Patient Advocate?

I’ve been seeing a VA psychiatrist for meds for the last year, but honestly I don’t feel like it’s helping. Whenever I bring up side effects or symptoms, she usually brushes it off as “normal” or says it’s not related to the meds. Then I go home, look it up myself, and the side effects match exactly what I’m taking (right now it’s aripiprazole).

SSRIs were even worse, they made my depression worse and gave me more suicidal thoughts. I felt some relief when I first got off them, but I think that was just from being done with SSRIs, not because the new med is really helping. Since then, anytime I say I’m having a rough day, her first reaction is just to bump up my meds. I feel pressured to say they’re helping more than they are, and honestly, I’m scared to be fully honest about how bad the side effects are in case she switches me to something even worse.

At this point, I don’t trust psychiatry and I feel like it’s not the right fit for me. I’d rather just stick with therapy that I've already been doing. Has anyone here asked the VA to stop psychiatry visits and continue with just a therapist? How did it go, and what’s the best way to bring it up without it turning into a big headache?