered another stereotype, it seems people appear to automatically expect someone like a GP or Family Physician to see a wide range of patients, and adjust their approach accordingly, and yet a lot of people seem to have a rather fixed notion of how they view a Psychiatrist, even if the situation/patient demographic is the same (or at least similar).

And yeah, I probably should have made it a tad clearer that my therapy sessions don't just consist of myself and my Psychiatrist swearing our respective heads off at one another.

 

[birchswing]

My dad usually comes with me to my psychiatry appointments, but my mom came with me this last time. She was pretty shocked as the last time she had been to a psychiatrist with me was when I was quite young.

When we left I thought it had been a normal appointment, and my mom said, "Is she always like that?" And I said what do you mean? "She just sat there. I don't think she was listening to you." That is normal for my psychiatrist. As soon as I come in she starts looking over my previous scripts and writing new ones as I talk. She also took both a call from her daughter and then text-messaged her. I will talk and tell her what's going on, and then she seemingly ignores that and runs down a list of questions about sleep, mood, suicidal thoughts.

She's taken phone calls and text messaged in more sessions than she hasn't (she and her daughter have a unique type of relationship that I've heard a lot about). She doesn't apologize--instead she takes up my time with a long story about whatever very urgent thing is going on with her daughter. Because I need my scripts and because this is the most agreeable, competent psychiatrist I've found as to yet I know better than to say anything about it. Confronting her would accomplish nothing. She knows that she takes phone calls and text messages in session. If I told her, I can't imagine her doing anything other than explaining it away, which would solve nothing and would make her like me less (and likingness is quite important when you need things like forms filled out to get ADA accommodations at your university).

Anyhow, I think that would break the stereotype most people have of psychiatrists!

My stereotype of psychiatrists is that they generally don't feel the need to be careful or take time with things and aren't curious about things enough to go beyond the most obvious explanation and solution, which unfortunately they usually to believe to be benzos or increasing benzos.

I love to see that stereotype broken, and I do on this forum.

 

[splik]

I actually do curse with certain patients or in order to convey something. I am much less likely to do this with older patients.
Examples might be: "that's really f*cked up" or when I explain PTSD, "PTSD is basically a fancy way of saying you feel **** coz something f*cked up happened to you"
if patient use it then sometimes I will mirror their language. or if they use understatement to describe something really terrible, I might say "I find it interesting that you describe it like that, because I'm thinking how F-'ed up that is."

I have found it very effective when used sparingly and a way of conveying empathy. I think it has to fit your own style and also be acceptable to the patient. Also it helps if you have a British accent, then everything sounds quite nice.

 

[Ceke2002]

I actually do curse with certain patients or in order to convey something. I am much less likely to do this with older patients.
Examples might be: "that's really f*cked up" or when I explain PTSD, "PTSD is basically a fancy way of saying you feel **** coz something f*cked up happened to you"
if patient use it then sometimes I will mirror their language. or if they use understatement to describe something really terrible, I might say "I find it interesting that you describe it like that, because I'm thinking how F-'ed up that is."

I have found it very effective when used sparingly and a way of conveying empathy. I think it has to fit your own style and also be acceptable to the patient. Also it helps if you have a British accent, then everything sounds quite nice.

This sounds very much like the way my Psychiatrist is with me - certainly not f'ing and blinding every 5 seconds, but if things are relaxed, and the conversation is flowing well between us, then he knows the occasional curse word isn't exactly going to send me into a pearl clutching fit of the vapours. Sometimes he'll also swear to both empathise with and emphasise the difficulty of a certain situation - not to the level of letting out a constant string of expletives, but in a way that lets me know he's really hearing what I'm saying and he gets it. It was at least a year or more though before he first swore in front of me, and that was only after I'd cursed a few times in session myself. I must admit it's one thing I find kind of fascinating with an obviously well trained and/or skilled Psychiatrist ~ being able to tune in to different people's wave lengths and sensibilities, without seeming false, along with the ability to mirror both a patient's emotions, and the individual ways they may have of relating to someone on a personal level, whilst still maintaining an overall sense of sincerity and not merely resorting to what might feel like mimicry.

