Comp, Pain, and Psychiatry - It's Okay

Saturday, October 22, 2005 | 0

by Mary Bailey, President of the Florida injured worker group VOICES

Often, when you seek psychiatric treatment, there is a stigma that comes with it.

When your primary care doctor refers you out for psychiatric treatment the overall view of all those around you may change. Even that of your primary care doctor.

All of a sudden everything is in your head. The complaints that once seemed to be taken seriously by your doctors are now seen as a somatic symptom.

Now you are accused of seeking drugs as opposed to needing them. You are accused of exaggerating your symptoms and anything and everything that the doctor cannot find a cause for through preliminary testing becomes a psychiatric problem.

It is insulting and demeaning to be treated this way but it seems that now even your primary care physician doubts your complaints.

This is the common stigma attached to psychiatric care. This is exactly why many people will not seek psychiatric care. Often, the people most affected by this, are people with chronic pain or things that cannot necessarily be seen in an MRI or X-ray. If the doctor can't see it then it isn't there. Or at least that is the way many doctors think.

Even when a psychiatrist comes back with a finding that they believe the pain is physical and not psychological, doubt still lingers in the minds of those doctors treating your symptoms.

These are things I have personally experienced as a patient under psychiatric care.

So now I say to you: do not let the stigma outweigh the benefit of psychiatric care.

Psychiatric care will benefit you as long as both you and your psychiatrist/psychologist have a positive outlook and reasonable expectations as to what you hope to accomplish in therapy. Often, it takes both medications and counseling to help you realize the full benefit of your treatment.

You may feel that others are looking down on you because you have agreed to psychiatric treatment. This does happen a lot. Please do not allow that to stop you from getting the treatment you need. The true benefits outweigh the stigma attached.

Through therapy I have learned to reduce my level of pain by the way I think about it. I have learned that getting all tensed up or mad only increases the pain level. I have learned that thinking negatively not only increases my pain but it also diminishes my ability to live a happy life.

I have learned that helping others replaces some of the voids in my life. I have learned that sharing my experiences not only helps others but it also makes me feel productive.

I have learned that fighting the comp system relieves some of my pain. Fighting for what is fair and what is right is much better than complaining about how bad things are. At least I feel I am accomplishing something.

Finding possible solutions to the problems in the comp system is as important as pointing out all that is wrong with the system.

I have learned all of this and have grown into a new person through psychiatric treatment. I have found more out about myself than I ever thought possible. I have a new outlook on life and I have found that all the negativity I used to put all my emphasis on was strangling the life out of me. I still have my problems but I have learned how to deal with problems better. I have learned that positive thinking does improve my quality of life.

Please, do not allow the stigma that comes with psychiatric treatment to stop you from benefiting from the treatment. It can make all the difference in the quality of the life you live. The treatment cannot take away all your hurts or all of your pain. It can teach you how to better deal with it though.

Know that it is not unusual for people with chronic pain to become depressed. It is not unusual for people who have been injured on the job to be depressed. Anyone who loses control over their life is bound to be depressed.

In the world of comp, your whole life will change, either temporarily or permanently. You will go through a grieving process over your losses. This would include your ability to earn a living or your ability to go back to your line of work as well as any physical or psychological impairment you may have as a result of your work injury.

Do not be ashamed of this. Accept your disability and try and move on with your life in a positive manner. Do not turn away psychiatric care. It can make all the difference in how you think and how you feel.

Mary Bailey
President, VOICES, Inc.
Crs012001@cs.com
www.voicesflorida.com

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The views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of workcompcentral.com, its editors or management.