False flag or red flag?
January 7, 2016 1:42 AM   Subscribe

Would you decide to stop seeing a medical professional because he is a mass-shooting truther?

This came up when I was talking to him about my level of anxiety, and admitting it was strongly influenced by reading the news constantly, especially about mass shootings. He told me, in his sonorous and calming voice, that I shouldn't watch the news, because the last shooting was a false flag meant to start a war, and explained why you couldn't trust the media. I was stunned silent, then redirected quickly.

I found this psychiatrist after moving to a new place. I am working on weaning off a medication, plus maintaining another, and I like his advice so far. He seems like a good guy, if a little socially off and messy in his record-keeping (definitely not the first doctor like that I have known).
It's been a while since my last visit and will be a little while until I need another. Should I nope out? (Assume that it's logistically possible, which I believe it would be.)
posted by anonymous to Human Relations (28 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I would definitely stop going for that as long as I had any other option. I'd see a psychiatrist that was actually three children in a trenchcoat instead of that. It would completely invalidate all his advice for me, if I stayed it would be to keep him dispensing a drug I like.
posted by gloriouslyincandescent at 1:51 AM on January 7, 2016 [168 favorites]


Seconding three children in a trenchcoat over this guy.

I don't want to know what my psychiatrist thinks about anything besides my specific state of health.
posted by RainyJay at 1:57 AM on January 7, 2016 [11 favorites]


Three children, in a trenchcoat, riding an ostrich to work every day would win out, I think. Get the nope out of there.
posted by gmb at 2:11 AM on January 7, 2016 [21 favorites]


If this were, say, an allergist, opthalmologist, or nephrologist, I could let that slide, because I tend to regard them as technicians of body parts, so their grasp on reality outside their speciality is a bit less relevant. But a psychiatrist? Hell no. This is a specialist who's supposed to help you fine tune your mind. I'd feel about this the same way I'd feel about a dermatologist with untreated scabies.
posted by sively at 2:13 AM on January 7, 2016 [76 favorites]


This Dr. gave you good advice. There's a ton of disturbing things on the news that cause anxiety. You are going through a tough anxiety time and watching the news is causing you extra issues. Knock it off. Read the newspaper and skim violent article titles and then don't read them. He is probably into conspiracy theories and that wouldn't bother me. I vote you keep him. YMMV.
posted by Kalmya at 2:49 AM on January 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


I would not trust someone who said that with my mental health. I'm also surprised that he used a "you should (not)" statement. He is supposed to help you arrive to conclusions yourself, not tell you what to do.
posted by frantumaglia at 3:15 AM on January 7, 2016 [4 favorites]


He was probably inappropriate bringing up the false-flag thing (but being a conspiracy theorist doesn't always make you wrong), but his advice to stop watching the news and winding yourself up was good. You need to balance those and decide.
posted by DaveP at 3:19 AM on January 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


That's textbook unprofessional behavior. Massive red flag. You should be able to talk about how you're feeling without him inserting his political opinions into your consultation. If you can find an alternative psychiatrist, I would do that. If you can't, I would definitely call him on it at your next session and see how he reacts.

(There is a huge difference between him suggesting that you read the news less often, and him giving his interpretation of the motives behind the latest shooting and telling you how you should feel. The former may be good advice. The latter is supremely unprofessional on his part.)
posted by finding.perdita at 3:23 AM on January 7, 2016 [32 favorites]


I'm going with a bit little of A, which is what Sively said - I wouldn't care if an orthopedist thought Trump was the biz because his job is to look at a bunch of x-rays and scans and say objectively what's wrong. On the other hand, a psychiatrist who believes someone who displays zero empathy would be a good leader is a Mayday parade sized red flag. And also going with a little of B, following Kalmya, as news are very often designed not to be informative, but to rile up and distress people. I wish my mother would stop watching afternoon shows with their constant sob stories because those just invite people to wallow in misery, while not pressing a bit to change underlying conditions. It's constant, five days a week misery porn.

Which is not to say you should ignore said news. Start by taking notes of what outlets distress you most, stop watching/reading and try to find other ones until you find something you feel just informed of what is going on. Easier said than done, I know.
posted by lmfsilva at 3:32 AM on January 7, 2016


I'd nope on out, for several reasons:

- as finding.perdita says, inserting political opinions into patient interactions is way way unprofessional, and even if it were a milder non-crazy non-repellent opinion he expressed I'd consider switching.
- having a conspiracy theory about a mass shooting being fake demonstrates a staggering lack of sensitivity and empathy, which is something I'd kind of like to have from someone helping me with a mental illness.
- if he doesn't trust reporting on something like this, I'd wonder what else he doesn't trust, and whether that includes things like established medical journals.
- if I were in treatment for anxiety, and specifically triggered by the news, if I found "oh but it's a massive conspiracy meant to start WAR" remotely convincing, it would just trigger MORE ANXIETY.

