Day 4 Frustrations with doctors

I have been seeing doctors for over 20 years for severe migraines and neurological issues. Most recently neck issues as well. The most frustrating thing is not what they HAVE said, but what they DID NOT. I have educated myself so much in this area and on the human body that it shocks me that doctors do not looks at patients holistically. They treat from their scope of knowledge in their specialty area and do not look outside the box. As a result....they provide little but a prescription. I have seen the country's best neurologists and feel comfortable saying that I could teach them a thing or 2 about symptoms I have presented with. I am most frustrated by the insane amount of time and money spent on attempts to heal me with poor outcomes. It took a while but I have now realized that I am the medical practitioner that I have been searching for the whole time!

 

Yes the doctors are mostly very well meaning and the the medical system is well set up to handle acute injuries, viral diseases, etc. but there is not much incentive ($), interest or knowledge about system-wide issues or any kind of mind-body interactions. Of the two physiatrists I saw (who are supposed to be pain specialists), neither seemed to be even aware of the possiblity of anxiety or mind-body interactions with pain. I found that kind of amazing. When I brought up the topic each just made a kind of vague, absent-minded comment ("yes, maybe that can play a role in some patients"). They had a standard protocol of a) send you to PT, b) drugs/injections c) surgery. That was it. They worked on a medical assembly line. And of course you only get max 15 minutes with them so there is no possiblity of them knowing more about you even if they wanted to.

Of course there are some enlightened docs who say just what you said, that you need to Design your Own Care. Dr David Hanscom in his book "Back in Control" even calls it that, that you need to set up your own DOC plan, including some specific things to settle your nervous system (getting better sleep, journalling, mindfulness, etc).