I know what it’s like to be judged based on my physical and mental health. After moving to a new city, and starting a new health insurance plan, I made a lot of effort to find a new doctor. I wanted to have an annual physical, not because of any issues I was having, but just to get checked out and optimize my health.

During my appointment, I shared that I was on a very low-dosage antidepressant and wanted to ensure that my medications stayed current. The provider immediately started a line of questioning about whether I was feeling happy and stable and refused to provide me with a new prescription, asking me to take time to see if I could “get over it” first. This provider then chose to focus on my weight, telling me “I’d like you to consider a dietary or lifestyle change that will help you feel better.” As an active person, this was not something that I needed to be persuaded to do, since I was already doing it.

In the end, this provider used my annual exam time telling me how to change my weight and fix depression, rather than focusing on my overall health. What’s worse, she ended up billing my annual exam, which was covered by my insurance, as a psychiatric health visit, which was not covered by my insurance. I ended up finding another doctor who would eventually help me and focus on the things that were important to me as a person.