Doctors

[ChouxieChou]

I always try and keep my everything under my hat. Nobody gets it. I was really honest with a GP, I’m taking a medication for smoking cessation. It’s magic for me. The first cigarette I smoked was put in my cutie face as a toddler for the funny Polaroid. I know I smoke as slow suicide, 

An online doctor.(I don’t like to leave my house) A champion, a wonderful person talked with me for an hour about smoking cessation.. why we start smoking in the first place, nicotine addiction.how it’s so hard to quit and addiction, so understanding of mental health, anxiety, cultural influences, societal structures etc. 

He told me I’d have to see a gp in person within a week of commencing the medication for a repeat. Its working a treat for smoking cessation. Just like he said it would. It’s also helping me with my other addictions, coping mechanisms.

I get anxious. New doctor. I’m weird. I was honest because I want to quit smoking.. ex nurse..only be honest about diarrhea 🤷‍♀️ I should have played it close to my chest. I told the truth.  
Doctors can infantalize people with mental illness. She called me red flags. I just want to quit smoking. Never again will I be honest about my medical history. Why bother, she called me red flags. Didn’t renew the prescription ooh troubled but she offered me no assistance, just told me I’d have to make another appointment in two weeks. 
boo! This sucks.

Im mentally ill and have the impetus and wherewithal to attempt to quit smoking? 

[Glisten]

@ChouxieChou  It does suck. It sucks a LOT. So frustrating and really messed up.

It’s unfair. You’re being punished for doing the right thing.

🙁

[ChouxieChou]

I hate to be talked to like a baby or an idiot 

[Glisten]

@ChouxieChou  It is condescending and insulting. The fact you are seeking assistance to take control of your health, is proof that you don’t have the immaturity of a child.

[ChouxieChou]

I spewedmy guts

[Glisten]

@ChouxieChou Is it time to have a shower and wash off today’s vibes?

Bush teeth and watch some Tenacious D

[ChouxieChou]

Thank you so much 🙂 thank you for acknowledging my vent. I know I’m inarticulate and poorly written, but, my goodness, sometimes this frustration *just *gets *to me and makes me so angry and it makes me so sad. 
I can present as “normal” I traverse most aspects of life, performative normality and productivity and I’m obviously employed and in a position to be able to afford ciggies and smoke heavily in the first place. 
I dropped my guard after speaking with the other doctor, a lovely therapeutic experience. 
I stopped pretending, I dropped my telephone voice and my act, I was honest and vulnerable. 
Mental illness impacts upon the lives of so many people. I can pay to see another doctor and I will smiley face showtime and get basic assistance for anything I ask for if I reframe the language of my inquiry ***(not a private mental health specialist)

It’s expensive to take time from your workday to see a doctor and you need so much money in your bank account to pay upfront (while you wait for the rebate) I am paying double for time with a GP. 

In a crisis. I’d be bouncing off the walls, I probably wouldn’t have any cash ready money. 
Lots of people are in crisis and haul their shattered selves into GPs and emergency waiting rooms all over..

for nada 😞 all the time

it just annoys me so much. 
if a GP has so many strong opinions, perhaps they should return to university to shop for a grant to conduct a study to affirm bias? 
Finding a doctor is task of Sisyphus. Having to see one in person is the worst,

[Glisten]

@ChouxieChou  you have every right to be upset, angry, depressed, frustrated and disappointed.

Judgey people. Even my GP and she is great. “You can’t possibly have PTSD.” - bullsh!t, I tick ALL the boxes 🙌🏼

I have to say I’m kind of glad that you can’t afford to smoke.

My husband died of cancer. I told him time after time to give up smoking.

You can event as much as you like because it is a horrible experience to drop your guard and be honest. Then cop it with both barrels.

That experience screams rejection to your face.

I now lead with the word “vulnerable”.

”I am in a financially destitute and vulnerable position. This position has been stressful for a long time and it is making me depressed. I am struggling with mental health and it is impacting on my physical health.”

@ChouxieChou you are articulate and you write quite well.

Trust me, I would not say it if I didn’t mean it. My honesty gets me in trouble.

You and me, we’re going to get through our respective heinous situations and come out the other side.

G

[ChouxieChou]

Thank you. Your experience, it’s mine. It’s ours. 

[Anders]

Hi @ChouxieChou 

My experience with doctors and psychiatrists on mental health has also been mixed.

Some are good. Some are bad.

But for the most part, the only time scripts I've struggled getting at times are sensitive ones with an addictive component. A regular doctor would do prescribe those. A new doctor would not. I'm not familiar with the medications for giving up smoking.

For giving up cigarettes, I have found the over the counter nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) were effective when I was really committed in my head, as long as I followed the instructions. [edited by moderator to remove recommendation]