Since you're actively switching medications, find another psychiatrist before you ditch this guy, but definitely ditch him.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:34 AM on January 7, 2016 [17 favorites]


All of the behavioral health professionals I have received treatment from have been very scrupulous about trying to keep their personal/political/controversial views/opinions from me, even ones that were exceptionally mainstream and/or that they knew I would agree with. The only thing that comes even close to an exception to that is things in the region of "American healthcare is broke," and that's more in the vein of "being honest about possible outcomes of seeking treatment of various sorts."

Best case scenario is that it was a joke/bait intended for you to react to, and that's still a case in which I would seek another doc.
posted by PMdixon at 4:35 AM on January 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


Nope, Nope, Nope. You're outta there.

I might even report him to a professional body. The creep factor went up +10 on this guy.

Yes. Stop watching the news. That's good advice. Proving that a broken clock is right twice a day. The rest of that? Move backwards slowly from the room, then run.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:13 AM on January 7, 2016 [8 favorites]


Good God, I went into this question thinking it was a physician, and that was bad enough. He's a psychiatrist?? I'd not only stop going, I'd report him to the governing body of the organization. That shit is crazy. That's not a political belief, that's not rational, and someone who isn't rational shouldn't be in a position of influence over people who are emotionally vulnerable.

Yikes.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 5:34 AM on January 7, 2016 [9 favorites]


Orientation to objective reality is sort of a must-have trait in anyone whose advice and knowledge you're planning on relying upon.
posted by saladin at 6:19 AM on January 7, 2016 [28 favorites]


An important thing that all medical professionals need to do is critical evaluation of opinions and evidence. New medical research of varying levels of quality winds up being published, and to stay up to date and accurate, medical professionals must be able to evaluate publications for bias (along with other aspects of research quality).

If I learned that a medical professional held opinions that suggested he or she was not a good evaluator of bias, I would strongly consider not going back. This is regardless of the specialty; I think it applies as much to an orthopedic surgeon as to a psychiatrist.
posted by snorkmaiden at 6:23 AM on January 7, 2016 [16 favorites]


If Ben Carson has taught us anything, it's that an MD is capable of being as ill-informed or downright dumb as anyone else. Doctors, they're just like us!

Nthing all the above advice to find a new psychiatrist. While that specialty does sometimes attract oddball types, it sounds like this particular one is less charmingly quirky and more Fox News wingnut.
posted by little mouth at 6:33 AM on January 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


I would not hesitate to keep seeing a medical professional who had somewhat different political views from mine. I did stop seeing a medical professional (family doctor) for not taking my wife's concerns seriously; she found a doctor she liked and we moved the whole family there, however this was convenient for us. If I wasn't able to find a second doctor, and had concerns I would continue to see a medical professional with vastly different views from my own.

I would not consider for a second re-seeing someone who believed in what I considered to be crackpot conspiracy theories. It's a sign of an unsound mind and I couldn't trust anything else from that mind. Sure, a stopped analog watch will be right occaisionally, but you'd be an idiot to keep it around and assume it will be right when you need it.

Mass shooting truthers fall into crackpot conspiracy theory IMO. The fact that it's a p-doc pushes it that much further into Nope County.
posted by nobeagle at 6:42 AM on January 7, 2016


You need this doctor to be able to help you figure out when YOU are suffering from cognitive distortions. You need to be able to trust his judgment to some extent and let him help you figure out when you're blowing something out of proportion.

You're clearly not going to be able to do that, because his judgment is terrible. And if you did, because he's in a position of authority and trust, you'd stand to end up with some bizarre and harmful beliefs. Nthing all the above advice to find a new doctor!
posted by cogitron at 6:46 AM on January 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


There's nothing scary to me about a free-thinker. As George Carlin said, children should be taught to question everything. Adults should as well in my opinion, without losing touch with reality or being paranoid. That said, if he gives you the creeps or you think he should keep his philosophies to himself, then I wouldn't hesitate to find a new doctor. I get the references to having an unbiased doctor when it comes to mental health, it makes sense that they should keep things as professional as possible and focus solely on your treatment.
posted by Avosunspin at 7:01 AM on January 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


I dunno, this is tricky. I had an ENT specialist that blamed our wheat consumption on all of our health problems as a species, which I find to fall into a bit of the "weird" category. Probably not as weird as the government conspiracy sort, but he was honest and thorough when it came to my sinus troubles. Then again he didn't tell me not to eat wheat. I also had a gynecologist that told me weight gain from birth control was because people "eat too much and don't exercise" so while I didn't say "fuck off" to the ENT specialist I definitely did to the gynecologist (the latter just being a stupid thing to say for a health professional that should know better). Mental health, ideally, should be as objective as any other medical science, but it relies more on a person's subjectivity than it should.