 

[NontradCA]

Sometimes I've found it actually comforts older patients for me to behave as the "stereotypical psychiatist".
Younger patients often don't seem to have as many preconceptions (though they have some) and thus less cognitive dissonance when they discover I'm a real person.
I never curse in front of patient's however. Or very much at all. I think it's unprofessional. I wouldn't want my banker, or my plumber, or my child's teacher cursing all the time.
My personal opinion is that resorting to cursing is often a sign of a bankrupt vocabulary and a lack of sophistication and thoughtfulness. Maybe I'm just getting old.

I think psychiatry is stigmatized (it's getting better), and having the stereotypical demeanor isn't necessarily a good thing at all. Having a real person (seemingly successful) manage the illness could work to advantage of treatment in giving the patient some comfort in knowing they're not "weird". It did for me at least. I believe that interactions should be guided in truth, and that people (especially younger) don't want that barrier to communication. Professionalism is there to make sure idiots don't offend old people. If you're of moderate social intelligence you don't have to "act" in any sort of manner.

 

[Armadillos]

Also worth noting that many physicians who have the reserved/professional demeanor aren't trying to put on a show or something, they are just being their selves and happen to be mild mannered. I don't curse much in "real life", so I don't curse much with my patients either. I laugh a lot in real life, so I laugh a lot with my patients too.

 

[hockeyMD03]

I actually do curse with certain patients or in order to convey something. I am much less likely to do this with older patients.
Examples might be: "that's really f*cked up" or when I explain PTSD, "PTSD is basically a fancy way of saying you feel **** coz something f*cked up happened to you"
if patient use it then sometimes I will mirror their language. or if they use understatement to describe something really terrible, I might say "I find it interesting that you describe it like that, because I'm thinking how F-'ed up that is."

I have found it very effective when used sparingly and a way of conveying empathy. I think it has to fit your own style and also be acceptable to the patient. Also it helps if you have a British accent, then everything sounds quite nice.

I think reciprocating the patients tone and use of language to be the best unless the physician is uncomfortable with that. But if the patient seems comfortable with it and swears here and there it would be ok to as long as context is right. Shows that you are a person to and helps facilitate connection

 

[Ceke2002]

Also worth noting that many physicians who have the reserved/professional demeanor aren't trying to put on a show or something, they are just being their selves and happen to be mild mannered. I don't curse much in "real life", so I don't curse much with my patients either. I laugh a lot in real life, so I laugh a lot with my patients too.

I think reciprocating the patients tone and use of language to be the best unless the physician is uncomfortable with that. But if the patient seems comfortable with it and swears here and there it would be ok to as long as context is right. Shows that you are a person to and helps facilitate connection

Absolutely, I agree totally with both these posts. No one, especially not a person in a position of professional authority, so to speak, should ever feel as if they need to engage in any form of language or communication that is outside their personal comfort zone on the onus that it is somehow required to make a connection with any one individual. As a matter of fact, at least from my point of view, any connection made under those circumstances would almost invariably register as feeling non genuine and forced. If someone is a typically mild mannered type person, who wouldn't ordinarily swear under any circumstance, then for them to suddenly start throwing out a smattering of four letter curse words would be a situation I'd probably find quite jarring. I think you can definitely connect with another person on their level, whilst still remaining true to the core of who you are as well. Just my layperson's opinion of course.

I think psychiatry is stigmatized (it's getting better), and having the stereotypical demeanor isn't necessarily a good thing at all. Having a real person (seemingly successful) manage the illness could work to advantage of treatment in giving the patient some comfort in knowing they're not "weird". It did for me at least. I believe that interactions should be guided in truth, and that people (especially younger) don't want that barrier to communication. Professionalism is there to make sure idiots don't offend old white. If you're of moderate social intelligence you don't have to "act" in any sort of manner.

