🌧️ Clouded Minds 🌧️

"Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. Neither is talking about it. It's time to talk."

This will be a series on the stigma of Mental Health in society today.

I have to admit, I was part of the problem. It wasn't until after my brother's death, that I really dove into the world of Mental Health education. The only education I had, if you call it education, was when I was 16 and my family doctor loosely diagnosed me with severe anxiety disorder. Why I say "loosely" is because the doctor stated, "It sounds like anxiety, try this medication", handed me a pamphlet on anxiety disorders and sent me on my way. This is the same doctor, years later, that told my mother she didn't need to see a pulmonologist for her COPD/Emphysema because he could "manage" it and when he felt he couldn't do that anymore, then he would send her to a pulmonologist. I guess at stage 4 he still felt he was "managing" it just fine, I didn't and made her go see the specialist, 6 months later we were sitting in a hospital room trying to decide when to remove our mother from the machine that was breathing for her because her lungs, we were told, looked like a fishing net and it was too late to do anything.

I've said this before, but I know my mom suffered from mental illnesses. I remember when I was younger and her going to see a psychiatrist and her taking medication. I believe she was manic depressive and suffered with severe anxiety, I think she was Bipolar as well but that's just me. I feel in my heart, that her mental illnesses got in the way of her really advocating for her own overall health. She really loved her family doctor and trusted him completely. She was the epitome of a "people pleaser" and backed down almost "coward" like with people of authority. I can now see how this contributed to her not questioning her family doctor on basically anything.

The question on my mind since her passing and looking into her medical history has always been, "why didn't he try and treat the mental illness?" It was there, plain as day, she even made him aware. He "treated" her anxiety with Xanax but that was included in his "treatment" for her COPD/Emphysema because the whole not being able to breathe exasperated the anxiety, which exasperated the whole, not being able to breathe issue 🤦‍♀️vicious cycle and WAY BEYOND his scope of practice. I'll just call out the white elephant in the room and say if ever there was a definition for a Narcissistic doctor, this one is it. In fact, there are so many out there, maybe they should start to include extensive psych evaluations into med school and a mandated rotation in a psychiatric hospital. Once they start practicing medicine, it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to be re-evaluated extensively and update their education on Mental Health/Illnesses every few years, regardless of if it's there chosen field in medicine or not, to keep compliant with their license. But there is a problem. The medical licensing board has tied hands. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits anyone from sidetracking a physician or invalidating licensure. Yet, the med licensing boards get away with no repercussions.

I know many providers suffer with their own mental health and keep it quite due to not wanting that stigma attached to them and the fear of losing their license. Needless to say, healthcare providers across many specialties frequently operate under extreme stress, and the rates of psychiatric disorders are high. Mental health attitude should matter in how we deal with mental health stigma even among our doctors. Over 60% of doctors with mental illness are reluctant to seek treatment because it might jeopardize their license. The licensing board has such a broad line of questioning when it comes to mental health/illness, that it's defeating their own purpose all together, discouraging providers not to seek out help is causing the patients to not be protected.

The stigma surrounding Mental Health/Illness is still VERY REAL, and it affects all without hesitation to sex, race, profession, financial status, where you live, or even how happy you may look on the outside. We need to talk about, it needs to be prevalent in society and taken seriously, because as you can see through my story, it can cause a devastating domino effect.

Reach out if you need help, call 988, help is available, you are not alone!

"Suffering in Silence: Mental Health Stigma In Doctors." PsychOnline, 15 Feb. 2023, psychonline.com/suffering-in-silence-mental-health-stigma-in-doctors/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2023.