I'm just pondering on some things brought up with my doctor. They think my depression and anxiety are a serious issue (which is understandble, I scored in the top brackets for both) but they seem more concerned with my depression and anxiety than anything else, even my gender issues. While I agree its important to address that, they think my gender issues are an escapism thing to deal with stress...

anyone else get that when they first brought it up?

Quote from: jaybutterfly on May 13, 2014, 05:25:54 PM
I'm just pondering on some things brought up with my doctor. They think my depression and anxiety are a serious issue (which is understandble, I scored in the top brackets for both) but they seem more concerned with my depression and anxiety than anything else, even my gender issues. While I agree its important to address that, they think my gender issues are an escapism thing to deal with stress...

anyone else get that when they first brought it up?

MANY TIMES! from my mother my RN nurse and one psychiatrist. i honestly think all the professions i spoke with think its just becuz i withdrew myself and found that wanting to be female was my way of escaping my responsibilities 

No because I've spent years working on my other issues before my transness even came up. (It just happened that way. It wasn't on purpose.) I can imagine that would be frustrating though.

My shrink is experienced with gender issues.. He and I dealt with the gender stuff, in the knowledge that it was most of the cause of my depression. And funny how when I dealt with the gender stuff, the depression and anxiety mostly melted away..

This sort of thing is the reason a therapist who has real experience with gender issues is needed..

Quote from: kelly_aus on May 13, 2014, 05:50:26 PM
My shrink is experienced with gender issues.. He and I dealt with the gender stuff, in the knowledge that it was most of the cause of my depression. And funny how when I dealt with the gender stuff, the depression and anxiety mostly melted away..

This sort of thing is the reason a therapist who has real experience with gender issues is needed..

Now there is a smart therapist for sure.

Izzy

Quote from: kelly_aus on May 13, 2014, 05:50:26 PM
My shrink is experienced with gender issues.. He and I dealt with the gender stuff, in the knowledge that it was most of the cause of my depression. And funny how when I dealt with the gender stuff, the depression and anxiety mostly melted away..

This sort of thing is the reason a therapist who has real experience with gender issues is needed..

^ This.

That's exactly what my gender therapist and doctor both say: that in their experience (at one of the UK's top GICs), the depression and anxiety we experience are brought on or exacerbated by Gender Dysphoria, and that once we commence treatment the depression and anxiety clear themselves up.

It's certainly been my experience, too. I was on antidepressants for quite some time (I was scoring in the top brackets too), but I haven't felt the need to take anything since I started HRT. I redid those depression & anxiety questionnaires at my last therapy appointment after having been on T for 7 months, and all my scores were zeroes.

Your doctor doesn't seem to understand GD; I recommend finding someone who does.

YES!

and it sucked
cause  i had anxiety and depression due to my gender issues

Quote from: FTMDiaries on May 14, 2014, 04:52:37 AM
^ This.

That's exactly what my gender therapist and doctor both say: that in their experience (at one of the UK's top GICs), the depression and anxiety we experience are brought on or exacerbated by Gender Dysphoria, and that once we commence treatment the depression and anxiety clear themselves up.

It's certainly been my experience, too. I was on antidepressants for quite some time (I was scoring in the top brackets too), but I haven't felt the need to take anything since I started HRT. I redid those depression & anxiety questionnaires at my last therapy appointment after having been on T for 7 months, and all my scores were zeroes.

Your doctor doesn't seem to understand GD; I recommend finding someone who does.

See, the doctor I spoke to actually initially got huffy with me when I mentioned I'd done some research into options like transition and seemed annoyed Id even looked at the concept. I couldnt tell why though.

I went back to the doctors this week for a broken blood vessel (my platelets are very low for most people so I bruise stupid easy and dont heal well, so I have to keep routine appointments) and I was seeing a medical student there this time, they asked me about the stress since the doctors share notes etc and I raised the transgender issues with them, and they were actually much more compassionate. While I still have my therapy to go to, they told me I need to do whats right for me, but see if the therapy works, because it might end up I transfer over to something more specific, and she was nice enough to understand thats bothering me

Quote from: jaybutterfly on May 14, 2014, 05:10:22 AM
See, the doctor I spoke to actually initially got huffy with me when I mentioned I'd done some research into options like transition and seemed annoyed Id even looked at the concept. I couldnt tell why though.

That, to me, is a ginormous red flag with any doctor.

There is a small sub-section of the medical profession that can get huffy when a patient researches any condition, because they're the type of doctor that enjoys being in authority and they don't like being undermined by patients googling stuff. So it might not be anything to do with the trans* stuff at all. I've come across a few doctors like that in my time, and I'm grateful that my current doctors are all fantastic.

But it could be that this doctor is intolerant of trans* issues. Doctors are human (despite what the small sub-section I mentioned above might want to believe) and they come with their own baggage just like the rest of us. They might have personal, cultural or religious reasons to be anti-LGBT.

Either way, you can tell by the difference in the way you've been treated by that student that your doctor is less than sympathetic towards your trans* issues, so I'd recommend finding someone else to treat you... because they're not showing the appropriate level of respect for you as a whole person.

