Thanks Curious, although I've been an allopath for 50 years I have't always been a good fit, often feeling like an imposter. I'm reminded of a Movie, "Sleeping with the Enemy" and a play by Sartre - "L’enfer, c’est les autres." Although my French teacher hated Sartre, I did not. In his play Caligula he said, Je ne pense jame, je suit trop intelligent por ca. (Sp) I still chuckle to myself when I think of it, because there is some truth to that.
You are certainly correct. Dismissiveness is a somewhat wicked defense, because it is capable of doing more than a little damage, one of the reasons I chose the topic. Of course there is a moral to the story. It might help readers. I've had to keep my caution for vaccines and my mistrust of statins quiet for half a century. So, I just happened to bump into my Ob/Gyn field so I could keep all that in one of the closets in my mind, and concentrate on the "blank slate, full of promise. About 6000 live births and no maternal mortality. That was fun.
Now I can talk, but even my kids have swallowed the "blue pill," so at age 77, two years past my expiration date, I'm back to where I started, on ten acres of peace and quiet except for my wife who argues with the cats, the chickens, the eggs and the peafowl, and, oh yes, the computer to keep somewhat in touch with the outside world. Old and sort-of retired, but not yet expired. Thanks, and by the way, yes too many psych meds, because it is easier to shove a pill, not engage in any significant way with a patient, charge $200 for ten minutes and go on to the next patient. Sometimes depression and anger are the most appropriate feelings and don't need to "eliminated."
Dismissiveness is what led me to seek out alternatives to allopathic care in my 20's, and the curiosity that aroused eventually led me to be trained in Chinese medicine. Each field of care has its own strengths and weaknesses, and a healthy referral system and understanding of what other forms of care handle well can take advantage of that. On the other hand, an investment in ego (not wanting to admit that you as a practitioner can't address a complaint) can lead a doctor to dismiss the patient. Perhaps the most troubling is the lumping together of valid physical/emotional/mental concerns into a diagnosis of functional neurologic disorder, a "garbage bin" non-diagnosis which is not only dismissive, but can lead to the prescription of psych meds and other forms of maltreatment that not only don't address a true concern but often make things worse.
Very interesting back-story about dismissiveness Doc Alan!
Need to repost to my 900 + LinkedIn Group, tried but dozed off, hit a wrong button, it was gone! I’ve been dismissed and failed by caregivers so often, I went without care for the last year! Learned you cannot, not go for medical help when chronic sinus pain end up causing upper chest congestion.
Bronchitis-Pneumonia-Acute & Chronic Bronchitis treated with 3 antibiotics from Dec. 8th to just finishing last regimen. Not one doctor suggested a DM to move “junk in trunk” along!! Am still not feeling well yet. Dismissing a patient by not listening first to all symptoms being experienced is cruel and wastes away hope and good health!
Thanks for your input and story, as always. Yes, the back-story is interesting, I had more but my editor (Diane) removed it. Ingrid Bergman earned three Oscars, but the Oscar for the movie "Gaslight" was her favorite. I loved her in Casablanca. Except for my censor I'd watch that at least once monthly.
The world of mental health has somewhat evolved. We emptied MOST of the insane asylums in the late fifties and early sixties because we found a way to confine people without walls by medicating them into oblivion which is STILL VERY POPULAR AND LUCRATIVE. A psychiatrist can see four patients in one hour, charge each one $ 200, make then "up" when they are "down," or "down" when they are "up" etc...and on and on, but there is absolutely NO real connection.
Sorry to hear about your sinus and lungs. After fifty years in health care I'm fairly glad to be done with the daily BS, which bears little resemblance to what health care used to be or what it needs to be today. Unfortunately, according the the emperor's newest clothing, treating sinusitis and bronchitis have become extinct. So that's one problem. It's part of antibiotic "Stewardship", blah blah blah. I don't know whether you have had one doc or several for this, but continuity is a real problem. It IS VERY HARD to find someone who is a sleuth (which is what you need) anymore.
Whenever you don't get well, or achieve the desired health goal you should think about why. Maybe it's the wrong antibiotic, or the wrong dose, or the wrong duration, or the WRONG DIAGNOSIS. B-9 sinus polyps can present as sinusitis, as can a sinus abscess or sinus cancer... So a sinus x-ray might be in order IF you haven't had one. Also bronchitis can turn into pneumonia, which can turn into a lung abscess or the very worst problem is lung cancer, which, along with the other diagnoses, can most often be diagnosed with a chest x-ray.
In my differential (the list of things this could be) I always included the worst diagnosis possible. That way I was less likely to miss the worst possibility.
