Trying to access mental health care at the end of my bachelors degree (now a post grad medical student) was honestly ridiculous. It was the first time I was introduced to the stupidity of mental health stigma in the field of medicine.
When I asked my long term GP (who knew I aspired to be a doctor) for help for my mental health issues arising after a traumatic event, I was:
- Lectured about how a mental health care plan could affect my future insurance.
- Told that GPs often avoid giving young people these plans because it “goes on your record forever”
- Told seeing a psychologist/counsellor was “too extreme”
- Reassured it would get better with time (i wish it did, but it didn’t and in fact got worse)
- Was told they weren’t going to document my mental health presentations to “protect” my future career
All of this was framed in way that they were helping me. Which I understand was the true intention here and I don’t hate them. Instead they tried to tackle the problem and provide psychotherapy themselves.
But it didn’t help. It delayed care and made things worse overtime. I wasn’t in a space where I could have just gone to another doctor, this was my long term GP who I trusted.
This idea that getting mental health support will somehow ruin your chances of getting into medicine or becoming a doctor is just wrong. Avoiding treatment is the actual risk.
I’m now on treatment, see a psychologist regularly, and I’m doing significantly better. All initiated
by an another doctor in another state. It saddens me that if I hadn’t had to move away from my long term doctor that I may have never received adequate mental health treatment due to their false ideologies.
If you’re a student or doctor and someone tries to “protect” you from getting help, please ignore them. You deserve proper care just like any other patient does.
I just wanted to bring awareness to this issue. I’m sure there are many other doctors with the same mindset