Questions from You

Did you seek for professional help during your acute stage? And are they helpful?

I was seen by one social worker, one family doctor and two psychiatrists before my injury. They were not very helpful. The social worker and the family doctor were not specially trained in severe psychiatric conditions. Again, like everyone else they were trying to talk me out of my depression. I mean, can you talk someone out of their diabetes? They failed to understand that my condition is a medical problem. As to the two psychiatrists, one of them wrote me a note saying I am not mentally capable of completing my high school exams. The other psychiatrist prescribed me with anti-depressant and discharged me back to the community after 3 days I overdosed myself with sleeping pills. I felt like they could have explained to me what was really going on and gave me more assurance that this was a treatable condition. When the anti-depressant didn’t start working right away, I quickly lost faith on the meds, and lost faith on doctors as a whole thinking if they could not even help me, who could? I thought I would remain crazy for the rest of my life and that was my last straw. After my injury, I saw my Psychiatrist Dr. Mccullagh for the first time. He was my doctor for the next ten years. Right away, he was different from others. He was compassionate. Had I met someone like him prior to my injury, I wonder if it would have made the difference. I think a good doctor should have the heart of a parent, when they treat their patients as if they were their child, not only are they a good doctor, but they are a great human being.