Distrust of psychiatrist

So my treatment team wanted me to see the psychiatrist at the clinic for an 'evaluation' to deem rather or not medication was necessary. I had seen him 2 years ago for depression but quickly became non-complaint and ditched him. I was on Prozac which didn't work and coming off of it gave me an hallucination where demons grabbed me.

Fast forward two years, I'm back in his office because my treatment team just wants me to see him so he can just determine if he thinks I could benefit from meds. I'm starting to think that wasn't the real intention.

The appointment was rather short and he just asked me questions like about school and how my mood was to which I replied "indifferent". He quickly came back to the idea of trying to give me more anti-depressants and wanted me to do a genetic test to see the best medication matches, there, at that moment. His receptionist was getting the test ready and everything. At the end I was starting to panic a bit because I felt pressured to do it now even though I didn't want to.

I don't trust the genetic test. My dad hates those things. Says once they have one of us, they have information on the whole family and can use it in investigations and sell it.

I honestly just don't trust the psychiatrist in general. It's not him specifically, he's a pretty nice guy actually except for the fact that he's very fast paced but I just don't trust the psychiatry aspect in general.

Who knows what the real intentions are with those drugs and whats in them. After all, they did make me have an hallucination which was pretty intense. To me that proves the point that they aren't healthy. When it comes to psychiatry I just have that instinctive panic feeling that there's a double meaning under.

On top of all of this, I don't think I have significant mental health problems right now. They keep trying to insist I'm depressed but I don't feel depressed so therefore I don't think I need anti-depressants. It makes sense to me but they're not convinced.

Any input?

You're an advocate for your own care. It's good to keep setting limits about what you're comfortable with and what you're not. If doctors keep pushing things, it's okay to push back. You can also ask them specific questions about why they're so insistent or why they don't think that your own assessment of not being depressed is accurate. Sometimes they can do screening tools like the PHQ-9 to assess for current depressive symptoms, in addition to their interview. A lot of times, though, doctors tend to view other challenges we face (i.e. reactivity, inattention, anxiety) as something that must be medicate or must be related to depression.

There's not a lot of evidence out there that genetic testing is actually useful yet. It's more of a fad. I'm not sure the company that your doctor uses, but it's unlikely that they're keeping the genetic information on file and using it to profile you or your family. They should offer informed consent documentation prior to taking the test that would help clarify that. It's okay to refuse stuff like that. Sometimes you may have to comply with things like drug testing for certain medications, but genetic testing isn't a law required part of care.

Bottom line, keep speaking up for what you want and what you don't. If the providers aren't hearing that, it may be worth a conversation about changing to someone else. It can also be helpful to weigh out for yourself, "What's the harm of taking the medication, and what's the potential benefit?" Sometimes there's a chance that the medication won't do anything but also that it might help in some area (i.e. sleep, anxiety) so it can be worth at least trying something. Other times there's too much downside so it doesn't even make sense to walk down that road.

Good luck whatever you decide!

I left a psychiatrist I didn't trust and got another. And I don't like the idea of a genetic test under these cicumstances.