Also, please bear in mind that the NHS (I take it you're on the NHS) has a weird attitude towards therapy/counselling: they believe that if you're getting any therapy at all, then that's all the therapy you need. They don't like giving you more than one type of therapy at any one time. So make sure you get the urgent stuff seen to first. If you think your depression/anxiety are more general in nature, then stick to general counselling. But if you increasingly suspect that your symptoms may be due to your gender issues, then concentrate on those.

Quote from: jaybutterfly on May 13, 2014, 05:25:54 PM
I'm just pondering on some things brought up with my doctor. They think my depression and anxiety are a serious issue (which is understandble, I scored in the top brackets for both) but they seem more concerned with my depression and anxiety than anything else, even my gender issues. While I agree its important to address that, they think my gender issues are an escapism thing to deal with stress...

anyone else get that when they first brought it up?

My Doc was like the biggest wall i faced.

I brought up my gender issues with the "psych" he reffered me too and they reffered me too a Gender Dysphoria Service.

I Feel so happy having a letter stating i dont have a mental illness.

Quote from: kelly_aus on May 13, 2014, 05:50:26 PM
My shrink is experienced with gender issues.. He and I dealt with the gender stuff, in the knowledge that it was most of the cause of my depression. And funny how when I dealt with the gender stuff, the depression and anxiety mostly melted away..

This sort of thing is the reason a therapist who has real experience with gender issues is needed..

This is such a key point that it can't be overemphasized.  Finding a therapist with experience in gender issues is vital.

Remember that in many cases, anxiety and depression are symptoms, not causes.  Something else is happening which causes the depression (although there are exceptions).  The same for anxiety - something is making the sufferer anxious.

Now, there's nothing wrong with a doctor who tries to alleviate depression and anxiety at the same time as dealing with the underlying causes, but there is something wrong with a doctor who dismisses the obvious cause that's staring him right in the face.  The cause has to be taken seriously and treated.

If your doctor assumes that the gender issues are "escapism" from your depression and anxiety (i.e. that the gender issues are caused by - and not the cause of - your depression and anxiety), I think he's putting the cart before the horse.  Not that I want to second guess the diagnosis or treatment, but doctors aren't infallible, they can often be extraordinarily arrogant, and if a doctor doesn't listen to the patient, he's ignoring the biggest frickin' diagnostic tool he has at his disposal.

Treatment for GID needs to be a partnership between the medical profession and the patient.  If it's a one-way street from doctor to patient, it'll be a very rocky road.

I see this and it makes me worry about my therapist a lot... I'm hopeful, but there was no other place In Town that mentioned anything about transgender or a gender specialist. Time will tell I guess.

Let's put it this way- after I got on HRT, I was able to throw all my antidepressants and antianxiety meds in the trash.  I still get depressed and anxious occasionally, but that's perfectly normal.  These are innate reactions to external stimuli seen in most animal species.  Before I was like that all the time because my estrogen receptors were starving.

Any doc who thinks gender dysphoria or a brain/body mismatch is a byproduct of depression and anxiety should have their license revoked.

I think some of it with me is a mix of a few things.

- I live in a retirement area, so theres probably a very low chance of anyone having to go to the medical centre for gender issues as opposed to a university town or somewhere with an actual lgbt scene. The doctors are almost without exception significantly older than the medical students and probably arent as in the know on the matter and havent met other people with it.

- My depression has been known to the doctors much longer than the gender issues, and same goes for my anxiety, so I think some of it is misunderstanding, and I myself wasnt really aware it was even gender dysphoria until a good year or so into my depression,

Quote from: jaybutterfly on May 14, 2014, 03:32:13 PM
I think some of it with me is a mix of a few things.

- I live in a retirement area, so theres probably a very low chance of anyone having to go to the medical centre for gender issues as opposed to a university town or somewhere with an actual lgbt scene. The doctors are almost without exception significantly older than the medical students and probably arent as in the know on the matter and havent met other people with it.

- My depression has been known to the doctors much longer than the gender issues, and same goes for my anxiety, so I think some of it is misunderstanding, and I myself wasnt really aware it was even gender dysphoria until a good year or so into my depression,

It sounds like you have an awkward combination of a) doctors (and perhaps a wider community) of a particular generation that is unsympathetic to LGBT issues; and b) doctors with whom you have a history who are making presumptions about your condition based upon that history.

Is it possible for you to change doctors? Or is there a younger, more sympathetic doctor at the medical centre who you could ask to refer you to a GIC?

Quote from: FTMDiaries on May 15, 2014, 03:57:03 AM
It sounds like you have an awkward combination of a) doctors (and perhaps a wider community) of a particular generation that is unsympathetic to LGBT issues; and b) doctors with whom you have a history who are making presumptions about your condition based upon that history.

Is it possible for you to change doctors? Or is there a younger, more sympathetic doctor at the medical centre who you could ask to refer you to a GIC?

thing is with the medical centre: you dont get a specific doctor, you get assigned one when you call, and cannot request a new one unless it is a medical student and you want an experienced ones advice. We do have a gay doctor there, but that doesnt mean he'd be knowledgable on trans, or tolerant. I could ask them about it but Im not sure what I can do. Ive looked around and not found a GIC anywhere near here in my own searches over the last month or so