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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.
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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.
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