That's the bottom line in my book - that the person I'm communicating/connecting with is being real with me, and that our interactions are guided by a mutual sense of authenticity, sincerity and truth. The more authentic/genuine someone is, not only with me, but within themselves, the more likely I am to be able to open up to them in a fuller sense of the word (and of course it follows that the reverse is true as well).

 

[milesed]

It's unprofessional IMO and they should be able to communicate just fine w/o the cursing.

Birchswing- you need to either address the phone calls and texting or go elsewhere. You are paying for the time the doc is spending on her own issues. I could understand if it's a rare emergency, but it sounds like a very rude and inappropriate habit to me.

 

[Ceke2002]

It's unprofessional IMO and they should be able to communicate just fine w/o the cursing.

Birchswing- you need to either address the phone calls and texting or go elsewhere. You are paying for the time the doc is spending on her own issues. I could understand if it's a rare emergency, but it sounds like a very rude and inappropriate habit to me.

I agree with your sentiments to Birchswing, but I find the sentiment that a Psychiatrist is somehow unprofessional if they occasionally curse in the presence of a patient who is perfectly okay with that to be somewhat of a stereotype in itself. Does there need to be this one way only idea of how a Psychiatrist should behave, within reason of course (I'm obviously not talking about boundary violations), in order to be seen as ethical or professional or even helpful to their clients?

 

[milesed]

I said it was my opinion. I'm not telling anyone else how they must conduct themselves. I feel that any physician should conduct themselves in a manner that is a positive example. Cursing is not a positive example I would set.

 

[erg923]

I dont trust people who don't curse. Just sayin...

 

[Ceke2002]

I said it was my opinion. I'm not telling anyone else how they must conduct themselves. I feel that any physician should conduct themselves in a manner that is a positive example. Cursing is not a positive example I would set.

Oh sure, sorry I didn't mean to imply that you were placing your opinion onto others. I would never expect anyone to set an example they didn't personally feel was positive, or that they didn't feel comfortable with.

 

[Ceke2002]

I dont trust people who don't curse. Just sayin...

Ken oath, mate.

 

[smalltownpsych]

The only time I drop an f-bomb is when I am letting a hard-core substance abuser know that they are going to f-ing die if they keep doing what they are doing. I am a lot more gentle with my run of the mill anxious patients. Wouldn't want to scare them.

 

[Ceke2002]

I'm in line with the earlier train of thought: if you don't (or hardly) curse in regularly in "real life", might not feel natural to curse while in session.

That said, the points noted of building rapport and demonstrating empathy via the usage of a verbal spectrum which a given patient might relate to -- is interesting.

Given the right circumstances, I can see myself:
...wow, that must a been a pain in the ***.
or
...definitely sounds like a sh*tty situation to be in.

I can't really see myself saying:

"F-bomb."

That is, unless a hammer just landed on my thumb -- or my team just lost the super bowl.

Yeah, but I'm Australian so the F-word is like random sentence punctuation to me.

Seriously though, it's not like I walk into the clinic room and the first thing my Psychiatrist comes out with is 'So how the f**k are you?'. I just found it interesting to hear what I consider a rather stereotypical idea of the perceived image of a Psychiatrist, especially coming from my husband who tends to be somewhat of an alternative thinker like me. I guess it's somewhat thought provoking to me that the almost Sigmund Freud-esque image of the Psychiatrist is still such a 'go to' idea for a lot of people.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Distraught alcoholic female today, "I'm not a bad person. I just do stupid s**t."
Mutally therapeutic laughing at the human condition thus ensued.
A good moment.

 

[Ceke2002]

I am a lot more gentle with my run of the mill anxious patients. Wouldn't want to scare them.

Haha! OMG, that reminds me of the time I went into session having one of my 'OMG hidden cameras, hidden cameras and implanted tracking devices everywhere!' type moments of paranoia, so my Psychiatrist starts very carefully and gently explaining that he's 'just turning on the computer, and it's okay it's just the screen loading up now'...and then I started to laugh, because all I could think of was Homer Simpson telling Marge - "that's just the engine powering up, that's just the engine struggling, that's just a carp swimming around your ankles".

