Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1997)
CONTACTING US NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 E-MAIL: ode@oregon uoregon edu ADDRESS: Oregon Daily Emerald P O BOX 3159 Eugene, Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: www.uoregon.edu/-ode Perspectives EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITOR Mike Schmierbach NIGHT EDITOR Sarah Kickler Psychiatrists can easily use their powerful role to mistreat their patients With midterms ap proaching and the rainy season close at hand, college stu dents are becoming more ac quainted with this seven-letter word: anxiety. Last fall, I did more than acquaint myself with this emotion. I welcomed it into my home, fed it dinner and made its bed. Anxiety affects everyone at some time or another. About 30 jjr'Jj'JJ UjJ Nicole Kristal percent ot the population has suffered a panic attack in the last year. More peo ple suffer from anxiety disor ders than drug and alcohol problems, mak ing anxiety dis orders the No. 1 mental health problem in the United States. After suffering from panic dis order — a disorder characterized by repeated panic attacks and fear of their reoccurrence — for almost six months, I visited the Student Health Center for some sugges tions. A doctor referred me to a fe male psychiatrist in the Eugene area. Psychiatrists and therapists dif fer primarily in that psychiatrists can prescribe medications and therapists cannot. Psychiatrists generally are considered to be ex perts. They have “practices,” not businesses, and if you don’t select an ethical therapist or psychia trist, some will be more than hap py to “practice” at your financial and emotional expense. When I paid my first visit to this local psychiatrist, I had little faith that she would be of any help to me. I had seen a therapist in northern California over the summer, and she had failed to cure me. Instead, she incorrectly placed me on an anti-depressant that caused me to suffer nausea, vomiting and sleeplessness. This brings me to my next point about the mental health business: CHHISHUTl 'Ch'NSOM/e, Herald Psychiatrists and therapists seem to pass out pills like candy. Des perate patients desire the imme diate alleviation of symptoms, and chemicals that change your brain chemistry can do just that. The downsides of these med ications are addiction, insuffi cient evidence about their long term effects and declining usefulness over the long run. Most patients don’t know that cognitive retraining can change the patient’s brain chemistry as well, leaving the patient with tools that enable him or her to properly deal with the affliction — dependency free — for the rest of his or her life. The program led by my psychi atrist promised to do just that. The entire process would take 15 sessions, costing $70 each. The panic group consisted of four oth er patients. My condition slowly began to improve. Soon I noticed an odd dynamic in the group. The psy chiatrist often seemed to tease the elderly patient in the group, who eventually stopped attending ses sions. The other members of the group and I inquired about her whereabouts. The psychiatrist said she did not know where the patient had gone. I found this dif ficult to believe. I learned to share my feelings with my psychiatrist: I told her she seemed arrogant, conde scending and greedy. I smirked through her frequent jokes about the importance of her patients’ payments. One day, my parents’ check for the sessions did not arrive on time. I called the psychiatrist’s of fice to cancel that week’s appoint merit. Her secretary informed me that I would be charged anyway. After expressing some anger, I told her to cancel the remaining sessions. She notified me that I would be billed for them as well. A $280 bill arrived in my mailbox a week later. The next week I bumped into another member of the group, who said that the psychiatrist had said I had quit the group to pur sue my education. From my per spective, a so-called professional had blatantly lied to conceal her unfair business practices. The psychiatrist sent me anoth er letter, demanding that I pay the bill (which had now doubled to equal $529) for the appointments that I never attended. She threat ened to take me to small claims court if the payment was not re ceived in 10 days. I went to the ASUO Legal Ser vices and had an attorney write a letter inquiring about any con tractual obligations on my behalf. I wrote her a letter about the ethi cal responsibilities of psychia trists. While waiting for her response, I visited the database of court cas es in the Lane County Courthouse and typed in her name. To no sur prise, 1 found this doctor had tak en about 30 of her patients to court and won almost every sin gle case because of patients’ fail ure to appear in court — most likely because of fear. Imagine facing someone of this stature in court. An expert whom you had trusted with your deep est fears and secrets. A profes sional you mistakenly thought cared about curing your condi tion. But in the end, this Pli.D.-toting individual had no’desire to help you. She only desired to take your money. Then, you’re portrayed as the “unstable” patient and she’s viewed as the respected member of the medical community. Eventually, the psychiatrist replied to my attorney’s letter, re vealing that I had never been is sued a contract making me liable for payments on unattended ses sions. She attributed this to an er ror on the part of her secretarial staff. The moral of this story is not to avoid seeking help for mental dis orders, but to be certain that you know the background of your chosen psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist. Find out their profes sional history before signing any contracts. Visit the Lane County Courthouse and try typing his or her name into the database. Ob tain more than one referral before placing your trust in any particu lar professional. These precautions might sound a bit paranoid, but take it from me: You’ll avoid an unrea sonably large amount of anxiety if you do. Nicole Kristal is a columnist for the Emerald. Her column appears on alternate Wednesdays. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald. Drawing Board Winder COnP«tion5.. THE EFFECT <y El Nino WASHINGTON. MORE CiOuDS 'NTENif $TOR/Vtf. ~.(T VMS AM MONC$T MSSTAW i Swear, honest. Amvxtf* wtw MASK mistake, MrtVWf Mt^TAKt B*t,*vKA«s OOPS *°t«N * WIKH M>>TAK< a PtAJ.lv BtAJIV 014 MUrAW A Pffueft jvsr a a»< V»*i THE MC CA'N FEiNGOLO CAMPAIGN finance BIEL... ...WOULD SEVERELY restrict... FREE SPEECH ..CAN ANYONE HEAR Mf ? CORRECTION The telephone number for people interested in volun teering with Food for Lane County was listed incorrectly 1 (ODE, 10/16). It ' should have been listed as 343-2822. LETTERS POLICY The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing com ments on topics of interest to the Uni versity community. Letters must be limited to 250 words or less. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, clarity, gram mar and style.
