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Interactions with health professionals

Gem17
Community Member

I've recently had some negative interactions with health professionals, mostly in the emergency department of the hospital, related to my mental health and specifically around SH. These have left me feeling quite traumatised. I am doing better now as I have spoken to my psychologist about these experiences but I am wondering if anyone else has had these experiences? It was quite upsetting because it took a lot of courage to seek help when I needed it and to be that vulnerable and then made to feel like a waste of time and space was hard.

23 Replies 23

mmMekitty
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor

Hello Gem17,

I haven't been through anything like this experience you have spoken about. I can't explain, & wouldn't even try to rationalise how you were treated. It's just not right.

There still seems a long way to go before Mental Health/Illness is acknowledged as being as real & as important as Physical/Biological Health & Disease/Illness is,

I'm glad you could talk to your psychologist about your experience. I imagine goingthrough that might make going there again less likely for you, if you thought you needed help.

You don't go there to be judged, but to get help, onto treatment, stuff like anybody coming in with an injury or with severe flue-like symptoms would.

Isn't it discriminatory? Can you complain about your treatment? I know that would be very hard, but we need to try. Maybe someone to advocate for us?

It's so frustrating. I'm not sure I would know what to do, if I could feel I could make a complaint, but I know I want to, for nyself, for anyone.

I expect someothers will be along to talk with you some more, & maybe be of more help? I hope so.

mmMekitty

Gem17
Community Member

Your response was helpful. Thank you! Just having someone appreciate and acknowdge how difficult it can be is helpful.

I was actually quite shocked with how little understanding of mental health some of the people I interacted with had. I haven't had much experience with receiving support for my mental health through the emergency department until recently so I guess I was unaware of how different it can be. On some of the occasions, people were understanding and supportive however on other occasions they were obviously frustrated with me and were quite rough with their treatment of me, not listening when I tried to non-verbally express how I was feeling (as I wasn't really able to communicate verbally because I had shut down). It unfortunately makes the thought of having to go back there again difficult, though I also know that if that's the level of support I need, it's where I will need to go.

smallwolf
Community Champion
Community Champion

You said ...

It unfortunately makes the thought of having to go back there again difficult

It can be quite upsetting and frustrating when others do not understand what you go (or are going) through. My psychiatrist has given me some tips on these types of situations and as hard as it might sound I have to put some people into a group "they will never understand" and for myself "rise above".

And you are good enough as you are!

Gem17
Community Member
That is good advice, especially for the general public but wouldn't you expect doctors and nurses, trained medical professionals, to know better and to be a bit more understanding? I feel like when we are unwell and in crisis due to mental health that maybe we should be treated with the same respect and empathy as someone who was unwell and in crisis with physical illness.

geoff
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

Hello Gem, this can easily happen, unfortunately, more times than we would ever imagine.

My sister wanted me to see a psychologist 2 hours away when I was depressed and on the second session said that could not help me when I was self mediating on alcohol and didn't want to see me again until I stopped.

What she didn't take into account was to find out why I was drinking and couldn't, but mostly didn't want to know, which I felt disappointed being pushed away like this.

The last psychologist I visited about three times always said that I don't need to take any medication, not for depression, OCD, anxiety or even pain, so I asked him if he had to suffer from a dislocated hip, he said no and that he would be able to control his mind so that the pain wasn't an issue with a smile on his face, that's when I left.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

Gem17
Community Member

Hi Geoff,

I'm sorry to hear that you too have had struggles with health care professionals. It definitely makes something like getting help, which is already tricky, even harder.

feralchik
Community Member

Hi Gem17,

You are certainly not alone in these experiences I assure you. I have experienced the same and know of numerous others too. I think overall it is the whole system to blame. I don't know which health professionals you are referring to exactly, but I imagine you may be referring to the CATT or crisis assessment team, but I am not really sure either. I think the problem is that there are limited psych hospital beds and limited immediate services. I think they need more services for people who are suicidal, perhaps like halfway places, as hospitals may not be good for everyone. It can be a bit traumatising too I think being admitted into a psych ward as well. I think sometimes you have to be really psychotic basically to be admitted into the hospital. That is in the public system I mean. The problem is there is not much understanding of how this screening process can make people feel. I certainly understand how the whole process can be traumatising and make people feel worse. I experienced a similar sort of push-pull experience, and experienced it numerous time with public mental health service. On one side you are encouraged to reach out for help but can receive a reaction like you shouldn't have bothered. It is incredibly confusing. I even had a counsellor beg me to go to the hospital once and she came and picked me up after hours and drove me to the hospital because I found it so hard to walk in myself. I was worried I wasting peoples time and felt ashamed. I waited hours to see the crisis team, which ended up being just one woman and by that time it was late at night. After all that time, I was just told to go home and felt treated like there was nothing wrong with me. I hated myself and my suicidal thoughts intensified even more. I think I did end up being admitted after I just ran out of the hospital. Maybe it was not the crisis workers intention to make me or anyone feel like they have wasted peoples time, but that is sort of what the whole process does and it is really not good. I wonder sometimes whether it can even have fatal consequences too. I think the whole problem lies with the hospital service kind of being overloaded and so they have to do this kind of intense risk screening but without understanding how it can make people feel. I hope this helps a little and hope you are feeling a bit better now.

Gem17
Community Member

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. They sound very similar to what I have been experiencing. I'm sorry to hear you've also faced these challenges.

Recently, I've been left feeling as though I am a burden and wasting everyone's time when I'm feeling like I'm at crisis point. I don't know about you, but it's taken a lot for me to get to the point where I am asking for help so to have my struggles trivialised and joked about, ignored and completely disregarded and to be made to feel like I'm over reacting and wasting everyone's time has been hard. I can understand and appreciate that there is a lot of pressure on the public health system, including mental health, but being treated this way doesn't feel right - it's frustrating.

geoff
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

Hello Gem, what has been said can certainly be the case, especially when a therapist asks you why you are feeling this way, and then tells you that you shouldn't be like this, rather than getting down to the reason, that's what helps you, but when they say the former, only makes you close up and not tell them and that's not how to help you.

A person comes to a therapist for a reason and wants to open up, but not to be told otherwise.

Geoff.