 

[novopsych]

It's unprofessional IMO and they should be able to communicate just fine w/o the cursing.

Birchswing- you need to either address the phone calls and texting or go elsewhere. You are paying for the time the doc is spending on her own issues. I could understand if it's a rare emergency, but it sounds like a very rude and inappropriate habit to me.

I agree with you, but:

I'm on a cancelation list to see my current psychiatrist because the next available when I made my next appointment was three months out after my last appointment. That three months has almost come up and she just canceled the appointment I scheduled nearly 3 months ago because she's going out of town. So I am now on a cancellation list for any appointment with her, not just an earlier one than scheduled. I'm scheduled to see a new psychiatrist who I had to schedule about six months out after applying to see him (an actual application like it's a job interview). That comes in December and will hopefully work out.

In the mean time, I got very frustrated because my university makes me turn in forms from my psychiatrist once per semester and only gave me 2 weeks notice that they needed a form filled out. I obviously couldn't comply (she doesn't do anything that she can't be billed for and fills out the forms in session) and had a hold put on my registration--I was able to get it lifted, but it caused a bit of a kerfuffle.

It's a psychiatrist's market right now. There are no psychiatrists you could get in to see right now if you didn't already have one--it would be months out for any psychiatrist, even the bad ones—not that there are many at all, just a handful. And I can't even see my own apparently, so all that is to say that I cannot afford to be picky. I could see my therapist this week (I am in fact). I could schedule an appointment with my cardiologist or PCP. Psychiatrists are just booked solid to the brim, and there aren't many of them, which is frustrating because 1) I need to make med changes and 2) my university thinks that I don't want mental healthcare, which puts me in a tenuous position.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

novopsych...why are you replying to a comment directed toward birchswing?

A little misstep in the Dance today?

 

[Ceke2002]

I agree with you, but:

I'm on a cancelation list to see my current psychiatrist because the next available when I made my next appointment was three months out after my last appointment. That three months has almost come up and she just canceled the appointment I scheduled nearly 3 months ago because she's going out of town. So I am now on a cancellation list for any appointment with her, not just an earlier one than scheduled. I'm scheduled to see a new psychiatrist who I had to schedule about six months out after applying to see him (an actual application like it's a job interview). That comes in December and will hopefully work out.

In the mean time, I got very frustrated because my university makes me turn in forms from my psychiatrist once per semester and only gave me 2 weeks notice that they needed a form filled out. I obviously couldn't comply (she doesn't do anything that she can't be billed for and fills out the forms in session) and had a hold put on my registration--I was able to get it lifted, but it caused a bit of a kerfuffle.

It's a psychiatrist's market right now. There are no psychiatrists you could get in to see right now if you didn't already have one--it would be months out for any psychiatrist, even the bad ones—not that there are many at all, just a handful. And I can't even see my own apparently, so all that is to say that I cannot afford to be picky. I could see my therapist this week (I am in fact). I could schedule an appointment with my cardiologist or PCP. Psychiatrists are just booked solid to the brim, and there aren't many of them, which is frustrating because 1) I need to make med changes and 2) my university thinks that I don't want mental healthcare, which puts me in a tenuous position.

So you're a fully qualified Psychiatrist with a bonus degree in Dance Therapy, and you run a practice filled with 'vibrant' patients, but you're still at University and required to turn in forms from an actual Psychiatrist once per semester, and you're now unable to get in for an appointment anywhere without waiting months on end. Gee, but I thought you were such a qualified and successful Psychiatrist specialising in Dance Therapy, surely you must have some colleagues you could call on - or are they all imaginary too.

 

[EpiIV]

So just out of interest what stereotypes surrounding Psychiatrists and/or the Psychiatric profession have you come across in your career, and have you ever managed to take anyone by surprise by proving a particular stereotype wrong, or seen certain stereotypes busted yourself?

And if there was one stereotype you'd like to see shot to bits above all others, which one would it be?

