I Have a Question
Do you think that a person seeking counselling or therapy should first go to a doctor for a health checkup to make sure nothing physical is contributing to, or is the cause of how they feel?
I've had a long history of mental health issues, namely anxiety and low mood. Therefore, if I start feeling non-specifically "bad" I assume it's my mental health. Only one doctor,ever, ordered blood tests to check that I was physically well before giving me antidepressants.
A few months ago, I was seeing a counsellor. I had a very rough time around my daughter's birth and for a good six to eight months after. One day I mentioned to her that I was having a lot of difficulty focusing on her, I had a drifting away feeling and the room was swimming. Very unpleasant feeling. She, naturally and understandably took a totally mental health viewpoint and put it down to feeling disassociative. She was annoyed that I wasn't just sticking to the "anxiety" explanation I had given her. She ended up basically firing me a couple of sessions later for this and not being sure what I wanted from therapy.
So I was having all these symptoms I put down to anxiety/low mood/disassociation. Migraines, facial pain, exhaustion, very tearful, even thoughts of ending my own life. When I started to go deaf in one ear, I went to the doctors, thinking it was a blocked ear. Luckily he was a thorough sort and actually diagnosed me with a very nasty sinus infection. I couldn't follow his finger with my eyes without feeling dizzy and like I wanted to puke, it was that bad.
A week into antibiotics and what my counsellor had called my disassociative traits had vanished. I felt well, physically and mentally (much less anxious) and I felt ridiculous for not going to the doctors sooner. Unfortunately I'm on my second lot of antibiotics and my symptoms keep coming back, so I suspect I'll need more than pills. I must have had this sinus infection for months. But from now on, I'll remember to get the physical health checked out first. I also think maybe counsellors should suggest it to their clients as a matter of course before starting any therapy.
I've had a long history of mental health issues, namely anxiety and low mood. Therefore, if I start feeling non-specifically "bad" I assume it's my mental health. Only one doctor,ever, ordered blood tests to check that I was physically well before giving me antidepressants.
A few months ago, I was seeing a counsellor. I had a very rough time around my daughter's birth and for a good six to eight months after. One day I mentioned to her that I was having a lot of difficulty focusing on her, I had a drifting away feeling and the room was swimming. Very unpleasant feeling. She, naturally and understandably took a totally mental health viewpoint and put it down to feeling disassociative. She was annoyed that I wasn't just sticking to the "anxiety" explanation I had given her. She ended up basically firing me a couple of sessions later for this and not being sure what I wanted from therapy.
So I was having all these symptoms I put down to anxiety/low mood/disassociation. Migraines, facial pain, exhaustion, very tearful, even thoughts of ending my own life. When I started to go deaf in one ear, I went to the doctors, thinking it was a blocked ear. Luckily he was a thorough sort and actually diagnosed me with a very nasty sinus infection. I couldn't follow his finger with my eyes without feeling dizzy and like I wanted to puke, it was that bad.
A week into antibiotics and what my counsellor had called my disassociative traits had vanished. I felt well, physically and mentally (much less anxious) and I felt ridiculous for not going to the doctors sooner. Unfortunately I'm on my second lot of antibiotics and my symptoms keep coming back, so I suspect I'll need more than pills. I must have had this sinus infection for months. But from now on, I'll remember to get the physical health checked out first. I also think maybe counsellors should suggest it to their clients as a matter of course before starting any therapy.
31-35, F
