By Lan Ly Nguyen
I hesitantly go in the room, while she’s patiently waiting for me. I sweat profusely and my throat clenches as she flips through my diagnostic papers. Without any word or hesitation, she rolls her eyes and says, “Here are some anti-psychotic pills.”
Not a single word was said to me other than that. And I get it, my specific disorder is notorious for being the hardest to treat. But I’m getting frustrated with the way I’m being treated.
I’ve cycled through many psychologists throughout my highschool years because it was hard finding one willing to treat me.
“It’s hard to treat people like you, and it’s not your fault but I don’t want to waste energy and time treating someone that is impossible to treat, get it?” one of them says.
Several therapists have said in some way that patients like me are “treatment resistant,'' “manipulative,” or “demanding.”
The term “borderline personality” is often wrongly used to describe violent, crazy, dangerous or “psychotic” individuals in media or news reports as well.
It’s not so much of a societal stigma but more of a clinical stigma, which prevents me from getting even more treatment.
It would always go from weekly sessions of talking and confronting my problems to becoming quick sessions every few months if I took my meds.
And I’m not trashing every single therapist out there; I’m sure there are some really good therapists who genuinely care.
All I ask is for more therapists and mental health practitioners to understand that even though you’re more than happy to help others, it’s very discouraging for us when you’re not willing to set aside bias to help us.
My parents encouraged me to continue therapy, but I’ve already wasted so much time and money trying to find a decent psychologist, and I
didn't know if it’ll get better from there.
Recently, I’ve started going through online therapy, and I’ve found that it’s helped me find therapists who understood my situation.
They were very kind and helpful, and even though I struggled cooperating at times, they were always very patient and understanding by making sure we communicated every week.
It’s hard enough living with a mental illness, but it’s even more difficult finding treatment for the unlucky few.
It shouldn’t be like that.
I hesitantly go in the room, while she’s patiently waiting for me. I sweat profusely and my throat clenches as she flips through my diagnostic papers. Without any word or hesitation, she rolls her eyes and says, “Here are some anti-psychotic pills.”
Not a single word was said to me other than that. And I get it, my specific disorder is notorious for being the hardest to treat. But I’m getting frustrated with the way I’m being treated.
I’ve cycled through many psychologists throughout my highschool years because it was hard finding one willing to treat me.
“It’s hard to treat people like you, and it’s not your fault but I don’t want to waste energy and time treating someone that is impossible to treat, get it?” one of them says.
Several therapists have said in some way that patients like me are “treatment resistant,'' “manipulative,” or “demanding.”
The term “borderline personality” is often wrongly used to describe violent, crazy, dangerous or “psychotic” individuals in media or news reports as well.
It’s not so much of a societal stigma but more of a clinical stigma, which prevents me from getting even more treatment.
It would always go from weekly sessions of talking and confronting my problems to becoming quick sessions every few months if I took my meds.
And I’m not trashing every single therapist out there; I’m sure there are some really good therapists who genuinely care.
All I ask is for more therapists and mental health practitioners to understand that even though you’re more than happy to help others, it’s very discouraging for us when you’re not willing to set aside bias to help us.
My parents encouraged me to continue therapy, but I’ve already wasted so much time and money trying to find a decent psychologist, and I
didn't know if it’ll get better from there.
Recently, I’ve started going through online therapy, and I’ve found that it’s helped me find therapists who understood my situation.
They were very kind and helpful, and even though I struggled cooperating at times, they were always very patient and understanding by making sure we communicated every week.
It’s hard enough living with a mental illness, but it’s even more difficult finding treatment for the unlucky few.
It shouldn’t be like that.