"Psychiatrists are very gentile and calming with their patients." Consider that busted when I was rotating in a residential substance abuse recovery center. Jerry Springer level shouting matches. That psychiatrist would take no bull or excuses from his patients. And if they cursed at the psychiatrist or told him that he never experienced what they were going through? Hell hath no furry like the venom that was about to drop. Yet, the patients responded very well to this. The program was set up very well to give the patients the tools to succeed and this psychiatrist had a lot of letters that came years after their initial meeting thanking him for being so aggressive with their substance abuse. It really went to show that different styles have their place. Some people need challenging. And cursing. It's a tool like anything else.

But the stereotype I'd like to see blown out of the water? "Psychiatrists are all crazy themselves.", "Psychiatrists go into psychiatry because they want to figure out their own problems." On my OBGYN rotation, one of the attendings was harassing a fellow class mate of mine (who was asked what she wanted to do and replied truthfully) chuckling all of this along with "you have to be crazy yourself to be a good psychiatrist. Otherwise you can't understand your patients" The iorny being he was a male OBGYN. And I promptly shoved my foot in my mouth and asked him if you needed to become pregnant to become a good OBGYN. Luckily it seemed to slip over his head "Well my wife has." and I chewed on that foot in my mouth while kissing his butt with all the fake laughter a med student dependent on a grade can manage. ugh.

Psychiatrists as a whole, are probably some of the most stable people I've ever met. They take care of themselves because they value good mental health. As for trying to 'figure out your own issues', I'm going into the field because my personal experience on the medicine wards has convinced me that a good portion of pathology is the result of undiagnosed psych conditions self medicated by terribly destructive coping mechanisms over a life time. It's about getting to people before its too late. It's about maximizing the patient's quality of life by directly addressing the way they function in the world and their happiness. We go into psych because we want to treat patients. Not ourselves. Yeesh.

 

[birchswing]

Thought that would happen one of these days eventually. I use 1password and the logins look identical. Must have been going too quickly. Suppose it had to come to an end eventually, surprised it didn't a long, long time ago. You all were quite tolerant of novopsych, and some a bit gullible even.

I like to write. That was about it. Wasn't really a point I was making. There's no way for me to satire what I've actually experienced, so I created someone entirely different from anything I've ever experienced. I actually started to think she had some good points at times I did self-delete a couple of bits that I thought may have gone too far. Hope people enjoyed it for the most part.

 

[hamstergang]

Hope people enjoyed it for the most part.

I hated the novopsych account and felt it was a net negative for the forum. This is a forum for psychiatrists, not for patients. You making that gimmick that made psychiatrists look bad just seems inappropriate.

 

[Ceke2002]

Thought that would happen one of these days eventually. I use 1password and the logins look identical. Must have been going too quickly. Suppose it had to come to an end eventually, surprised it didn't a long, long time ago. You all were quite tolerant of novopsych, and some a bit gullible even.

I like to write. That was about it. Wasn't really a point I was making. There's no way for me to satire what I've actually experienced, so I created someone entirely different from anything I've ever experienced. I actually started to think she had some good points at times I did self-delete a couple of bits that I thought may have gone too far. Hope people enjoyed it for the most part.

Wow dude, my opinion of you has just plummeted. This is a forum for medical professionals, and as patients we are here as guests, privileged guests at that, and you took it upon yourself to create a completely false persona that mocked the profession of people here that you claim to have come to respect, and then have the nerve to say some were even a bit gullible. People spoke out against 'Novopych's' damaging ideas and attitudes, despite knowing it was most likely a troll posting, because they were concerned about people being presented with false ideas of the mental health care profession, and the impact that might have - and all the time you were just having yourself a laugh? You might have had some rough times with your experiences of Psychiatry, it does not give you the right to come and **** in someone else's nest.

 

[splik]

I loved novoypsych's posts. you are a talented writer and made me laugh! i wish i could have read the bits where you thought you went too far! novoypsych's post were very educational and informative, I learnt a lot and they were a joy to read. I am sad it's all over.

