Quote Originally Posted by bluewind95 View Post
I definitely understand and have seen the same effect on the mental area too. I still think that perhaps some sort of documentation as to what you've tried and how that's gone might help. Otherwise, well, they don't know you. They might just lump you with the kind of patient that doesn't want to cooperate.

I don't think that they really want to make you compliant and measure up to someone else's idea of normal. I think they genuinely are kind of used to doing things X way and when something that looks like it can be done X way comes to them, they have to try that first. Not everyone is comfortable looking for alternate ways to do things. You can usually see this a lot more easily in the physical aspect, but it does apply to the mental aspect. I really do think that some kind of documentation on what you've tried and how it's worked for you might even help give them the necessary insight to better be able to help you.
What documentation can I get, though? The dispute wasn't over whether I'd been seeing or taking certain things, but over their effects on me. If I feel depressed and unable to function after my therapy appointments, there's no documentation that I can present that will prove that. If someone wants to disbelieve me, there's absolutely no paperwork that can show otherwise. Nor can I prove that I made calls to different places that said they couldn't see me, if someone is disinclined to believe that.

To be clear: I don't think it's an intentional case of "we just want to make people measure up to our idea of normal." But what I've seen happen is more "I'm used to X and not Y. This person is presenting in a mental health practice with Y. Y isn't what I'm used to seeing, so it's a result of the mental illness. Therefore, as part of treating the mental illness, we need to deal with Y." I've seen that happen a lot - for example, I had it with my parents, where mental health professionals would rather believe that I'm paranoid than that an apparently interested loving mother can be quite manipulative and emotionally abusive. Had the same thing happen with the way I dress, even - they're personally disturbed by gothic fashion, so clearly it's a symptom of mental health problems that must be treated.