Insensitive OB/GYN?
I’m not really sure if this is the right group to put this in, please let me know if it’s not. also I’m sorry if this is kind of long.
I met with the APRN that my gynecologist recently hired so we could discuss my birth control pill and how it is affecting me/if I need to make an adjustment. I was excited to meet with her because I’m a nursing student and I love seeing APRNs, I feel like they have had more experience with establishing therapeutic communication with patients and aren’t as awkward as some doctors. However, I didn’t have as pleasant an experience as I wanted, which I will mention a little later.
Some background first, I take the birth control pill for different reason than most people. I use it to manage PMDD and an anxiety disorder, my treatment with it started in May 2018. So far it has been working well for me mental health-wise, except on the placebo pill days. Before I started it, my anxiety and PMDD was severely affecting my relationship with my parents for years (starting at 15 years old, I’m 21 now), due to anger and irritability being my main symptom of both disorders. I also had really bad intrusive thoughts due to PMDD and anxiety. After being on BC my relationship with my parents and thought processes have improved a lot. However, I have hit some bumps in the road with anxiety due to other circumstances over the summer (losing my job, having a car accident, taking summer class, not getting any luck with finding another job, recurring intrusive thoughts). It has not been easy but I have found my way to a better mindset with the help of a great psychologist. Maintaining my mental health is very important to me.
Back to my interaction with the APRN. She started out with asking me how I was tolerating the birth control, and I told her why I take it and how it has been affecting me physically and mentally. I mentioned the fact that my anxiety is more difficult to manage on the placebo pill days, but I’m figuring out how to manage those days better with a psychologist my original MD OB/GYN referred me to. She said to me “unfortunately anxiety is something everyone deals with” and I don’t know why she thought this was okay to say to me? She also only asked me about my physical symptoms rather than mental symptoms. I understand that anxiety is something a lot of people go through, but she essentially dismissed me without knowing or asking about the extent of it (which is not just plain worry!! I have a type of disordered thinking which is not normal!!!). She has been a nurse for years and preaches the use of holistic care (I found her biography online) so I would have thought she would know better ways to use therapeutic communication with me. It also really bothers me that she didn’t focus her assessment to my main issue... my mental health in relation to my menstrual cycle. Am I wrong for being sad/angry about this?
Achieve your health goals from period to parenting.