 

[birchswing]

Wow dude, my opinion of you has just plummeted. This is a forum for medical professionals, and as patients we are here as guests, privileged guests at that, and you took it upon yourself to create a completely false persona that mocked the profession of people here that you claim to have come to respect, and then have the nerve to say some were even a bit gullible. People spoke out against 'Novopych's' damaging ideas and attitudes, despite knowing it was most likely a troll posting, because they were concerned about people being presented with false ideas of the mental health care profession, and the impact that might have - and all the time you were just having yourself a laugh? You might have had some rough times with your experiences of Psychiatry, it does not give you the right to come and **** in someone else's nest.

It was humor, and I think it was fairly obvious that it was satire. It was more absurdist than mocking the profession. I didn't even know dance therapy existed until after I came up with the idea and looked it up. And I've never heard of a psychiatrist who performs dance therapy. Novopsych was a mockery of herself, not the profession. I know that the field of psychiatry and this forum can withstand it. It wasn't against anyone. If you look back at the posts, it wasn't making any point about anything. It was just absurdity that happened to take place within the context of psychiatry. Who has a secretary that identifies as East German and delivers foals as a hobby? It was meant to be comedic regardless of the medium. If psychiatry needed defending, it would be weak and not something to use as a medium for humor. I don't think that's the case. The platform is neutral IMO.

 

[birchswing]

I loved novoypsych's posts. you are a talented writer and made me laugh! i wish i could have read the bits where you thought you went too far! novoypsych's post were very educational and informative, I learnt a lot and they were a joy to read. I am sad it's all over.

Sorry! I got sloppy. Was overtired. I guess I could have played it off after being discovered in another direction. I haven't thought of any good material lately anyhow.

 

[birchswing]

I hated the novopsych account and felt it was a net negative for the forum. This is a forum for psychiatrists, not for patients. You making that gimmick that made psychiatrists look bad just seems inappropriate.

I only intended to make novopsych, not a real psychiatrist, look absurd.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Well, never really accepting that novopsych was a real psychiatrist, it didn't disturb me that much, but now that (s)he's outed, let's say "goodbye" and thanks for the occasional laugh. Satire's always been my favorite form of humor.

birch (and ceke)--please stay around--I think the forum benefits from your perspective, which you do typically communicate with honesty and respect.

 

[Ceke2002]

Well, never really accepting that novopsych was a real psychiatrist, it didn't disturb me that much, but now that (s)he's outed, let's say "goodbye" and thanks for the occasional laugh. Satire's always been my favorite form of humor.

birch (and ceke)--please stay around--I think the forum benefits from your perspective, which you do typically communicate with honesty and respect.

Thanks, appreciated.

 

[birchswing]

Well, never really accepting that novopsych was a real psychiatrist, it didn't disturb me that much, but now that (s)he's outed, let's say "goodbye" and thanks for the occasional laugh. Satire's always been my favorite form of humor.

birch (and ceke)--please stay around--I think the forum benefits from your perspective, which you do typically communicate with honesty and respect.

Thank you for your indulgences and your equanimity! Novopsych has definitely taken a final bow. Hehe.

 

[Ceke2002]

It was humor, and I think it was fairly obvious that it was satire. It was more absurdist than mocking the profession. I didn't even know dance therapy existed until after I came up with the idea and looked it up. And I've never heard of a psychiatrist who performs dance therapy. Novopsych was a mockery of herself, not the profession. I know that the field of psychiatry and this forum can withstand it. It wasn't against anyone. If you look back at the posts, it wasn't making any point about anything. It was just absurdity that happened to take place within the context of psychiatry. Who has a secretary that identifies as East German and delivers foals as a hobby? It was meant to be comedic regardless of the medium. If psychiatry needed defending, it would be weak and not something to use as a medium for humor. I don't think that's the case. The platform is neutral IMO.

