My Woes

Firstly, I’ll give you a bit of background.

When my life caved in some years ago, a concerned friend told my wife that I probably had depression. Not long after that, my friend’s diagnosis was confirmed by our family doctor. While admitting that he was lacking in experience, he prescribed one of the older SSRIs, because he “hadn’t tried that one in a while”. He was an excellent, wonderful, gentle, nice doctor, but mental health was a weakness.

Over the next 2 years while under his care I tried a succession of anti-depressants, but with little success. It became apparent that I was “treatment resistant” and the anti-depressants were “pooping out”. I held out little hope for an effective treatment.

Around this time I read a journal article written by a well-known and respected Australian psychiatrist. I was impressed by the article, and there were snippets of information that seemed relevant to my illness. Not backward in being forward, my wife promptly made an appointment to see him, for a treatment review.

Being diagnosed as having bipolar was somewhat of a relief. He told me that I wasn’t treatment resistant, and that he doesn’t believe in “poop out” at all. My treatment just wasn’t suitable for my condition in the first place. (As an aside he noted that the anti-depressant I was taking was prescribed at way below “a therapeutic level”.)

Receiving the correct diagnosis is not a cure-all for getting well, but it certainly is a start. It took me another 2 years of trial and error to find a treatment that was “satisfactory”, I guess. I’d say it’s about 80% to 90% right (so non-medical stay-well strategies play an important part).

Enough about me…but keep in mind that my experience is fairly common.

Should you seek a second opinion?

Seeking a second opinion, or a specialist opinion, for a proposed treatment is very common. It is not an insult to your doctor, and they are very unlikely to receive it in that way. It is normal so don’t feel uneasy.

It makes sense to have a second opinion if you’ve been receiving treatment and you don’t think you’re getting any better. Just be sure to consider whether it’s because the treatment plan is not effective or because you’re not following the treatment plan designed for you.

Another reason to seek a second opinion is if you aren’t comfortable or are dissatisfied with your current health provider.

What do I stand to gain from seeking another opinion?

Here are some clear benefits:

Any cons?

There are benefits with staying with your original health provider and not chopping and changing if you have a long relationship with them and they know your medical history well.

Once you have settled on a treatment make sure that the person treating you gives you a timeframe over which you can expect to see improvements so that you have realistic expectations.