MDs that can help are not always available

This was inspired by a tweet stream in response to someone asking about finding an MD to help with drug withdrawal…unfortunately they’re simply not always available and we have to deal with that reality. Pretending it’s not the case helps no one and can be dangerous. I’ve reposted the tweets below and then cut and pasted various supporting information and resources from other posts below.

The tweets:

I gave up on counting on doctors and found ways to help myself and carefully consult professionals (and MDs) as needed.

Sometimes the best we can do is find MDs who will cooperate and learn with us…most simply don’t have the info we need

many of us manage in this way and learn to heal and thrive. stay open and you might find someone you can work with and learn with

this can be a wonderful thing…but expecting an MD to have the answers seems to not be such a healthy expectation

because it’s simply rarely available.

I didn’t find anyone who knew anything about psych drug withdrawal.

I found someone who believed me and gave me what I asked for in the way of prescriptions…

I led him…he respected me and believed my experience…didn’t know a thing about what I was going through however

I am very grateful to have found a doctor who at the very least was willing to believe my experience and trust what I learned my body needed. It was still very difficult in that I felt alone in having to find out what was happening to me. He believed me and did what I asked but didn’t really put any effort into making any meaningful recommendations for how to proceed. Still, I know I was far more fortunate than many who can only find MDs who thwart their every effort and disbelieve what is happening to them completely. Sometimes people are also forced drugged with the very drugs that are harming them. This is criminal. It’s an ugly nightmare and must end. Yesterday I posted a TED-med talk by a woman who had a doctor of this sort. They are frankly dangerous. Certainly all of us with iatrogenic damage have had doctors like this. Me too. I just didn’t realize it when I was subject to it. Not until later when I realized it was time to come off.

It should be understood that a great number of the readers of this blog have been harmed by the medical profession. Many of us have been gravely debilitated and disabled. Iatrogenic harm is injury incurred by medical treatment. Such injury is deeply traumatic and largely denied by the perpetrators and also by the medical establishment in general which adds insult to the injury and makes seeking help to heal literally dangerous. Those who have had such injury need to learn how to take care of themselves as they move forward. It behooves everyone else to be aware of the fact that iatrogenic injury is very common so that they might take care to avoid it.

See: Medically induced illness: iatrogenic injury

I find it frustrating when critics of psychiatry (often even professionals who know better but are worried about liability) slam the psychiatric system and then tell people to be sure that they have a doctor to help them withdraw from drugs…as if these doctors are readily available. The thing is when people making this recommendation and KNOW that MDs are not readily available they participate in the chaos by creating and perpetrating yet another double bind for those who’ve been subjected to and often already harmed by psychiatric treatment.

The reality is that all too often when people tell their MDs they want to come off meds some MDs will discharge these patients without support. Other MDs will commit and force drug these patients. Grimly it is often dangerous to tell your doctor the truth. This is a tragedy that needs to end. People should be able to get support from a medical professional. We wish it were different but it’s not just yet. Let’s support people by acknowledging this reality.

These are human rights issues. We have a right to not be on neurotoxic drugs and we have a right to find a safe way to get off. We need to know that it’s often not safe to approach our doctors. It’s really very simple. Tell the truth.

Medical compliance? Adherence? No. My MDs are my PARTNERS

Basically we need to find doctors who understand the issue deeply. Like this guy:

A doctor who talks sense about the all too frequent use of coercion in medicine

It’s also helpful to understand that with the internet you can feel people out via email and phone and a lot of MDs are willing to consult via phone. The two MDs I consult with most frequently these days live out of state. Cast your net wide if you need to. Stay safe and well-respected.

More on how to trust Internal Guidance at Mad in America

See also: To see a professional or not

I will add that in the event of something emergency-like, when you cannot interview the doctor you are going to see it’s sometimes necessary to simply prepare oneself for something that may be quite difficult and even traumatic. Such is life. We do need to learn to negotiate difficult situations as well…it gets easier as we gain confidence in ourselves. We no longer have our eyes closed so if we must see a less than sympathetic MD for something urgent we can navigate to get what we need and then get the heck out and find someone better suited for us once the urgent need has passed.

More recently I wrote about two different psychologists still trapped by their conditioning with whom I had some painful encounters. I do, indeed, still run into the very upsetting reality those of us who’ve been marked by psychiatry are subject to as well. All the helping and healing professions are subject to this sort of disrespect. It’s hard to find professionals who are profoundly free of such bigotry and conditioning. I understand. I also know that I’ve found many who have freed themselves and continue to find more all the time. Have faith in both yourself and humanity. There are good people everywhere. Find them.