Consultations left me feeling badly let down
I CAN sympathise with the anonymous correspondent who complained of the sub-standard treatment he/she received from a local psychiatrist recently. ‘Let down by health services’, Open Lines, 20 December.
Last year I myself had three consultations with a psychiatrist and also felt badly let down afterwards. Like your anonymous correspondent my 30-minute sessions lasted for far less, the third one lasting about four to five minutes. However, that is a minor complaint and more likely to relate to his paymaster. What rankled with me was the fact that he seemed to know less about psychiatry than I do, and all I know about the subject is what any reasonably intelligent person would know, i.e. he/she should question the patient over several sessions with the object of probing their minds before forming an opinion on their rationality and mental balance. But all mine did was ask me to relate my problem to persistent harassment from a neighbour over several years before having the gall to tell me I must be delusional.
In view of the fact that I am not delusional, I immediately formed the opinion that this fellow doesn’t know what he’s talking about. As a result I continue to suffer harassment along with a continued violation of my privacy.
It is, of course, quite natural to favour the opinion of a professional compared to that of an amateur. But I am so confident of my sane and rational mentality I would be happy to debate my issues with this person publicly so that others could see for themselves which of us is delusional.
NAME AND ADDRESS WITHHELD