Posted by Cecilia on October 23, 2004, at 1:34:41
In reply to Re: Be thankful for their honesty » yznhymer, posted by Ilene on October 22, 2004, at 11:26:37
It`s hard to know which is better, honesty or lies. My pdoc has essentially told me the same thing, that the possibility of improvement with any med is remote, though he`s generally willing to write for whatever I want to try next. Periodically he suggests ECT, even though he knows that the one time I seriously considered it the anxiety pushed me into the worst my depression has ever been, I didn`t even want to eat and I`m the typical "atypical" depressive who ALWAYS wants to eat. I suppose it`s a legal thing, he can write in his chart that he`s suggested ECT and then if I kill myself he`s not liable, he`s suggested a treatment that I refused. Not that I have anyone in my life who would sue or care that much if I killed myself, but doctors are trained to always think in terms of liability. The trouble with depression is that it`s not like cancer, where, when they tell you there`s no more treatments to try you`ll probably die soon, with depression you go on living; they can tell you there`s absolutely nothing we can do for you and yet legally they still have to force you to stay alive, hospitalizing you if necessary. All things considered, I guess it`s better for them to hold out a little hope. Though I still feel a lot of anger at my ex-therapist, who took my money and held out hope for 7 years. I still don`t know whether she just wanted the money or whether she really believed she could spin straw into gold. But at least my pdoc always makes me feel like it`s my choice whether to go through another brutal med trial or not. Cecilia
poster:Cecilia
thread:404563
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041018/msgs/406238.html