I was talking to someone yesterday about the lack of contact from my psychiatrist.   She provided me with insight that never ever, ever, ever considered.

—   The person claimed that I felt the psychiatrist abandoned me.
She urged me to reach out to the psychiatrist.  I was the person who was ‘abandoning.’   I jumped to conclusions about her.   She claimed that I don’t know what the psychiatrist’s life is like.  I don’t know the status of her email.  Perhaps whatever I sent was lost, placed in the spam folder, or she didn’t simply see it.

I should just contact the psychiatrist and pick up again as if this breach never happened.

*Ahem.*

Okay, I definitely do not feel…. ‘abandoned.’

This is how I see it and how completely failed to verbalize it.
—  My former for-profit bestie was a professional, as she often told me, claiming to earn her PHD.  Although I never saw the document, I readily enough believed her.  Again, without proof, I believed her claims that she has been in the field for a long time.  She’s a mother of several children and a long-married woman.  That, to me, says that this for-profit bestie should be counted as a responsible person.   I m fully aware she has her own life – I learned quite a bit about it during out visits – but a responsible professional does not drop a paying client – which is what I was.

As to the email thing….  I would not have had the for-profit bestie’s email address if she had not provided it to me.   We had exchanged emails before without issue and I had no reason to think my communications would end up in the spam folder.   Even emails did appear in the spam folder — here’s a thought – that she should — check it.   Spam folder does not = delete.  Surprise surprise!

And yes, although we are both adults, she is in a position of ‘authority’ – and I use that term loosely.  I am seeking help because of a bunch of crap that happened.   I’m on anti-depressants and still have several foreseeable events within the next month that could easily distract me and could cause mental turmoil and anxiety attacks.   Who knows, right?  Who knows what the future will bring and although I’m better than what I was, I’m still not the best I was mentally or physically.

As a psychiatrist – someone of the health care profession – wouldn’t it make since to reach out and see what’s going on with a client?  Especially one that was as constant as I – who never missed an appointment – and has been visiting roughly once a week for the past six months?

I guess when re-reading this, there could be ‘abandonment issues’ involved — but no.   There’s accountability issues.

As a professional, if you want to exchange email, you make sure  the spam folder doesn’t gobble it up or, at the very least, check it.   A competent health care provider would check on active patients.  A business would make sure the bills are paid instead of taking the wait-and-see approach, especially if there were multiple thousands of dollars months past due.  —  Or am I asking on too much?

This is accountability people.   By loosing a client – and a customer, she did not hold herself accountable.  There’s really no excuse (outside of something really extreme) not to follow up.  Call.  Email.  Text.   If you don’t make an effort, you fail 100% of the time and that’s exactly like what I feel she did.  She didn’t put in an effort – didn’t turn in the homework, so to speak – and she’s not going to get a passing grade.  It’s easy as that.

Right?