So, as I lie here in bed recovering from injuries I have been contemplating this especially in light of the bpd discussion. Personal info. I have an anxiety disorder and it’s a part of my medical history. No big deal. I have had peripheral neuropathy on my legs with associated hair loss diagnosed as anxiety. I had radiation damage to my lung diagnosed as anxiety until a pulmonologist ordered a CT and bronched me. I even had cancer first diagnosed as anxiety. I don’t present as anxious. I recently went to the Dr about anxiety that I’m having because I’m losing my practice. She said,” I know you’re telling me you feel anxious, but you look great to me” and she wrote that in her note too. I went to the surgeon yesterday for follow up on my fractures. My foot is very swollen, purple, and painful as is my knee. The home health nurse and PT have examined me and said I need to be looked at because of the amount of pain, discoloration and swelling. The home health nurse sent a report to the surgeon which included pictures of my foot. The surgeon listened to my complaints, said he thought I might just be experiencing anxiety. He did not even take a glance at my foot or knee and was gone in 5 minutes. This is all just over an anxiety diagnosis. Imagine a more stigmatizing diagnosis. As a patient, it’s really infuriating to be summarily dismissed like that. I’ve always thought of diagnosis as a way to direct treatment and communicate with other professionals. Something gets lost in the translation though. My husband is a physician and he has the motto “Crazy people can get sick too” nice. He also has the motto that “patients are f@ liars” so there’s that. I just wonder if there is another way. On the one hand, I have thought that psych stuff should only be able to be visible by mental health providers but that won’t work because these diagnoses can be important for medical providers to know. Really, everyone is part of the team. Do they start on day one of medical school teaching students “crazy people can get sick too?” I don’t know what the answer is. More psych education in med school?
The stigma of mental illness
- Thread starter psychma
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Almost everyone has an anxiety disorder in their medical history these days; I don’t think physicians are even paying much attention to the list of diagnoses; most of which are rather meaningless and used to prop up the billing
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It’s all about justifying a higher level of complexity in the documentation. So many problems would be addressed w a one-payor system.
That’s interesting and I am n=1 so my experiences are just anecdotal. I have to be honest, I don’t think physicians are paying attention to anything. I just saw my surgeon. I let him know I had recent onset gross swelling of the foot with it being bright purple, increased swelling and pain in my knee and calf and he didn’t even look in the direction of my leg. He certainly didn’t examine it. I’m either getting poor care or I need to be much more assertive. In any case, I do think mental health diagnoses can be stigmatizing. Mental health providers may be more empathetic. My husband is a doctor. I’ve met a lot of doctors and have been stunned about how they talk about their patients sometimes. I’ve heard really unempathetic things. N=1. This definitely skews my opinion.
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I would agree that a lot of doctors are highly unempathetic (a lot of psychiatrists even!). I think in the case with the surgeon you are just getting poor care altogether
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Given the symptoms you report with your foot, in your position I would push back HARD on them dismissing your symptoms and ask for an eval or referral to PM&R.
If I was a dad I’d probably say…”something is - afoot”.
If I was a dad I’d probably say…”something is - afoot”.
