I had inquired in yesterday's post if the patient misdiagnosed (rather arbitrarily) by a male psychiatrist as having Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) was a woman. Here is the response:
Why yes, I am, in fact, female. Which apparently is a symptom of Borderline Personality Disorder. It really does seem a dumping ground for difficult to treat female patients, too. I'm difficult to treat because I consistently respond to doses about twice as high as the doctor expects.
A good friend of mine works in a practice specializing in personality disorders, and she tells me how frustrating it is for them that BPD has become such a dumping ground. She gets quite upset at the numbers of women walking into their practice who don't meet ANY of the criteria for BPD, who've been given the diagnosis by male psychiatrists after one drug trial has failed. She also says that these women generally have a history of abuse -- whether child abuse, rape, domestic abuse, or some combination -- and fit many criteria for PTSD, yet that diagnosis is NOT made. (I wonder if that's because they're middle class, and don't "look" like abuse victims to the doctor?)
I do feel fortunate, after hearing these stories, that my former doctor didn't stop trying to help once he made his diagnosis. And profoundly grateful to him for admitting his error.
2 comments:
One social worker I saw (she was cheap) was a real basketcase. A former hippy from the 60s who went on and on during my paid time about what a difference she and her friends made back in the day. She was just lost in that era and hadn't updated her views to match the modern times. She looked and dressed pretty normal but as soon as you started trying to talk to her you could see was stuck in another time. For example when she found out I didn't have any African-American friends she accused me of being racist. What?! When I did try to talk about the my problems she'd just sit their chainsmoking her Virginia Slims and feed me talkshow style expressions I couldn't have gotten for free by watching tv at home. She had no wisdom to impart and never really heard what I was saying, it was all filtered through her idealistic 60s lens. I finally stopped seeing her and not returning her phone calls when she did the most inappropriate thing and CALLED ME AT WORK saying, "I just couldn't let the Christmas season go by without seeing how you were doing." I was very short with her and furious, to which she responded, "Oh, you must have coworkers around your desk and can't really talk." I replied, "Actually, I'm sitting here by myself perfectly alone." She got the message. I'm no Republican but I know a dumb liberal when I see one now.
i find the post "dumping ground" very interesting ... borderline, like add can be a dumping ground ... but it can also sometimes be a legitimate diagnosis ... and it stinks to have lazy diagnosticians using these things as a dumping ground.
*sigh*
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