Of course it was satirist humour, I think that became obvious pretty quickly. Look, I'm sorry if I jumped the gun and leapt down your throat a bit. I just happen to get a bit protective of people I've come to like and respect, which includes many members of this forum. Besides that I'm probably projecting a bit of anger onto you, seeing as I've recently found out a (now ex) friend of over a decade has been running a long term scam which has hurt a lot of people. So any hint of someone pretending to be something they're not, regardless of content, is probably going to have me shooting my mouth and asking questions later just at the moment.

Edited to add: So, when do I get to challenge 'Novopsych' to a 'dance off'

 

[birchswing]

Of course it was satirist humour, I think that became obvious pretty quickly. Look, I'm sorry if I jumped the gun and leapt down your throat a bit. I just happen to get a bit protective of people I've come to like and respect, which includes many members of this forum. Besides that I'm probably projecting a bit of anger onto you, seeing as I've recently found out a (now ex) friend of over a decade has been running a long term scam which has hurt a lot of people. So any hint of someone pretending to be something they're not, regardless of content, is probably going to have me shooting my mouth and asking questions later just at the moment.

Edited to add: So, when do I get to challenge 'Novopsych' to a 'dance off'

Thank you very much for saying that, and the apology is not necessary at all. I was on the "edge" a bit. I showed it to my dad who thought it was too much—I think he found it funny but too bizarre. I told my therapist about it who found it amusing, but he never actually read the posts. There were some posts I took down. And actually I felt the most guilty that you had actually participated in legitimate dance therapy, which I didn't even realize existed when I first wrote about it. I completely understand what you are saying about protecting people you respect.

I do find comedy like this funny, but I can't say I've ever been on the other side of it, so I take people at their word when they tell me it's offensive.

I do actually remember now how this started a bit more. It wasn't even making fun of psychiatrists. It was my therapist who is a big believer in the frame. He says that he "fetishisizes the frame." So, for example, on a nice day we can't have therapy outside because he believes so much in the frame (which means same meeting place, time, etc.). And I guess that rigidity got me thinking of what would happen if the frame was dance and a person fell and the therapist wouldn't leave the frame. Anyhow, all over.

You're very earnest and I appreciate your posts.

 

[Bartelby]

I hated the novopsych account and felt it was a net negative for the forum. This is a forum for psychiatrists, not for patients. You making that gimmick that made psychiatrists look bad just seems inappropriate.

I agree with this. I'm fine with non-psychiatrists being here (and think they add to the discussion), but I suspect lots of non-psychiatrists are here and they may not have the sophistication of a psychiatric trainee or attending in sniffing out BS about the field. Having someone who sounds vaguely believable (if you know little about the field) like Novopsych continuing to reinforce all of the worst stereotypes about psychiatrists to a wide audience who may not know if it is trolling or not is not a good thing in my book.

That said, the posts were pretty funny as satire. Frankly, though, I'm glad to see them go.

 

[EpiIV]

Thought that would happen one of these days eventually. I use 1password and the logins look identical. Must have been going too quickly. Suppose it had to come to an end eventually, surprised it didn't a long, long time ago. You all were quite tolerant of novopsych, and some a bit gullible even.

I like to write. That was about it. Wasn't really a point I was making. There's no way for me to satire what I've actually experienced, so I created someone entirely different from anything I've ever experienced. I actually started to think she had some good points at times I did self-delete a couple of bits that I thought may have gone too far. Hope people enjoyed it for the most part.

So, now that you're out in the open, any reason why you picked the user name novopsych?

 

[smalltownpsych]

Thank you very much for saying that, and the apology is not necessary at all. I was on the "edge" a bit. I showed it to my dad who thought it was too much—I think he found it funny but too bizarre. I told my therapist about it who found it amusing, but he never actually read the posts. There were some posts I took down. And actually I felt the most guilty that you had actually participated in legitimate dance therapy, which I didn't even realize existed when I first wrote about it. I completely understand what you are saying about protecting people you respect.

I do find comedy like this funny, but I can't say I've ever been on the other side of it, so I take people at their word when they tell me it's offensive.

