Thursday, July 2, 2009

Jurl on a Rant

I am climbing up on my soapbox...give me a second....I've got short, chubby legs. Here we go.

Jurls, I have a bone to pick with you, and by "you" I mean all of you taking anti-depressants prescribed to you by your fric and frac OBGYN. WTF. Hey, guess what? An OBGYN is qualified to feel you up and poke around your private parts. He/she is NOT qualified to diagnosis your mental health problem and prescribe mental meds!

Would you go to your OBGYN for your lung cancer treatment? "Hello, Dr. Vagina, I have lung cancer, could you prescribe some anti-biotic cream for me?" "Why sure, Ignoramus! Here's a nice topical cream to rub on your chest. That cancer should be all cleared up in no time!"

It's the same thing when you go in and tell them you're depressed so they prescribe Wellbutrin or Zoloft. There are lots of choices out there for mental health meds and different people need different kinds of drugs. Only a qualified doctor, in other words, a psychiatrist, should be evaluating your craziness and writing you scripts!

Don't drive me freaking crazy, just go see the shrink! Isn't it better to spend half an hour talking to someone who can help you than to spend a lifetime in a depressed stupor? And if you are taking meds, but still can't get out of the bed, then they aren't working, dumbass! I say that with love.

I can count at least four female friends of mine that do this very thing and then wonder why things don't get better, don't get healed. Because you're going to the wrong doctor and you're on the wrong meds, dumbass! Again, I say that with love.

Listen, for once, just accept that I know what I'm talking about and follow my orders. Call a shrink and stop rubbing Neosporin on your tits to make your lung cancer go away.

And if you're an OBGYN (like anyone smart enough for med school would read this blog) then stop catering to crazy, sad-sack females (like myself) and send them to the mental health professional they need.

Peace out.

11 comments:

tammy said...

Yes!!! Thank you!

mushbelly said...

crap. My OBGYN rx'd me zoloft 3 years ago. I'm still on it.

CharlieGirl said...

Love it! You tell 'em, Jurl!

Anonymous said...

He was not the one who originally prescribed the meds, my internist did. I ASKED to go back on them because they did work for me for the four years I was on them before this. As for seeing a psychiatrist (BTW: do you know of a good, reliable one who is NOT an hour away from me---I REALLY do not have that kind of time), I am having a hard enough time as it is finding a new job and cleaning out 8 years of crap from my old one on top of trying to keep 3 screaming kids/infants fed, dry, clean, and happy on 2.5 hours a sleep at night. I do trust my internist who originally prescribed the meds, again, they worked. I stopped taking them because of pregnancy. So there...that's my soapbox.

Misti D. Mosteller said...

Mushbelly- if Zoloft is working for you (though I did not have luck with that one) then don't worry about it. Though, you still might consider seeing a shrink to back that script up or see if they have any other suggestions.

Anon- Easy, jurl! I said it was with "love"! I'm glad you trust your internist, but I would still encourage you to see a shrink for a couple of reasons: 1) they're the expert in mental meds 2) your body changes after pregnancy and just because God made the female body to play tricks on us (ha ha, God) 3) there have been lots of changes in drugs so there might be something better for you now.

And when I said an hour I didn't mean in drive time! I meant the whole process! I don't know where you live, but hopefully there is a shrink closer than an hour!

I understand the staggering weight of children and jobs and husbands and our own stuff bearing down, almost crippling us. I get it, I really do. But it sounds to me like you are more in need of meds right now than perhaps at any other time in your life. And talk therapy so you can go in and say to your therapist "I hate everybody! I'm afraid every day. I feel small." Or whatever.

And if you can get your kids to the doctor, if you can get to the grocery store, if you can run any errand at all, then you can see a therapist.

I don't know if you follow this blog, but I previously wrote about my extreme resistance to help, but then I hit a new low and decided I was the only one who could save myself. And it started with a phone call to my therapist and shrink.

And here is my tough love for you: stop having a pity party. Life is hard, kids are hard, marriage is really hard, bad things happen, disappointments happen, life happens. So you cannot afford to not have your synapses firing properly. You cannot afford to not give your family the best of you. You can't afford to spend your time in tears, or anger, or helplessness. I wish I could have those years back where I lingered in depression because I refused help, but I can't. Instead I thank God I got some sense and my present is so much better than my past.

Anonymous said...

Dear Jurl,
I do find time to run errands and all those things....with kids in tow. I don't think a therapist or psychiatrist would appreciate one or more children in a session with me (it was hard enough taking them to the gyno), although I do plan to find one if I can beg someone to watch them. However, it is very hard to find someone who is willing/capable to watch a 2year old and 2 newborns. That is not pity...it is TRUTH. Everyone I know has jobs and their own children to contend with. Unless you know how to handle twins, it takes two (or more) people to handle them along with a toddler. I'm not having a pity party and I rarely have the time/energy to cry. This is all new to me and I'm trying to find my way through it.

Misti D. Mosteller said...

Anon- what do you want me to say? You're right. There is no hope. Just keep doing what you're doing cause that seems to be working for you. I'm sure it is
Impossible for you to get someone to come help your husband for an hour so you can go to the doctor. I'm sure no one helps you. I'm sure you know best.

And I admit you've got it rough, too rough to recover from.

I'd say good luck, but what would be the point?

Syd said...

Anon and Jurl you two are killing me. Jurl meet cousin, cousin meet jurl. Take this off line.

Misti D. Mosteller said...

Oops.

amy said...

Careful, Misti.

mushbelly said...

like I said before, my obgyn did rx me the zoloft three years ago - and I am still on them, but I have also been to see a couple of shrinks in that time too. So far, the dr who has helped my depression / anxiety the most is the dr at the emergency room who rx'w me lortab and muscle relaxers for a kinked neck. Works much better than zoloft.