My younger brother is a guitar prodigy. He loves classical literature and spending time with friends and family. He is a quiet guy with a wicked funny sense of humour. My younger brother also has a mental illness, as do one in five Canadians. This requires him to be on medication. Unlike other illnesses, there is little known about mental illness so most of the medication is very much like being a guinea pig, but he rolls with the punches. Until recently, when he came upon a new medication that caused his heart to race and almost landed him in emergency. He decided to leave it for a day as his heart still raced and made an appointment. The doctor, who will not be named, was not a mental health professional, but decided she was an expert. She told my parents she had recently seen A Beautiful Mind which she thought very informative and added, “He didn’t get very far. Neither will your son,” also adding that my brother was not smart enough to make the decision on his own… apparently it would have been better to have a heart attack. Oh! So, apparently by watching a movie (not a biography) on John Nash, one can assume that all people with mental illness go through the exact same thing! Wow! That’s like watching some cheesy heist flick and giving tips to bankers about security measures. I would really expect someone with eight years of university credentials to be a little more educated. How can we expect the stigmas to end if even the doctors perpetuate the stereotype? I say take a stand! Stop the discrimination! —Hope For Change
This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2011.
Wow. That’s pretty fucked up. Though not all that surprising considering some of the things I’ve heard about doctors in this province.
Your family should definitely file a complaint against this doctor, report them to a medical board and find someone else to go to. A person who suffers from a mental illness is so often discriminated against and something really needs to be done about it. I’m so sorry for your brother and your family OP. Good luck.
Maybe the doctor was giving their, uh, professional opinion.
That’s terrible! I have family members suffering from mental illness as well, and it’s a shame there is such a stigma surrounding it. I hope your brother is able to find a better more qualified doctor who can help him out.
I agree 100% with PF’s suggestion. There’s no excuse for that kind of treatment by a medical professional. Wholly UNprofessional conduct.
Good luck to your brother, OP. I’m glad he has a supportive family behind him.
i’m glad to be nuts, i can get away with more shit than a normal can.
I can’t see even the most obnoxious doctor saying something like that. Sorry, I say fake, at least that part.
Not to mention the doctor should have their license revoked for such a stupid comment as “He didn’t get very far. Neither will your son.” Pretty sure John Nash got really far in terms of influence – Nobel Peace Prize, revolutionizing strategic game theory, etc. Most of the world’s brightest people have some variant of a mental illness. Shouldn’t we be doing more for them? What a dickhead shitbag doctor.
Just goes to show you that no matter how many letters you have after your name, you can still be a douche bag.
took the words outta my mouth, Dartmouthy
Haha great minds tommy 🙂
canned,
I agree with your sentiments, but in the interests of accuracy I should point out that John Nash won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in the theory of games. He didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize. I know that’s what you meant but I’m OCD and couldn’t let the minor slip up pass without comment.
It’s totally disgusting how the city can spend hundreds of thousands on a concert and yet there’s no money for proper facilities and care for people suffering with mental illness. An option other than the hospitals. It’s also disgusting that only 1% of the health budget goes to mental health care and research and that measly crumb of a percentage is actually divided between mental health and addictions. In this day and age how is such barbaric disregard for peoples’ welfare allowed? Something should be done! Also, John Nash wasn’t the only super hero for mental health, check out Daniel Johnston, whose music inspired the likes of Matt Good and Nirvana.
Peace.
Mental illness doesn’t bring money into the greater economy. That’s civics for ya.
I didnt realize how bad the descrimination was until my wife was recently diagnosed. She can’t even talk to her friends about it because of how bad the media blows it out of porportion. The doctors can be just as bad. Glad to see someone else goin through the same thing. I hope for change too.
i just don’t tell anyone *sigh*
I think that I had the same doctor, Lol. Total bullshit what they get away with!
Ps- pain girl ur not alone.
can anyone recommend a good program in HRM for people with mental illness?
i have a great family doctor and she is really the only one i talk to, other than the bitches and lovers here. there used to be support groups but nothing around now. i guess we could start our own^^i can tell the hub-unit anything and he remains
Mental health through capital health has a new system now and has several workshops in the evenings (support groups) for various mental health issues that don’t always require a referral.
Your first step though is to get a referral from your family doc. They’ve changed their process and it’s apparently easier to get in to see a triage social worker.
My (EX) family doctor decided that all I needed was his ministers phone number programmed into my cell phone… ummm seriously? I finally found an awesome family doctor at Dal Family Medicine and got referred to an AMAZING woman with Capital Health on Bayers Road. Her name is Glenna, and she’s approchable and understanding, intelligent and she listens.
haha, yeah that’ll do lot’s of good pf…let’s all pray for salvation
Is she a social worker, PF or a psychologist?
It’s always nice to hear about GOOD mental health professionals 🙂
Extremely unlikely this ever happened. That movie came out in 2001…..no doctor would be watching it now. Maybe you and your brother could watch Rain Man together.
She’s a clinical social worker PK… she’s awesome!
Re: Sebastian:
That just goes to show you how behind the times this doctor actually is. I can relate, I have a bf with bipolar, and we were going to another friends house to watch fireworks from the roof, my bf didn’t want to, she doesn’t like heights, and when I told our friend she wouldn’t be coming, she said ( very seriously) ” oh! Right! I didn’t think of that! She would want to jump off of the roof” I was absolutely mortified that someone would think that. It just goes to show how little( very little) people know about mental illness. Including doctors for the most part. Open your eyes dude.
@CE: Thanks for pointing it out. To be clear, I was aware, but wrote that absentmindedly. Thanks anyway.
canned,
If there were an “Absentminded” prize I’d be a regular champion.