Stigma Makes Anxiety Disorder Worse

[PhilipR]

Has anybody else ever been confronted with an unsympathetic GP? It is hard enough trying to cope with depression and anxiety, when you know how much it has hurt the quality of your life and made you suffer. The a doctor tells you in an angry tone that he is treating people who have real illnesses and are even dying.

What annoys me about this argument is that a) I am not immune to life threatening disease - b) while I sympathise with the sufferers, the doctor is referring to - it may well be that before their tragic illness, that person may well have had a great life - holidays - relationships - money -great social life - I have enjoyed none of those.

And now MPS are saying that Anxiety and Depression is the new back pain. It isn't my fault that there is no scientific test for agoraphobia - except maybe lie detection - and I would pass it. The current prejudice just makes my illness harder to bear.

[Rachel424]

It sounds as if your doctor has a terrible attitude and I would try and get a new one asap! One of my former doctors, a senior doctor who was the head of the practice I might add, likened me to a heroin addict when I was having a hard time coming off citalopram! And she was the one who put me on the citalopram in the first place!:mad: When I told my current psychiatrist what she had said she said I should have reported her. So in short, some doctors are terrible, and when they tell you anxiety and depression is not life-threatening it is when you feel suicidal!! I now have a fantastic GP who always asks me when my anxiety is bad if I feel suicidal. She, and many other doctors, understand what a serious medical condition anxiety can be.

[krog]

Hi there,

The GP's at my practise are a mixed bag and have not really helped me at all.

One prescribed Diazepam without explaining why or even making an attempt to explain anxiety.

Another one offered even less help and blankly told me to "deal with it".

I found the psychologist that I eventually saw to be of only slightly more use.
He kept telling me to relax without, once again, describing anxiety or the causes of its symptoms.

I have ended getting up the best advice and help from sites like this and charities that are run by recovered anxiety sufferers.

I think the best course of action is to help yourself and certainly don't expect too much from the good old NHS :)

Cheers,
krog.

[PhilipR]

I am sorry to hear that you have found your GPs unhelpful. You do need to understand what causes your anxiety and learn coping techniques, because most doctors are not experts - even psychologists get their knowledge from books. I was shown a lot of weird shapes and asked to say what I thought of them - and she spent most of her time writing stuff down. No actual advice or help was forthcoming. It was a while back now though, because my illness has been long term, sadly. Not surprising when you consider the no relationship factor!

My current GP is understanding - my bad experiences came a while back now. The irony is, that the doctor who showed no understanding or sympathy has
since suffered a nervous breakdown. :whistles: Of course I am sorry.