Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Yes, It is that Easy




From the film Requiem for a Dream

Harry - Does he give you pills?
Sara - Of course he gives me pills.  He's a doctor!
Harry - What kind of pills, Ma?
Sara - Oh,...um....a blue one, a purple one, and a...
Harry - I mean, what's in them?

Doctor - Yeah, we can fix that.




From the film Running with Scissors

Dr. Finch  - (taking out some pills) Would you like some of these?
Augusten Burroughs - What are they?
Dr. Finch - I just got some samples in the mail, so I don't know.



After forking over the initial consultation fee of $258.98, they have you sit in the lobby and fill out some forms - typical of any first meeting with a therapist, psychiatrist etc.  One of those forms is a checklist of symptoms.  This checklist usually serves as a very very loose outline of what your therapist has to look forward to in dealing with their new patient - you.  This time however, really take note of what you're ticking off.  That checklist will serve as more of a instruction manuel this time around.

15 minutes later she greets you with a weak handshake and a couple heavy blinks of her pale-purple-eye-shadowed-with-poorly-applied-liquid-eyeliner-ed lids.  She takes you into a windowless room/office with your typical doctor's cabinet set-up, a roll-y chair (for her) and a leather black couch (for you).  She sits underneath a plaque honoring her graduation from Vanderbilt.

A couple dozen questions followed by some "mmhmms" and "oh, yeses" and even a "tehe" later, and you have yourself a months worth of pills that should "treat" whatever symptoms you chose to check-off on your checklist this session.  

Do what you will with them.







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