Don't be afraid to go to your doctor.
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Don't be afraid to go to your doctor. I recently had a patient who stuttered severely. He/she came into seek care because they were forced by their sibling. They were so anxious and so afraid. When I went in, the sibling was doing all the talking and explained that the patient was very "shy because they had a speech impediment and it would take too long". I said it didn't matter and I asked the patient not to feel shy of me since I was the clinician and that I would like them to speak to me directly no matter how long it took. They started to stutter profoundly and loudly. I waited and I was very patient and even though I was sweating a bit ( I was scared to stutter myself)- I listened and modeled calm paced speech and we sat there for 35 minutes(- 20 minutes over my allotted time) and just talked. The patient told me so many things and I made one of the best treatment plans I have ever made for anyone. I also discovered that in addition to severe generalized anxiety and panic they were seriously obese and had high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. These are things that would have killed them in a decade, but now they had a chance to manage the diseases and not have multiple organ failure in 10 years. The patient was a millennial ie under 40 yrs. The came back this week after 1 month for a follow up and were doing so so much better. The patient wept and told me that I was the first clinician who had actually listened to them and helped them the way they needed to be helped. The anxiety meds were working and their mood was better, they were on a new diet and exercise regimen at had lost over 30 pounds in 30 days, they had quit smoking and drinking, and had gotten gotten the nerve to ask for a promotion at work. They got the promotion and they gave me their new business card, it was their first business card. I felt like I was meeting a different person. I am not saying that I changed their life, they did. But that anxiolytic helped a lot. It's hard to change your life when you have no serotonin. They come in for a 3 month follow up soon and I can't wait to walk this path with them, and help them be the healthiest they can be. This is true for all my patients, but I have special love for this one, they really needed someone like me.