Getting up the courage to seek psychiatric help is no easy task. Millions of Americans battle with some sort of mental illness whether it is temporary or long-term. Psychiatric medicine has proven to be helpful to many of those who suffer with a variety of psychoses, neuroses, behavioral disorders, anxiety, or depression. When you go to a psychiatrist, you hope to feel better. You assume the care and treatment you are provided is adequate or, better yet, above average. Sadly, however, not all people who seek out psychiatric help have positive experiences. While you may have heard of medical malpractice such as surgical errors, prescribing the wrong medication, or failing to diagnose cancer accurately, you may not be familiar with a kind of medical malpractice known as "psychiatric malpractice."
A medical malpractice attorney who handles psychiatric malpractice cases may represent clients who have experienced the following:
Psychiatrist abuses his or her power or knowledge
Information about the patient is shared without his or her consent
Patient is threatened
Patient is not properly diagnosed and/or treated
Incorrect medication is prescribed
Medication side effects are not dealt with
Patient is sexually abused either while under hypnosis or through seduction by the psychiatrist
Putting your personal issues "out there" makes one very vulnerable.
To have the very person you trust your life's secrets to hurt you can be infuriating and very damaging to one's psyche. Some acts of psychiatric malpractice may be egregious such as prescribing a medication that the patient is allergic to or has violent adverse effects to. Other forms of psychiatric malpractice will be more subtle such as a slow, steady seduction of the patient during sessions. Regardless of the egregiousness of the act of malpractice, you must report the malpractice to a higher authority and contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney in your area immediately.By reporting the unprofessional conduct, you may just save the lives and minds of many others who are also being victimized by the psychiatrist who hurt you. Personal injury does not have to be obvious such as an open head trauma; personal injury can be less apparent such as damage done to one's mind. A skillful medical malpractice attorney will have the knowledge and resources to prove that damage was done to the victim and that the psychiatrist is responsible for that damage.
Unfortunately, many cases of psychiatric malpractice go unreported because the victim feels people may consider him or her paranoid. In many cases, victims are already emotionally unstable, and they fear accusing their doctor of medical malpractice will only cause them further problems. Every medical professional takes an oath to do no harm to their patients, including mental health professionals.