Patient: Hello! I’m here because my sister is going through a rough time but she is refusing to go to the psychologist. We had a tough childhood, our mom died when we were very young, and our step mom abused us like we were animals. My sister has been fine till 9 months ago when her symptoms started with very strong head aches. She went to the doctor. They found nothing on her blood. Then things got even worse. She started getting worried for little things and she could not get over it. After that the real ordeal started. She was complaining that she feels like she is loosing her mind. Also, she feels like a bug is moving through her skin, and when this happens she feels really tired and disoriented. Also, her memory is losing. She can’t remember things. She swears that something is inside of her some supernatural thing, and is afraid to go to the doctor. Also a coworker said some things to her that started this prb. like do you ever feel like losing your mind, etc. What to do?
Doctor: Hi,
Sometimes as family, we have a difficult time getting people to see mental health professionals, so my suggestion is to bring her back to a Medical Doctor. There are two reasons I suggest this- the first being that there is a very real possibility that there is a purely medical explanation for what is happening to her.
She needs to see a Neurologist first. A newurologist will rule out any brain issues (tumor, lesion, etc…) as everything you describe is a neurological symptoms (headaches, a bug moving through her skin, disoriented, the supernatural issue).
**ONLY IF** everything teh neurologist is negative – then she should see a Psychiatrist – and the Neurologist will tell her that. It is quite common for a neurologist to find nothing and refer to a psychiatrist – so let them deal with that.
TO get her to a Neurologist – tell her that the headaches etc are all Neurological Symptoms – and that this could be treated medically but the sooner the better. Then hand her the names of some Neurologists in or near her town.
The bottom line is that this is either medical/neurological or psychiatric and those are the only two doctors you really need to get her to… start with the Neurological to rule out a brain issue and then see the psychiatrist.
Mark
Patient: Thank you for your reply Mark! The real prb here is that she is completely refusing to go to the psychologist. I explained it to her that it could be the nerves, afterall im studying biology at a university level, but she is not listening to me whatsoever. She is really afraid that once she goes to psychologist she will lose everything in her life: her job, her friends. She is afraid that she will never ever be able to work because the work once they review her medical file, they will not hire her, and the psychologist will only make things worse. Also she tells me that I would rather be dead than go to a psychologist. So as you can see I’m really frusturated with the issue. I don’t know how to approach this prb anymore.
Doctor: That is why I am telling you to get her to a Neurologist. A Neurologist is a medical doctor that specializes in the brain.
This is not nerves. This is much more serious than that.
She doesn’t have the luxury of playing around with this – reread my first answer and do what I’ve suggested.
Mark