Dr. Jeffrey Barth Weilburg, MD

Did not treat me as a member of my own healthcare team. Was dismissive, even when answering his specific questions. Poor communicator.

When I first started seeing Dr. Weilburg, I was going through an extremely difficult time. I immediately appreciated the fact that Dr. Weilburg is extremely bright, and has exceptionally fine credentials. For example, he holds a high appointment at Mass General Hospital, and was one of the pioneering researchers who helped discover the utility of Prozac, the first in a new family of breakthrough antidepressants. In my case, I visited Dr. Weilburg at his home office once or twice a week, and he worked diligently with me: Applying psychopharmacology as well as talk therapy. Although it took seven months, in the end he was able to help me feel much better. Dr. Weilburg is also punctual and methodical in his care in general. However, I also came to appreciate the odd nature of Dr. Weilburg's personality. First, his affect is almost completely flat -- almost no expression of emotion, good or bad -- which is unusual to encounter in general, but extremely unusual in the helping… professions. Second, when our sessions were finished, he would abruptly stand up and, with a piercing stare, utter a rather final-sounding "Goodbye" -- not unusual in and of itself, but the way he would do this, and the tone of his voice seemed to communicate, "Leave NOW. I don't want to have to call the authorities." Although I was going through a difficult time then, I have always been a gentle and sensitive person, and this "dismissal" seemed inappropriate. It was beyond curt, and approached a level that almost seemed threatened, bordering on confrontational. I didn't understand this salutation until I paid a scheduled visit to him at his office at Mass General. There, I came to appreciate the nature of at least some of his other work. A female patient came to his door while we were meeting, asking for help. He almost immediately started shouting at the patient, ordering her to leave, and demanding that she stop coming around without a formal appointment. It was the first time I had seen Dr. Weilburg be anything but extremely sober. My impression was that Weilburg treats many patients who are extremely ill at MGH. Perhaps as a result of these experiences, he seems to interact with his patients as if he had formed an assumption that one must be wary and on guard with patients. Not being too far "off the deep end" myself, I was often left with the impression that I was being treated as though I were one of these seriously unbalanced souls -- which made me feel untrusted and disrespected. Since the foundation of most relationships, and especially a good doctor-patient relationship, is built on mutual trust and respect, I grew to find my relationship with Dr. Weilburg oddly unsatisfying.Interestingly, although Dr. Weilburg overcame a number of challenges in treating me, he failed to diagnose a fairly common malady that I was diagnosed with not long after. In fact, I was later told that I exhibited classic symptoms of this common malady, and I've had it all my life. Since this malady is known to be closely associated with the issues that Dr. Weilburg diagnosed and successfully treated, it struck me as odd that Weilburg missed such an obvious diagnosis. Quite the contrary, in fact: When I described my experience (that was later diagnosed as this secondary malady) Weilburg described the issues I experienced as "characterological" in nature. Translation: I had character flaws. You may imagine my relief when I was later properly diagnosed. Here I was, with a fairly common (and well understood) disorder, being told that these issues were the result of a deficiency of character! In the end, I left Dr. Weilburg's care to discover a psychopharmacologist who is perhaps Weilburg's opposite: He is kind, relaxed, and down to earth toward his patients. He welcomes me when I arrive, and wishes me well when I leave. He does his good work in a friendly and unassuming manner. For someone no longer in dire straits, it was -- and remains -- like a breath of fresh air.