Thread by @WeAreDisabled

Ok, time to talk about my psychiatrist experience.
For the course of approx 12 months from mid 2018 to mid 2019, I was abused and mistreated by a psychiatrist who is considered to be one of the main 'experts' in Adult ADHD in Melbourne.

I shrugged off my concerns initially because I was so happy to finally be treated and medicated for my ADHD. In my first appointment, he pressured me to let me Mum join the appointment even though she was only there because she gave me a lift.

he directed almost of the questions in that first appointment. I barely got a word in. Within 45 minutes, after a series of very leading questions asked to my Mum (not to me), he had diagnosed me with two serious mental illnesses and written me several scripts.

every appointment after that, I walked out with at least two new scripts. I didn't fill most of them because I was uncomfortable with the pace at which he was changing my meds and adding new ones.

He never actually listened to my concerns about my meds, and he was very blunt and unhelpful with his general advice. He talked down to me like I was a child, cut me off while I was speaking, and after a few appointments he took to directly insulting my intelligence.

On my last appointment, he yelled at me when I said I hadn't been taking one of the many meds he had prescribed me over 8 months prior. He had told me at the time to only start taking it "if I was stil struggling". he hadn't brought it up since,

and had now decided I was an idiot for not taking it. He then wrote me another script for it, and when I asked a question about it he told me to "Google it". He then said "I would rather my patients learn how to use the internet then bother me with these questions"

(Please note, I grew up using the internet and this is an old man pushing retirement. The nerve of him to tell me to 'learn to use the internet' because I wanted to know about the side effects of a psych med)

Due to my medication being mismanaged, I lost a significant amount of weight as I was taking a very large dose of Vyvanse, which is also used as an appetite suppressant. I ended up dangerously deficient in several nutrients due to skipping meals and was unable to get out of bed.

He wrote me a script for Vyvanse right off the bat without trying any other ADHD meds first, despite me explaining my disordered eating and bad relationship with food. My new psychiatrist has since told me that this was irreresponsible and most ADHD patients get Ritalin first.

I'm now seeing a better psychiatrist who has weaned me off the massive meds cocktail and helped me get into a routine with exercise and sleep. He takes my concerns about my meds seriously and doesn't berate me for my lifestyle choices.

What bothers me is I still see my old psychiatrist being recommended in Melbourne ADHD community spaces such as FB groups etc. I feel too scared to bring up what happened to me and warn others, because for some reason he gets good reviews from lots of others.

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