
   [INLINE] Quote added in last update (22 September 98)
   
What kinds of attitudes have you encountered when seeking medical help?

   [Note: All of these quotes refer to incidents in which the
   self-inflicted injury required medical attention; the doctors and
   nurses referred to here are ER docs or GP's, not psychiatric personnel
   unless otherwise stated]
   
     [INLINE] At first, I was always going to the ER and the doctors
     were often angry and retributive about it. They would ask if I was
     suicidal, and then seem disgusted when I said no. A lot of times
     they sent me to the psych ward. Dealing with the reactions of
     doctors was one of the worst aspects of living with this problem
     for me -- it traumatized me quite a bit. It seems to bring out the
     worst in lots of people, but doctors especially, and psychiatrists
     more especially. [female, age 39, 27 years SIB off and on, BA]
     
     [INLINE] Many times [I've been] medically treated. Been stitched
     and stapled without anaesthetic. Had steri-strips on deep cuts that
     immediately came open and were then left. Been told off. Been told
     I was wasting people's time. Been told I was lying when I went back
     after the stitches came undone. Have been met with "oh, my god!"
     when seeing my legs. Been lectured once how I shouldn't have done
     it. Avoid hospitals if at all possible although some individuals
     have been very good to me. [female, age 28, 3 years SIB]
     
     [INLINE] Mostly I will take care of my own injuries. I hate
     hospitals. When I go to a hospital for something else they look at
     my arm and give me a bad attitude like I'm crazy or something. Or
     they whisk me away to another hospital for mental problems.
     [female, age 24, 4 years SIB, some college, CNA/certified EKG tech]
     
     [INLINE] Yes many times. I'd have to say around ten times. Of
     course several have [been angry/abusive] - that's when they sew you
     up without a shot to deaden first. Like you deserve more pain
     [because you] do that to yourself. Wish there were more
     understanding and help out in the real world. [female, age 39, 12
     years SIB, 12 years education] 
     
     [INLINE] Yes, twice. Yes the doctor gave me 20 stitches without
     anesthetic. [female, age 27, 16 years SIB] 
     
     [INLINE] YES-- twice at a hospital and many times at the doctor's
     office. My personal physician is great. She had had previous
     experience working with it and has definitely been an asset to my
     recovery. The first hospital went ballistic and wanted to put me in
     a state psych hospital and ridiculed me for being so stupid. When I
     went through drug rehab I probably had my most serious act of SM.
     That staff freaked out at first but one of them believed me and was
     helpful. I ended up in a hospital this time due to massive
     infection from a large third-degree burn on my arm. The doctor
     didn't freak... He was just blunt... Before he treated me, he asked
     me if I planned on doing it again. If so, he wasn't going to treat
     it... but if not then he would. I said that I couldn't promise but
     I would try as best I could. From then on, he treated me like any
     other patient. I think I needed his honesty. He told me that he
     might have to take my arm and he didn't blame me or be sarcastic.
     He saved my arm and I have only used SM once since then and I
     stopped myself just after I started. [female, age 28, 10 years SIB,
     Master's degree]
     
     That night the [doctor on call] knew me. I had already been there
     earlier in the day after cutting my mid- and upper abdominal area
     with a razor blade. There had been a change in shift but the nurses
     told him I was seen earlier by the other doctor. I wouldn't have
     gone in for the wrist except I was sitting in my car at a park and
     someone reported me to the police and they came and called the
     medics. When this doctor came in I was holding the gauze on my
     wrist applying pressure. He jerked it off, took one look at it, and
     threw the gauze back in my lap and said, "I don't have time for
     this shit! I will come back later." He stormed out. A few minutes
     later the nurse came in and yelled at me because I didn't have the
     gauze on my wrist. I tried explaining it was the Dr.'s fault but it
     didn't go over really well. He came back in about 45 min later. He
     said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that but I am so busy I
     don't have time for things like this especially when it's
     intentional." I just sat there because I couldn't do anything else
     with the police right outside my room. Believe me I am a lot more
     careful now![female, age 30, 2 yrs SIB, associate's degree]
     
     I have been treated 5 times, 2 of which were very serious. I only
     had one doctor who was really rude to me, but almost all of the
     nurses acted like I was a waste of time. [male, 16, 4 years of SIB,
     HS graduate]
     
     [INLINE] Oh yeah, I have had to go to the ER for cutting too deep
     with glass, and the nurses and doctors there acted very strange and
     mad. I do not cut or burn for sympathy, I do not want sympathy from
     anyone, and I just want to be treated for my injuries and left the
     hell alone. [female, age 22, 2 years SIB, 3 years college]
     
     [INLINE] We have been stitched up a few times and doctors have
     definitely pulled attitude. We learned very quickly that if we do
     need medical help we contact our therapist first so the ER doctors
     don't admit us to the Mental Health unit automatically. We also
     depend on tape stitches a lot. [female, age 46]
     
     [INLINE] I was treated for cuts on my arms before I was admitted to
     the psych ward. This has happened twice. I had walked into busy
     traffic and had open cuts on my arms. They treated me at the ER for
     the cuts... and yes the doctor pulled attitude. He told me that
     what I did was completely stupid and uncool. He didn't understand
     at all. He just kept saying over and over how uncool my cutting
     was. He told me to get a tattoo. I laughed. [female, age 19, 5
     years SIB, AA degree]
     
     [INLINE] I was taken into a clinic one time, and the doctors were
     extremely rude. This one grabbed me by the arm and started asking
     me what all the symbols I had carved into myself meant. Then he
     started lecturing me. [female, age 19, 3 years SIB, college
     sophomore] 
     
     Yes, [I've been treated by] 3 doctors [and received] anger,
     indifference, lack of compassion; some treated me as if I were a
     nut case. [unspecified]
     
     I had seven stitches put in my wrist. The nurse who took out the
     stitches was very kind until she saw where the cut was and all the
     scars around it. After that she was very terse and impersonal.
     [male, 21, 6 years of SIB, B.A.]
     
     The doctor was very angry and stitched my wrist with no anesthesia.
     It was like he wanted to teach me a lesson, but instead he taught
     me that I could withstand even more pain than I thought. I stared
     him in the face and refused to flinch. [female, 32, 24 years of
     SIB, 2 years of college]
     
     Yeah, drs have looked at me as if I'm a freak. My extherapist did
     not get it, she said I should just stop. [female, age 31, 23 yrs
     SIB, college dropout]
     
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References

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   2. file://localhost/usr/home/llama/Web/psych/injury.html
