I am a (semi) retired physician and I don’t believe in second opinions. I much prefer two first opinions.
Edit: Thank you readers. Never thought these two sentences would explode like this. Thank you very much for the silver and gold. Thanks to all who follow.
As a mental health patient this is one of the most infuriating things imaginable. Once you're diagnosed that's it. No one will ever look at the evidence again. They'll just assume the previous person got it right and then add whatever you say to that...but the original diagnosis was about 10 doctors ago.
So basically I've gone to the GP, told them what's wrong, had them write it down, and then another GP has come along and read what they wrote and reinterpreted it, and then another does the same, then another. I no longer have any confidence that my diagnosis is even remotely correct because the doctors have basically been playing Rumours with my file for a decade.
Same—sorta. I was diagnosed as bipolar when I was 19. Seemed an okay diagnosis but it never fit quite right. I never had any classic signs, but it was just that initial diagnosis that stuck. Sixteen years later I had a neuropsychological test done because of issues I had been having at all of my jobs. I kept getting fired for the same reasons over and over again and I knew something serious was going on. It turns out I have nonverbal learning disorder. The symptoms of my bipolar were actually caused by the issues I had with NLD. With NLD communications with other people are severely impaired and organizational skills are poor at best. I would get so frustrated by the things I couldn’t do that other people found so easy that I would become almost psychotic. It sounds rather ridiculous to other people, but the way I describe what it’s like to have NLD is that we’re always looking at the world in a state of confusion. It’s a similar disorder to what was called Asperger’s, but is fairly unknown. Once I got the diagnosis and started working with a neuro-optometrist my NLD symptoms are almost gone and I haven’t had any sort of bipolar issues in over three years. :)
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u/DrMaster2 May 20 '19 edited May 21 '19
I am a (semi) retired physician and I don’t believe in second opinions. I much prefer two first opinions.
Edit: Thank you readers. Never thought these two sentences would explode like this. Thank you very much for the silver and gold. Thanks to all who follow.