Thanx, Jimi. Conditions are no different in some parts of the USA than what you're facing in Europe. It's the same where I live. There are no "treatment teams." The hospital psych unit closed due to lack of funding. There's only one psychiatrist for an area that covers thousands of square miles and he sees only psychotic patients to provide medication.

I am urging everyone in the USA, who hasn't already, to sign up for the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) when the next open enrollment comes around in October or November. Many people refused last year due to all the bad publicity. Under ObamaCare medical insurance has to cover mental health as well as standard bodily medicine.

I did get three people to sign up and they qualified for free insurance and they are now seeing private therapists, as well as getting normal medical care. All of that was out of their reach before.

When I read the psychotherapy forum and see how casually people want to dump their T's if s/he says or does one little thing wrong, how willing they are to play power games and sabotage their own therapy and how they expect their Ts to answer endless emails during the week, I wonder if they know how lucky they are to have the privilege of acting that way.

I love living where I do. But it's just not a good place for people who need serious mental health care. As a result, we have an alarmingly high rate of suicide and accidental drug ODs.

The most consistent help people can get around here is self-help groups based on the 12-Steps and various free classes put on by the hospital, community college and groups of doctors and therapists who know there are many suffering people in the community and not enough resources to go around.

I'm pretty sure (this is a guess) that doctors and therapists sometimes pick new patients from the audiences in their free multi-week workshops. If someone is showing real motivation by showing up on time, paying attention, doing between class homework and acting like they really want to get better, those people are the most likely to get into a treatment slot.

I attend a lot of these free classes and workshops, usually with a friend or two. I've twice been privately asked if I wanted to become a therapy client. My friends were not approached. I don't know if it's because I look like the one who's the most messed up and in need or because I look like the most motivated. I am highly motivated and have been since I was 14 years old to escape what has been called the "family curse" of self-destruction.

Fortunately, I'm already getting good care and I wasn't looking for a therapist, so I hope someone else was able to get into one of those rare empty treatment slots.

Therapists get to pick and choose who they want to see here. From what people tell me, if they don't get with the program and do the work, they suddenly find they had signed up for short-term therapy. That's just the way it is.