Thursday, March 30, 2006

Dr. Dick

I was reading Margie's blog about her frustrating doctor's visit, and it reminded me of a very infuriating experience of my own, that I've now decided to jot down.

About two years ago I had my first panic attack. I had no idea what was going on. I woke up like any other morning, doodeedoo ladeeda, but minutes later my heart was racing and pounding hard. I found it difficult to breathe, see clearly, walk, or even lift my arm to brush my teeth. To get to the point, the doctor said it was a panic attack (despite the fact I didn't consciously feel stressed) and gave me some nice little chill pills. I didn't use them often, but they did help if I ever needed it.

Anyhoo, I was feeling extremely agitated after coming home from China. Even when I was in a good mood, I felt this frenzied turmoil bubbling under my skin. It worsened and became unbearable. I wasn't eating well or sleeping. I just wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and have massive convulsions to try to purge this violent anxiety that consumed me. I went to the doctor.

"You're clearly agitated." Wow. I understand now why they need all those years of med school. He asked what was going on in my life and when I was last happy. Not counting a good day here or there, the last time I was really happy was traveling. "That doesn't count. That's just a vacation". He then proceeded to ask why I had done so much traveling in the last 5 years, and told me that all of that was just "stalling. Putting off real life". What a jackass! I started to get really angry and defensive. First of all, what the hell kind of moron is he, telling his uber-stressed patient how she has wasted the last 5 years of her life?? I think that's a bunch of bullshit, by the way, I have no regrets about my choices. He continues to point out that now I'm 29, living at home, no job, no boyfriend, friends all settled with proper jobs and husbands etc. Oh yes, this is helping the anxiety, thank you very much. I defended my years of travel and all the amazing experiences it had given me, and he just dismissed it with a "pfft" and pompous shrug. ARGH!!!! I calmly told him I that if I had the strength I would yank that stupid sink from the wall and smash it to bits.

I got some more chill pills.

8 comments:

Melvin said...

?? A girl I know met a doctor like that. "You should get married. You should get pregnant. Your wasting your life." Uh, medical doctors shouldn\'t pretend to be spychologists. I\'m no spychologist or doctor but I would have said something like, "You\'re a very creative person. It seems that something is blocking your creativity. Your a traveller, write a story of your travels to the people you care about and try using different forms of media to express yourself." So, like draw pictures, try to cook food from different places stuff like that. I\'m no spychologist so please don\'t attempt this without supervision. Hehe, have a great day!

deadites said...

Doctor\'s can be such schmucks sometimes..  Last time I went to a doc to get my birth control prescription refilled the doctor said "What do you need these for, get your husband fixed!" then proceeded to write the prescription and said, "Here\'s a couple of months for you to have fun with.."  Like, ooooooooooooook!
 
I do find though that a lot of doctor\'s are easy to blame everything on anxiety.. My genuine racing heart condition (Supraventricular Tachycardia) was misdiagnosed as (you guessed it) anxiety and panic attacks for 20 years, and for 20 years I was given "chill pills" that never stopped the racing heart, but hey, the doctor must know what they are talking about so I took them, and dealt with the racing heart my own way (which generally meant pacing the floors until it reset itself) Finally when it was caught on tape in ER one day and I was put on proper medication to control it (definitely NOT chill pills), my so called anxiety went away.  Hmmm..
 
 The worst anxiety I ever suffer is going to the damn doctor!!

Heather said...

There are lots of doc\'s out there that are dicks..I had one too. She told me that I should put my daughter up for adoption if she had a brain injury or place her in an institution.

bob said...

you just went through a winnipeg winter, and you\'re looking for chill pills?   Silly easterners.
 

....../ `---___________----_____|] === D ...../_==o;;;;;;;;_______.:/ .....), ---.(_(__) / ....// (..) ), ----" ...//___// ..//___// .//___// 
BANG BANG YOU HAVE BEEN SHOT BY THE LOVE GUN !!!
NOW U HAVE TO SHOOT 10 PEOPLE YOU LOVE? IF YOU GET SHOT MORE THAN ONCE YOU KNOW YOU ARE
LOVED!!

Heather said...

....../ `---___________----_____|] === D ...../_==o;;;;;;;;_______.:/ .....), ---.(_(__) / ....// (..) ), ----" ...//___// ..//___// .//___// 
BANG BANG YOU HAVE BEEN SHOT BY THE LOVE GUN !!!
NOW U HAVE TO SHOOT 10 PEOPLE YOU LOVE? IF YOU GET SHOT MORE THAN ONCE YOU KNOW YOU ARE
LOVED!!

Rhiannon said...

I know EXACTLY how you feel, sometimes I feel like a stress magnet, I absorb everyone\'s stress,and it suckS!!

t i m said...

Got any spare chill pills, I could do with some.

Jeff said...

Oh jeez...  I\'m on the eve of my 10 year anniversary in the Cruise Industry...  Travelling galore...  Damn now I see that I have wasted all this time. 
 
I would have two words for that Doc if he told me that BS...
 
..and goodbye.  Not worth my time arguing with an idiot like that.
 
Cheers - CSJeff

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