It is critical to get a primary care physician you bond with, or at least can build some rapport with. My late father was a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon,

It is critical to get a primary care physician you bond with, or at least can build some rapport with. My late father was a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, but then decided to go back to school (while teaching) to get his boards in internal medicine. He had two motivations: one was not to be the Old Surgeon that has to have his privileges revoked, and the other was his evolving relationship with the world, largely facilitated by SSRIs. His journey from surgery to internist over many years gave him what I think was a pretty good insight into the human condition. As an internist and primary care physician, he had one patient who presented with back pain and was loaded on opiates, wanting refills plus more dope. He talked with her for almost an hour (a unique privilege most don't have in today's healthcare system, and likely none will going forward) and ended up sending her home with an SSRI and a note to check back in a little while. A few weeks later she was calling the clinic's owner raving about how she felt so much better, her back didn't hurt anymore, etc. I'm not writing that to say SSRIs > opiates, just to say in her situation he correctly identified her pain was due to depression. You don't get there unless you have rapport with your doc and the time to talk with them. The point is that you have to find a doc you like and one that can spend time with you. Unfortunately I don't know of a good way of doing that. I'd hook you up but my dad passed some years ago. I'd love to hear people's ideas on finding someone like him — I need a doc, too.