Doctors' Ignorance Stands In The Way Of Care For The Disabled

[confused]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/05/17/313015089/doctors-ignorance-stands-in-the-way-of-care-for-the-disabled?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140517

 

Though nearly 20 percent Americans have physical or mental disabilities, studies show that less than 20 percent of medical schools teach their students how to talk with disabled patients about their needs.

More than half of medical school deans report that their students aren't competent to treat people with disabilities, and a similar percentage of graduates agree. Accreditation and licensing boards don't require clinicians to demonstrate knowledge or skills in treating patients with disabilities.

 

I know sometimes I have had to wait because it wasn't as serious of an issue, but I never thought it would be because they didn't feel comfortable treating me.  I do worry that I won't be taking seriously if i have a physical complaint because I have a mental disorder, though.

 

 

[Stickler]

 I do worry that I won't be taking seriously if i have a physical complaint because I have a mental disorder, though.

 

That is a legit worry.

 

I linked this article before:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/opinion/sunday/when-doctors-discriminate.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

...More interesting, I had one ass of a pdoc recently who blamed my sinusitis for depression symptoms, while in the past regular docs  blamed depression for my sinus-related fatigue.

I mean, I get that it's hard to really tell, but, dude!

 

I didn't realize that doctors would feel any reservations about treating people with mobility issues, though.  That surprises and disturbs me.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Stickler

[melissaw72]

 

I do worry that I won't be taking seriously if i have a physical complaint because I have a mental disorder, though.

 

 

I can understand why this is a worry to people.  This has happened before to me and is a constant worry, especially when I have to change DRs or see another one for whatever reason.  So I can totally relate to it.

 

 

I didn't realize that doctors would feel any reservations about treating people with mobility issues, though.  That surprises and disturbs me.

 

Me too.

Edited May 19, 2014 by melissaw72

[Indigo 'n dye]

I didn't realize that doctors would feel any reservations about treating people with mobility issues, though.  That surprises and disturbs me.

 

 

It is not only mobility issues, there are a whole host of diagnoses that cause treatment delay and too often inadequate treatment: scleroderma, Raynaud's phenomenon, sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and all the other autoimmune diseases are just a few.

[bpladybug]

 

I didn't realize that doctors would feel any reservations about treating people with mobility issues, though.  That surprises and disturbs me.

 

 

It is not only mobility issues, there are a whole host of diagnoses that cause treatment delay and too often inadequate treatment: scleroderma, Raynaud's phenomenon, sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and all the other autoimmune diseases are just a few.

 

true true true

[beenaround]

Hi there, this is disturbing. I wonder if they're not taught this with a mindset that it could encourage transferrence? You know, since Docs are supposed to maintain a certain degree of "distance" so they can remain objective? (Poppycock in my opinion as that might be.) And it still doesn't justify not properly educating frontline Docs - all caregivers - if you ask me. Oh wait, you didn't.

 

Nuff said. ; )

[acquiring labels daily]

I trust my doc, but this is only one of the reasons that i strive to keep my diagnosis out of my medical chart. While my current doc might treat me properly, there is no guarantee that future docs, or docs in the ER will treat me with the same level of respect. So with that in mind I leave my diagnosis as depression in my chart. Cheating I know, but there is just less stigma for MDD then there is for BP

[melissaw72]

 

While my current doc might treat me properly, there is no guarantee that future docs, or docs in the ER will treat me with the same level of respect.

 

You have a good point.  My dx is in all my charts, and in the ER I am treated differently because they know about the MI diagnosis.  When I go there for an obvious medical problem, they will find a way to blame it on the MI.  Every time.  The first question I am asked is, "When have you seen your pdoc last?"

 

Most times anxiety is to blame.  So I avoid the ER at all costs because I know they will find something related to MI for a reason for me being there. 

 

I hit my head, "Oh you must have taken too many xanax and fell," when I really hadn't and passed out (I didn't go to the ER for when this happened, b/c I really wasn't in the mood for dealing with this). 

 

"Oh, you are unconscious" ... you must have OD'd (when the last time I OD'd was 1998) and "when was the last time you saw your pdoc" ... first question when I woke up (or whatever).  And the continuous question of, "What'd you take ..." ... I was asked that 4 times, even though the blood work was totally normal.

[MrTastybutt]

Yep melissa, me too. Last July I went to the er for chest and arm pain. The doctors treated it like anxiety until they got my labs back saying I probably had a heart attack.

[lysergia]

why is it always freaking anxiety they blame it on?  it's happened to me more times than i can remember now.  i once lost all movement, feeling, and reflexes in my leg and couldn't walk properly.  i was dismissed by two different docs who called it "anxiety", after reading my dx list.  really??

 

i sometimes volunteer as a practice patient for student pdocs learning how to do intake interviews (sometimes a room full of them at a time).  one of the things i ALWAYS mention is this issue, and they're always shocked at that kind of bias over any condition.  i wonder how long it takes for them to stop being surprised at that kind of incompetence and start doing it themselves.  my parting message is always a PLEA to let the patient be the expert about the state of their own health, and to find out where their own personal biases lie so that they don't do this in the future.

[beenaround]

Wow good points. An older pdoc informal BPD diagnosis was revisited last year with a tdoc (who retired in Dec), and she said I was not BPD and to not tell anyone I was because, according to her, a new DMS component now indicates "lying" as part of the disorder and warned that I would be stigmatized in any therapy/treatments, essentially saying "no one would believe me" in the medical community.  Kudo's to you, Lysergia, these docs need to be educated, as does the rest of the world.

[SoaringRaven]

It's just plain wretched how some doctors will treat you if you have an MI

One example that took years to sort out was when I was attempting to get a tubal ligation. Almost every doctor I spoke with just thought it was something I was just doing impulsively, when in reality I had put a lot of thought into it and was confident in my decision. There were a lot of factors involved in my decision, but I won't go into that here. Three years into my fight I -finally- found a doctor who was willing to take me seriously and do the procedure. The procedure freed me from a lot of anxiety, chronic pain, and hormone-induced mood swings.


I have also had many "it's all in your head" incidents with doctors. For a long time I was suffering from hypoglycemia and would pass out because of it, but the doctors were convinced that it was all in my head. It took several months before I could convince them to give me blood tests, which showed that my blood sugar was wonky. It was only then that the doctors believed me.

[melissaw72]

^^It sucks when DRs go the "seeing is believing" route of doing things, instead of listening to the patient.