I do actually remember now how this started a bit more. It wasn't even making fun of psychiatrists. It was my therapist who is a big believer in the frame. He says that he "fetishisizes the frame." So, for example, on a nice day we can't have therapy outside because he believes so much in the frame (which means same meeting place, time, etc.). And I guess that rigidity got me thinking of what would happen if the frame was dance and a person fell and the therapist wouldn't leave the frame. Anyhow, all over.

You're very earnest and I appreciate your posts.

I especially enjoyed the "keeping the frame" aspect of this. Especially with the double meaning when used in context of "dance therapy". The therapeutic frame is an important construct and I have seen the problems when it is too rigidly maintained or it becomes so loose as to lead to no boundaries.

Also, you had me half-fooled. I was pretty sure that this was a sham, especially the East German delivering foals part , but I also thought there was the scary possibility that Novopsych might be just some new agey psychiatrist from California and you did a good job of staying in character. Although I'll admit that I did enjoy it, I don't know if I really agree with what you did though, and to be very honest, it will diminish my trust a bit.

 

[Mad Jack]

None of the above. I'm a patient who enjoys reading and occasionally engaging in some of the discussions in this forum, mostly out of academic interest, as well as someone who is considering the idea of returning to healthcare studies at some point (long story short I was planning on doing Medicine Post Grad, I decided to defer my Undergrad Degree for personal reasons) and who happens to find SDN beneficial to maintaining a certain level of connection with that possibility/hope.

I lurked on SDN for the better half of a decade before I finally decided to try my hand at med school.

To hopefully become a ******* psychiatrist.

 

[hockeyMD03]

Yeah, but I'm Australian so the F-word is like random sentence punctuation to me.

Seriously though, it's not like I walk into the clinic room and the first thing my Psychiatrist comes out with is 'So how the f**k are you?'. I just found it interesting to hear what I consider a rather stereotypical idea of the perceived image of a Psychiatrist, especially coming from my husband who tends to be somewhat of an alternative thinker like me. I guess it's somewhat thought provoking to me that the almost Sigmund Freud-esque image of the Psychiatrist is still such a 'go to' idea for a lot of people.

My mom and maternal grandmother swear worse than my friends in a hockey locker room. Their language make almost anyone's ears bleed. Makes it hard to transition

 

[NontradCA]

I lurked on SDN for the better half of a decade before I finally decided to try my hand at med school.

To hopefully become a ******* psychiatrist.

Not surprised. Always pinned you as an armchair intellectual.

 

[Mad Jack]

Not surprised. Always pinned you as an armchair intellectual.

I'm actually more of a wheelchair intellectual. I actually get things done, just at glacial speed.

 

[Ceke2002]

But the stereotype I'd like to see blown out of the water? "Psychiatrists are all crazy themselves.", "Psychiatrists go into psychiatry because they want to figure out their own problems.

Oh yeah, this, definitely. I actually had a discussion with my Psychiatrist about this issue a couple of years back, I mentioned how I found it sort of annoying that some people tended to assume that just because I'd taken dance lessons that must be the reason I developed an eating disorder, and he mentioned a similar attitude towards Psychiatry, you know clearly people become Psychiatrists because there's something a bit wrong with them themselves.

(Not that I'm not aware of a number of practitioners who have indeed overcome their own mental health issues and been able to use their experiences to connect with patients in practice, I just baulk at the idea that *all* Psychiatrists/Therapists must be that way, same with the notion that *all* dancers must have food and/or body image issues.)

 

[Ceke2002]

The therapeutic frame is an important construct and I have seen the problems when it is too rigidly maintained or it becomes so loose as to lead to no boundaries.

Agreed. That's definitely one of the big things I like about working with my Psychiatrist, the 'Therapeutic Frame' (or 'Alliance'/whatever else you want to call it) is relaxed enough that I feel able to speak more openly, but also maintains set boundaries that allow me to feel safe (which is obviously something that's important to me after having experienced previous abuse in therapy).