Posted by Racer on December 17, 2004, at 12:48:21
In reply to Re: ARRGGGH......STAND IN PSYCHIATRISTS!!, posted by pretty_paints on December 17, 2004, at 11:07:17
Pretty_Paints, you have got me thinking and laughing with this, but to keep this MedBoardAppropriate, I'll ask if you've ever considered taking medications for any of your sypmtoms? (<<<See? I'm qualified to be a doctor!)
Here's my story, relating to what you wrote about thinking the nurse wanted to kill you in that appointment, and not being psychotic while on APs...
When I started relapsing with the AN this year, I told the therapist I was seeing that it was happening, and that it frightened me. She asked if I ate? Well, yes, of course I ate! Then she asked if I vomited? No, I don't vomit. That was it. Mind you, "not fasting" is not the same as "eating normally", and vomiting is not the only form of purging behavior. What's more, AN is a very deceptive disorder -- not only do we deceive others, we deceive ourselves, too. The basic rule with eating disorders is that you have to ask questions, and specific questions at that. You also have to ask questions about the answers you're getting, because what sounds simple probably isn't. If I tell you I ate a ham sandwich for lunch, don't assume you know what a ham sandwich looks like. It's just as likely that it involves two saltine crackers instead of bread, or that it's just sliced ham with mustard. Still with me? And any question I hear as accusatory or an attack will bring up a defensive reaction designed to shift attention away from what I have been eating.
So this therapist asks her two questions, do I eat and do I vomit, and puts into her notes that I have no problems with eating behavior, but do express Axis II behavior traits by my attention seeking self-report of what she wrote as "not eating well!!" Hello? I told her I was at war with food, and feeling as if I needed to suck the skin over my bones in order to suppress my discomfort (discomfort caused by the pressure she was putting on me not to express negative emotions), and that the only way I could do that was to stay hungry! Um, I'm not a professional, but it seems as if that's a kind of adequate report of AN kicking up...
Yeah, doctors, therapists, nurses, etc, can all be oh so frustrating. Guess it makes the good ones that much more to be valued.
poster:Racer
thread:430440
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041217/msgs/430839.html