I am Angry with my Psychiatrist

While psychiatrists are gradually beginning to realise that personality disorder does not mean the end of the road with regards to normal life, at least in our geographical area, I must admit, their knowledge still lacks in some key areas. It was at the point when I expressed a recollection of mental abuse that was engulfing my mind and she said that she didn't think talking or thinking about things that have happened in the past is particularly useful, and we all have to bury these things and move on that I realised she did not have a clue what I had been experiencing most of my life. Surely it was the internment of unbearable experiences that made me this way in the beginning. Perhaps what the psychiatric viewpoint lacks is the ability to visualise pain of the past in the form that a person with personality disorder feels, or alternatively the knowledge of how to deal with it. I am pleased to say that on this psychologists and psychoanalysts fair better. In a recent discussion with a local psychotherapist I was interested in the emphasis he placed on past experiences, memories of which remain in our unconscious and influence our lives. I think that for me it is important when considering personality disorder that one looks at the whole story, not just one chapter, even if this is done separately. Although for Borderline Personality Disorder it is now widely believed that the behaviour associated with this illness relates to maladapted coping strategies, rectification of such strategies still does not deal with the underlying cause of the initial maladaptation. To live coping may be enough for some people, only dealing with it will be enough for me.

Anonymous