We really have no way of knowing what floats around in the heads of otherwise professional and competent people, but most have the sense not to discuss such things with their patients. Some don't. Then again, he's not a therapist, or even a psychologist, he's a PSYCHIATRIST. It's his job to review your symptoms ("I have anxiety and insomnia," for example) and treat them along the guidelines of a proper medical diagnosis and prescribe/adjust medicine accordingly (anti-anxiety medicine, sleeping pill, etc). That's it. It's not his job to work you through the ways the symptoms manifest ("I am anxious because of the news") outside of medicine to make it stop. He's not been trained, as far as I know of psychiatrists, to give you guidance regarding cognitive techniques to mitigate your symptoms. Ideally you work in conjunction with a psychiatrist and a therapist to treat mental illness holistically. I know that the line between these professions is a VERY FINE ONE, but keep that in mind.

Are there reviews of his practice online? I just wonder if he is the sort to have weird ideas but an otherwise objective grasp on mental health diagnoses/treatment, etc.
posted by Young Kullervo at 7:04 AM on January 7, 2016


Unfortunately, if you cannot trust this person, how can you really talk to him and accept his advice or perspective? That was a bizarre reaction for him to have and not at all helpful. Find someone else. (It's worth noting that this is not the same as seeing a surgeon who happens to have different views than yours. In this case, being able to trust his perspective is actually very important.)

On another note, I'd urge you to stop following the news. The news makes me feel scared, unsafe and depressed. I even used a blocker to prevent me from being able to visit certain news websites that I frequented. I feel a lot better when I don't follow the news.
posted by AppleTurnover at 7:06 AM on January 7, 2016


I also have an optometrist that was practically mute/disinterested in conversation to the point of being extremely rude and kinda creepy, which might put most people off, but goddamn these glasses are the best I've ever had. Practically, if not, perfect. Sometimes highly intelligent/specialized people are just kinda weird and socially awkward but otherwise harmless. That doesn't mean you have to continue seeing him if he weirds you out, as you have a right to feeling comfortable in a country where health care is a commodity (assuming you're in the U.S.) rather than a right, but you may find that his services are otherwise impeccable if you can overlook the weird.
posted by Young Kullervo at 7:17 AM on January 7, 2016


Oh my god, a PSYCHIATRIST??? Hell to the no.

I have pretty low tolerance for conspiracy theories anyway, but to me this would indicate a real lack of critical thinking skills. If I were relying on someone's professional judgment, particularly about mental health and parsing reality/the things going on around me, I would have serious issues with worrying that down the road he might fall victim to quackery or other trends in pseudoscience that could affect his willingness to provide the treatment I need.

What if he decides that you need vitamins or chelation instead of the medication that has been working for you?

What if he decides that he'll prescribe medication to you, but only if you prove to him that you are following his protocol by becoming a prepper to alleviate your anxiety?

Those are kind of far-fetched ideas, but not when your husband used to go to a dentist whose waiting room was a museum to creationism. With dinosaurs.
posted by St. Hubbins at 8:27 AM on January 7, 2016 [4 favorites]


I would not sit still for that kind of irrational talk from an appliance repairman, let alone a medical practitioner.
posted by Flexagon at 8:43 AM on January 7, 2016 [7 favorites]


and messy in his record-keeping

If you need one more nail to drive into that coffin, there's this. This is a man in charge of prescribing serious medications to people. He absolutely cannot be "messy in his record-keeping."

Though, as the patient, really you should have no idea how messy his records are, on you or any other patiemt
posted by kanewai at 9:24 AM on January 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


Heh. People who believe one conspiracy theory tend to be people who believe most or all of them. Hard pass. He might be otherwise good at his job, but he can't be the only one.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:34 AM on January 7, 2016


I would run like the wind away from a psychiatrist who told me that. Heck, I would flee from anyone who said that, but especially a psychiatrist. Mostly because I feel like those conspiracy theories are a great big sign of someone who is perhaps not in the best of mental health themselves.
posted by sarcasticah at 3:39 PM on January 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


In my experience, the field of psychiatry sometimes attracts people who have been inspired by their own past experiences with psychiatrists. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but occasionally it becomes problematic.

Nope out. If he's attached to a hospital or a clinic or something, consider letting someone higher up know about it. A psychiatrist shouldn't be spreading paranoid delusions on to people who may be especially vulnerable to that sort of thing.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:00 AM on January 11, 2016


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