Thanks Curious, although I've been an allopath for 50 years I have't always been a good fit, often feeling like an imposter. I'm reminded of a Movie, "Sleeping with the Enemy" and a play by Sartre - "L’enfer, c’est les autres." Although my French teacher hated Sartre, I did not. In his play Caligula he said, Je ne pense jame, je suit trop intelligent por ca. (Sp) I still chuckle to myself when I think of it, because there is some truth to that.
You are certainly correct. Dismissiveness is a somewhat wicked defense, because it is capable of doing more than a little damage, one of the reasons I chose the topic. Of course there is a moral to the story. It might help readers. I've had to keep my caution for vaccines and my mistrust of statins quiet for half a century. So, I just happened to bump into my Ob/Gyn field so I could keep all that in one of the closets in my mind, and concentrate on the "blank slate, full of promise. About 6000 live births and no maternal mortality. That was fun.
Now I can talk, but even my kids have swallowed the "blue pill," so at age 77, two years past my expiration date, I'm back to where I started, on ten acres of peace and quiet except for my wife who argues with the cats, the chickens, the eggs and the peafowl, and, oh yes, the computer to keep somewhat in touch with the outside world. Old and sort-of retired, but not yet expired. Thanks, and by the way, yes too many psych meds, because it is easier to shove a pill, not engage in any significant way with a patient, charge $200 for ten minutes and go on to the next patient. Sometimes depression and anger are the most appropriate feelings and don't need to "eliminated."
Dismissiveness is what led me to seek out alternatives to allopathic care in my 20's, and the curiosity that aroused eventually led me to be trained in Chinese medicine. Each field of care has its own strengths and weaknesses, and a healthy referral system and understanding of what other forms of care handle well can take advantage of that. On the other hand, an investment in ego (not wanting to admit that you as a practitioner can't address a complaint) can lead a doctor to dismiss the patient. Perhaps the most troubling is the lumping together of valid physical/emotional/mental concerns into a diagnosis of functional neurologic disorder, a "garbage bin" non-diagnosis which is not only dismissive, but can lead to the prescription of psych meds and other forms of maltreatment that not only don't address a true concern but often make things worse.
Very interesting back-story about dismissiveness Doc Alan!
Need to repost to my 900 + LinkedIn Group, tried but dozed off, hit a wrong button, it was gone! I’ve been dismissed and failed by caregivers so often, I went without care for the last year! Learned you cannot, not go for medical help when chronic sinus pain end up causing upper chest congestion.
Bronchitis-Pneumonia-Acute & Chronic Bronchitis treated with 3 antibiotics from Dec. 8th to just finishing last regimen. Not one doctor suggested a DM to move “junk in trunk” along!! Am still not feeling well yet. Dismissing a patient by not listening first to all symptoms being experienced is cruel and wastes away hope and good health!
Thanks for your input and story, as always. Yes, the back-story is interesting, I had more but my editor (Diane) removed it. Ingrid Bergman earned three Oscars, but the Oscar for the movie "Gaslight" was her favorite. I loved her in Casablanca. Except for my censor I'd watch that at least once monthly.
The world of mental health has somewhat evolved. We emptied MOST of the insane asylums in the late fifties and early sixties because we found a way to confine people without walls by medicating them into oblivion which is STILL VERY POPULAR AND LUCRATIVE. A psychiatrist can see four patients in one hour, charge each one $ 200, make then "up" when they are "down," or "down" when they are "up" etc...and on and on, but there is absolutely NO real connection.
Sorry to hear about your sinus and lungs. After fifty years in health care I'm fairly glad to be done with the daily BS, which bears little resemblance to what health care used to be or what it needs to be today. Unfortunately, according the the emperor's newest clothing, treating sinusitis and bronchitis have become extinct. So that's one problem. It's part of antibiotic "Stewardship", blah blah blah. I don't know whether you have had one doc or several for this, but continuity is a real problem. It IS VERY HARD to find someone who is a sleuth (which is what you need) anymore.
Whenever you don't get well, or achieve the desired health goal you should think about why. Maybe it's the wrong antibiotic, or the wrong dose, or the wrong duration, or the WRONG DIAGNOSIS. B-9 sinus polyps can present as sinusitis, as can a sinus abscess or sinus cancer... So a sinus x-ray might be in order IF you haven't had one. Also bronchitis can turn into pneumonia, which can turn into a lung abscess or the very worst problem is lung cancer, which, along with the other diagnoses, can most often be diagnosed with a chest x-ray.
In my differential (the list of things this could be) I always included the worst diagnosis possible. That way I was less likely to miss the worst possibility.