that avpd feel

- if they do not like that you research your disorder/s and treatment/s - if they do not explain the reason/s behind certain treatment/medication that they are prescribing you - if they are reluctant/refuse to let you access your medical records - if their first response to symptoms is medication without any talk therapy - if they say they “don’t believe in therapy” - if they say they “don’t believe in medication” - if they insist on seeing your parent/legal guardian without you being present - if they tell you that there are no other treatment available if you complain about your current treatment/medication not working/having unmanageable side effects - if they diagnose you without explaining how they came to that diagnosis, what it entails, and which treatments you have at your disposal - if they fall asleep during a session (you’re laughing but it happened, several times, and i’m not boring) - if they assure you that you cannot have [insert disorder here] because you are too young/wealthy/poor/fat/skinny/smiling/old/whatever bs (the only valid reasons for not having a disorder is if you do not meet the minimum criteria for it, age/body/ethnicity/etc are not criteria) - if they tell you that you obviously do not want/are not ready to get help (that’s a super abusive technique, would only see this as a valid comment to make if you are pressured into seeing them by someone who has authority over you) - if they insist on you continuing to take a medication despite the side effects very negatively affecting you (for example: if you are recovering from an ED and you get the “gaining weight” side effect and that is very triggering to you) - if they are flippant about/disregard your feelings i’m probably forgetting a lot. feel free to add. EDIT: I made a blog to vent about bad mental health practitioners @shrinksfromhell. Check it out and submit your stories!

Take it from me, a lot of mental health shit is a product of your environment and personal history, and therefore you really don’t have the control over it that you need to get by without others’ help, but one thing you can have some control over is whether you’re going to be a friend to yourself or just another enemy, and if you want to survive, you’ve gotta strive to be in your own corner as best you can.

also! be sure to voice positive things (like, “I had a great time hanging out with your today!”) It goes a long way.