Abused by your therapist? File a report at Psychcrime

B Brown

2013-03-16 18:10:40

I'm a military veteran being treated at my local VAMC for heart disease and post-surgery care. However, I've found myself caught in a mental health tailspin after my medical provider referred me to the primary care team's psychologist for PAIN MANAGEMENT and emotional support following heart surgery. The pain management therapist (not her specialty or area of competence), from my very first appointment, had began fast-tracking me into the severe mental disorder lane as an unwary test subject for psychology interns during their rotations through the Personality Disorder Lab.

When all was said and done, I'd been given a bogus pscyhological assessment by a 20 something inexperienced and naive intern who ultimately pathologized my medical condition, my chronic pain, my fears of dying, etc. And she ultimately made a misguided diagnosis of a paranoid personality disorder.

Even though I was clearly suffering from PTSD (and the DSM-IV TR cautions clinicians to not diagnose traumatized patients with a PD), the supervising psychologist listed the stigmatizing diagnosis on my medical chart and refuses to remove it.