Last fall, I was forced to fire my psychiatrist at the Mental Health Center of Champaign County (MHCCC) because he subjected me to psychological abuse. During some of our meetings, he made statements like "Your life is a waste" and "I don't care if you commit suicide." Whenever anything went wrong in my life for whatever reason, he always placed the blame on me. During our last meeting, this psychiatrist falsely accused me of blackmailing him (as if I could do this) and threatened to call the police if I displayed any symptoms of emotional instability in his office. This psychiatrist stated that he would not admit me into a psychiatric facility even if I was feeling suicidal at the time. Because of his intolerable behavior, I fired this psychiatrist and told him that I was unwilling to see him again, to which he responded: "That is your right."

When I attempted to set up an appointment with a second psychiatrist at MHCCC, I was told by the receptionist and a psychiatric nurse that I could not do this, unless: 1) my old psychiatrist agreed with this decision, and 2) the new psychiatrist agreed with this decision. However, contrary to his earlier statement, my old psychiatrist would not allow my case to be transferred to another psychiatrist. As a result, I was not allowed to see any psychiatrist at MHCCC except the one who had subjected me to psychological abuse. Not only did this psychiatrist subject me to psychological abuse, he also indicated his willingness to criminalize my mental illness and to engage in medical malpractice by not admitting me to a psychiatric facility even when I was in danger of killing myself. Under Illinois law, it is a felony if a medical practitioner refuses to admit a suicidal person into a medical facility for treatment.

To make matters even worse, I am not able to make an appointment with a psychiatrist at another organization in Champaign-Urbana because they don't accept reimbursements from Medicaid and I can't afford to pay what they normally charge for their services. Fortunately, my family physician accepts Medicaid and was willing to write prescriptions for my psychiatric medication. Thus, I remain on psychiatric medications because of my family physician, while the Mental Health Center of Champaign County (MHCCC) has abandoned me to the high winds. I imagine that there are many other clients who have experienced similar problems with the psychiatrists and policies of MHCCC.

I filed a grievance against the abusive psychiatrist with the client ombudsman at MHCCC. She acknowledged my complaint and discussed my grievance with this psychiatrist. However, to my knowledge, this psychiatrist has not been sanctioned or punished for his behavior in any way. On one occasion, this psychiatrist even bragged to me that my grievance would not change anything and he would add it to the "rest of the complaints" that have been directed against him by other clients. I also filed a grievance against the policy at MHCCC that a client can't change psychiatrists without first receiving permission for the transfer from both the old and new psychiatrists. However, the client ombudsman indicated to me that the psychiatrists at MHCCC were of "like mind" on this issue and they refused to change the transfer policy. The client ombudsman stated that she would bring my grievance to the attention of the Clinical Review Team at MHCCC, but apparently the Clinical Review Team did nothing to change this policy as it remains in force.