I am so angry at the mental health system

[kyril]

Just in case you log on in time to see this: "unstable personality disorder" doesn't exist. It's not in the DSM, there are no diagnostic criteria for it, it's just some BS that shrink made up. If you point that out you may be able to get everything the psychiatrist said thrown out.

[Arch]

Well done, Kyril. I hope Jeatyn sees this. Maybe he should take along a copy of the DSM as proof. (If nothing else, he can whack some idiots over the head with it. That sucker is pretty big.)

[jmaxley]

I wonder if the DSM exists merely to make shrinks feel important.

Jeatyn, I'm hoping things go well for you.

[Mrs Erocse]

Yes. We do hope it goes well for you. Sorry you have to put up with the over sized egos of the medical group. I have so many stories of  doctors so full of their own uneducated opinions that I would bore you to tears. I had my third child at home assisted by Erocse. I did not go to the doctor once. There was a medical condition at birth I thought she should go to the hospital for. They never addressed it. They put me to sleep and said I could not leave until my baby peed enough to pass a drug test. Well I peed enough. I never did drugs so I knew my test had to pass and my daughter could not fail. We were at the hospital from 10:00 am to 4:00 am the next morning because they would not let us have our baby and go home. They wanted me to stay longer so they could charge more. They even threatened calling the Child Protection Services. It was rediculous, I am still angry.
This is just one story of thier over blown egotistical processes.
Perhaps a different midwife.........
I am very sorry this is happening to you. We are thinking of you and wish you the best.

[Jeatyn]

Isn't the DSM an american thing? I did actually have trouble finding it when I was googling for it, it appears to be some rubbish side-diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.

[Flan]

Isn't the DSM an american thing?

for the most part yes. ICD is used almost everywhere else
(for everyone elses ref, the code listing http://www.wikidoc.org/index.php/DSM-IV_Codes )

[lilacwoman]

starting hormones again soon after birth and providing baby with milk via a breast pump means baby will be getting wrong mix of hormones?
that's the last thing you would want to wish upon a new baby.

Apart from that they all think that any resistance to their ideas is due to the earlier shrink reports so is there any way you can ask for arbitration or a fresh view of you from an unbiased shrink?

[Jeatyn]

I shall be finishing nursing before I start hormones, by "as soon as possible" I mean some time next year when my body is ready.

I was forced to see another psychiatrist a few days ago and this one said I seemed fine and he had no concerns. They don't seem to be listening to this particular shrink, only the first one.

[lilacwoman]

I have lawyers working on my case of one shrink delaying my transition despite the evidence of three others.

[spacial]

The DSM is, essentially, a manual for insurance companies to decree what they will cover. I appreciate it is used extensively by American and other medics.

Here, especially in psychiatry, diagnoses tend to be more descriptive rather than definitive. Especially in the last 40 or so years.

Unstable personality disorder simply describes some elements of difficulities that Jeatyn, for example, is having, resolving his personality with his environment. A fromal title is Neurosis.

Attempting to argue with a Dr is likely to cause many more problems. That is the last thing to do.

The best approach is to accept these things but assure that you understand your problems and area actively working to find resolutions with the kind assistance of your Dr, for who you have loads of respect.

Show deference, maintain dignity.

This, like all of these situation, is just power play.

[Arch]

Isn't the DSM an american thing? I did actually have trouble finding it when I was googling for it, it appears to be some rubbish side-diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.

Ah, yes. >smacks self< I forgot about that.

[Jeatyn]

Well, I lost...the baby is now under child protection under the basis of neglect.

I'll be going back in a week to get the exact details of what this means, they are pushing for 24 hour surveillance and a huge mess of other things for an unknown period of time.

They ignored the report from the psych who said I was fine, ignored the report from the midwife saying I'm fine; and have put massive weight on the other psych. Her report was read out and there's a lot of things in there that were a complete fabrication and a lot of discrepancies, when I disputed them, I was made out to be a liar and backtracking for the purpose of the meeting. Also this apparent professional states at the beginning of the report that I identify as male and have GID....before proceeding to refer to me with female pronouns throughout the whole thing.

The chairperson appeared to err in favour of the child protection purely based on the fact that they don't understand trans people and say that the hormones, birth, lactating, etc, could send me off the deep end and they're worried I'm putting my transition and my own needs before the needs of the child. So I need monitoring 24/7 incase I flip out.

I don't believe this crap, I really don't.

[Janet_Girl]

That is total bull->-bleeped-<-.   The damn child snatchers.  Well prove them wrong, Jeatyn.  To is more important to show those bastards that they were wrong.  You willl make a great parent, regardless of being trans.

[Lee]

What?!  I can't believe that.  Is there a way to have another person look at your case? 

[Jeatyn]

I don't have a clue. I stated that loads of transguys have kids and have been fine and the reply was "well we've never dealt with any trans people before" - how is that my problem? Drives me nuts.

[Janet_Girl]

Show the bastards how a real Transparent is.  So that some other poor parent does not face this nightmare.

[SnailPace]

This made me tear up.

I sure hope that whatever social worker is on your case realizes the silliness of this soon enough.

[xAndrewx]

I'm so sorry man Those ignorant jackasses. Like Seven said, you would really think if they've never dealt with a transperson then they wouldn't have any reason to worry about a problem since there never has been one.

You're going to be a great father. Those people are stupid but don't let them get you down. When you hold your child in your arms for the first time it will be worth the struggle you will have to go through.  I just don't see how they are able to get away with this...

[AmySmiles]

How utterly horrible.  I don't have the words

It's a pity they can't see common sense, but apparently the word of one bad psychiatrist can override the word of several clear-minded people.  In a decent society that would be the opposite.  I wish you the best of luck Jeatyn, I don't really know the process well enough to understand what is going to happen but I'll be sending positive waves in your direction.

[spacial]

It's because the UK is a police state operating under the guise of a nanny state.

I'm, afraid I have to agree with this.

We have a vast army of state employees under the guise of psychiatrists, nurses and social workers, interfering in almost every aspect of our lives. Always claiming to be protecting the innocent.

The problem in these cases is that the average public will simply say, 'There must be more too it. They wouldn't do that if there weren't a pretty good reason.'

For their part, these services never defend themselves. So there is never a counter, only the claims of those affected.

I had my own life shattered by these people, though my circumstances, by comparison, weren't anything like as horrendous as they are for Jeatyn. But each county has its own 'welfare' departments. How they behave depends upon who they employ. So the problems are not consistant throughout the country. The immunity from any direct redress is.

I have sent Jeatyn a number of links to various places he can approach for help. At the very least, he can make sure his case is widely known.

I do hope he will make as much use of these as possible. Contacting MPs may seem futile, but can produce results sometimes.

It's a sad reality that in this country, the only way to get anything done is to get someone in a prominant position to take your side.