Conscious Psychiatry

I am finally writing about an experience I had recently with a psychiatrist. It was a good experience, so I want to share. Most of us (I hope!) loathe the idea of putting our child on any kind of medication, no matter what an educator or other professional may tell us is “wrong” with him or her (i.e. ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, PTSD). We are especially concerned because psychiatrists often spend very little time with our child before assigning such a pathological label and prescribing potent drugs, too often as a cocktail in combination with other drugs. If we are not collectively disturbed about this, we need to be! However, today, and since having a long lunch with this particular psychiatrist, I feel hopeful that there are psychiatrists who spend a good deal of time with the child who will receive a prescription, as well as his or her family. This particular psychiatrist spent two hours with each of the clients I felt would benefit from such a consultation. He wanted to know their whole story so he would not be prescribing anything “in a vacumn,” as he said. He prescribed exactly what I felt would be of benefit to each child in very small doses, NOT in combination with any other drug, and further instructed the child NOT to take it if after he or she did, it didn’t feel right. He told me that he doesn’t want any of his patients taking anything that doesn’t feel good. And that is the whole idea. We need to want relief for our children, however that is possible. In rare cases, specific kinds of medicine tailored to very particular needs can be just the thing that provides the relief they need. I had a wake up call about this recently with two wonderful teenage girls I have worked with for over a year. The life circumstances related to their suffering were not only beyond their control, but also not going to change. They asked me for relief! They had the courage, knowing how I feel about medicating children – or anyone for that matter! – to ask me if I thought there was a pill that could help them cope with their feelings better. This question, after a year of hard work in therapy that brought some gains but not the relief they needed on a daily basis living in the situation they were in. It is at times like that I feel so grateful for conscious psychiatry. Each of the girls is on something now they feel good about, that is helping, and that  is enhancing therapeutic outcome as we continue our work together. Thank you, my psychiatrist friend, for the work you do, and let us hope there are many more out there like you.