Posted by madeline on April 5, 2007, at 18:29:55
In reply to patients have been sold out, posted by med_empowered on April 5, 2007, at 5:31:59
"I think psychiatry is unique b/c its the one field of medicine where treatment failure can be blamed on the patient. Still depressed? Maybe its...bipolar, personality disorder, non-compliance...so on and so forth. Imagine if you were told that your (flu, pneumonia, cancer, whatever) was still around b/c "You weren't trying hard enough," or "you weren't ready to change."
I think what you are saying is correct for acute conditions, like the flu, pneumonia, cancer etc...
But chronic conditions such as depression, OCD, coronary artery disease, diabetes require a little more from the patient and the doctor.
If a patient has coronary artery disease, yeah sure there are cholesterol lowering drugs, but they've got to change their eating habits and exercise. They can even have surgery, but if they don't learn to manage their condition, odds are they'll be right back on the table.
If a patient has diabetes, sure insulin helps, but the patient still has to manage what they eat and monitor their own blood sugar. Otherwise, the patient is right back at square one.
I also think a similar model can be applied to some mental illness and conditions. Drugs can help, but ultimately the patient has to manage their own condition.
Now I'm not saying that getting better is something that we can just make happen by saying "okay I'm better", but a willingness to pick up coping skills, monitor our own state of being, work with doctors and keep an open mind about treatment options and therapies can only help.
Maddie
poster:madeline
thread:746993
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070402/msgs/747301.html