Homage to Robin Williams from a Fellow Cyclist

ems wrote:

Therapist wrote:

I find myself not infrequently suggesting a sleep study these days.

Good for you, but I am a little concerned about using the term "not infrequently". It seems to me this indicates a shyness about making recommendations for sleep studies.

May I suggest you not concern yourself with the words, "not infrequently". When you go back and read Kaiasgram's posts, you'll find that her intuition serves her quite well.

kaiasgram wrote:In my "nonsensical talk therapy " practice I routinely ask clients about their sleep, even when it's a couple coming in for marital therapy. I find myself not infrequently suggesting a sleep study these days. People are often surprised since that is not what they expect to hear when they come to see me, and many blow off my recommendation. Some have listened, gone for a sleep study, and not surprisingly (to me), have been diagnosed with sleep apnea.

Comprehensive education on medical conditions that can cause mental health symptoms is not part of most mental health professionals' formal training, but it should be -- right alongside the psychopharmacology course that we are required to take. But through experience I've learned to question my clients about their sleep, whether they've had a recent physical, what medications they take, whether they've ever had their thyroid and reproductive hormones tested, and more. Sometimes doctors are quick to dismiss patients and give them mental health referrals, but sometimes those mental health professionals are the ones who pick up on the red flags and get the patient back into the medical system for the appropriate diagnosis and treatment. I know I'm not the only one. When you know better, you can do better.