Dr. Mark Craycroft Hyatt, MD

I saw Dr. Hyatt when I was a thirteen year-old girl. I remember him talking to me for fifteen minutes before deciding that I needed to be on antidepressants. Prior to a family trauma I had *just* experienced, I had been a happy child. I did not think of myself as a sad or depressive person — and I had given the matter a lot of thought because both of my parents were depressives. When he tried to write me a prescription, I said I wouldn't take it. I told him I wasn't depressed, I was just sad, which was a normal response given my current circumstances. I'll never forget this grown man getting indignant with me, a child: he defended his fifteen minute evaluation of my moods and the dictum he had just handed down: that I would need to be on medication in order to overcome difficult emotions. He was indignant. He told me he was the expert and I was just a kid. I said, " I think I know myself better than you do." His name and that negative experience are seared into my memory. I… never took the medication and, thankfully, my court-appointed guardian (I had been taken from my parents custody) helped me receive talk therapy which was immensely helpful. I believe in the power of antidepressants to make a powerful, positive impact on a person's life. I believe in people doing what they need to do to feel better. I believe in thoughtful, expert dispersal of mood stabilizers and elements like lithium to balance chemical reactions and give someone a chance at a normal, healthy life. I do not believe in the arrogance of an overpaid medical professional to feel he knows a person after fifteen minutes. It is unethical to put children on medications that will alter the course of their life forever. If I remember correctly, Dr. Hyatt wanted to put me on Zoloft. Side effects in children include insomnia, fatigue, sedation, and restlessness, not to mention the physical side effects a person experiences trying to come off it. I don't know if Dr. Hyatt was one of the many medical professionals who gets paid to promote drugs to his patients, but that felt like his distinct priority that day. Now, almost 30, I look back at that moment in his office, when I stood up for myself and my health, and I feel so proud that I could discern the difference between a person who cared about me and someone who didn't take the time to know the difference. Protect your kids. Listen to them. Be skeptical of doctors looking for a quick fix. And of course, if you feel you need medication, take advantage of the modern understanding of medical science that makes life-changing prescriptions available.

Doc mark Hyatt had poof bed side manners. He was awful

he is a wonderful doctor, very smart, excellent diagnosis and very helpful and caring.